Media Release
Mangaluru, Feb 19: The Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) in Mangaluru has emerged as the topper in Dakshina Kannada for the JEE Main 2026 results. From a focused batch of 217 students, the institution recorded a 100% year-on-year surge in the elite 99.5+ percentile tier.
The numbers that tell the story
In a national context where approximately 14.75 lac unique candidates appeared, CFAL’s conversion rates significantly outperformed national averages. While only 0.5% of students reach the 99.5 percentile nationally, 4.6% of the CFAL batch achieved this feat—nine times the national rate.
Why these results deserve national attention
The growth is accelerating across every tier: The 99.5+ band doubled (5→10). The 99+ band grew 38% (13→18). The 97+ band grew 44% (32→47). The 90+ band grew 15% (82→95). This is not a one-year spike in one band; this is systemic improvement across the entire performance spectrum. When every tier grows simultaneously, it points to something institutional, not individual.
Multi-subject mastery across the top tier: CFAL’s topper A Aditya Rao (99.96) scored above 99.8 in all three subjects. Rishon Fernandes scored 99.99 in Chemistry. Lauren Marian Patrao scored 99.94 in Mathematics. Mrinal D Bhat scored 99.90 overall. Six of the top 10 scored above 99.5 in at least two individual subjects. This depth across Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics simultaneously is the signature of scientific education, not coaching shortcuts.
1 in every 12 CFAL students is in the national Top 1%: With 18 students crossing the 99th percentile from a batch of 217, CFAL’s conversion rate is 8 times the national average. More remarkably, nearly 1 in every 5 CFAL students (21.2%) is in the 97th percentile or above, a tier that nationally, only 3% of students reach.
CFAL achievers
99.5+ percentile — The elite ten
Among the top 7,375 out of 14.75 lac nationally | Doubled from 5 last year to 10
99th–99.49th percentile
8 more students in the National Top 1%
18 students in the 99th percentile from a batch of 217
1 in every 12 CFAL students is in the top 1% of India.
Up from 13 last year. That’s 38% growth in the elite tier.
97th–98.99th percentile
28 more students in the National Top 3% | NIT & top-tier eligible
The CFAL approach: Depth over volume
Founded in 2004, the Centre for Advanced Learning in Mangaluru has built its reputation not on scale, but on depth. While India’s dominant coaching chains process thousands per batch, CFAL keeps its numbers intentionally small; 217 students this year, because it believes education is a relationship, not a transaction.
The institution’s philosophy is anchored in TLC values: Be Your Best, Passion & Excellence, Wisdom & Compassion, Purpose & Meaning. At CFAL, a student who moves from the 70th percentile to the 95th is celebrated alongside the student who reaches 99.96.
This year’s results reveal a telling pattern: several of CFAL’s top JEE performers also achieved consecutive National Top 1% in the Science Olympiads (NSE 2025). Mrinal D Bhat and Akshith Ram K were shortlisted for the Indian National Astronomy Olympiad. This convergence of Olympiad and competitive exam excellence from the same students and the same institution is perhaps the strongest evidence that CFAL is building a fundamentally different kind of educational institution.
The results also show something coaching factories rarely achieve- growth across the entire spectrum. The 99.5+ tier doubled. The 90+ tier grew 15%. When an institution lifts both its ceiling and its floor simultaneously, it signals a system that is compounding in capability and not just producing isolated outliers.
"These JEE results are not the goal of CFAL’s approach. They are the evidence of it. We are not building a coaching centre. We are building an institution combining academic excellence with character formation", saidVijay Moras, director, CFAL.
What this means for Indian education
India’s JEE preparation landscape operates on a single assumption: scale produces results. CFAL’s 2026 results dismantle this assumption.
With 217 students producing 10 in the 99.5+ percentile and 18 in the 99+, CFAL’s conversion rates are 8–9 times the national average. The 97+ tier, at 47 students, represents 21% of the batch- seven times what the national distribution would predict. And every tier grew year-on-year.
For parents, the message is: "Your child does not need to leave Mangaluru or join a factory of thousands to compete with the best in India. For educators, the message is: depth beats volume. For policymakers, the message is: The future of Indian education lies in institutions that treat every student as a whole person."
"Coaching optimizes for a test. Education optimizes the mind. When you optimize your mind, the test takes care of itself," is what CFAL believes.
