Eligibility to appear for the qualifier exam (regular entry):
Important Dates
Mandatory Requirements to Enroll and Learn
Access to good internet connection as well as a laptop/desktop device will be a key requirement to learn effectively from our courses. For a complete list of software and hardware requirements, please refer to this document - Mandatory System Specifications.
Learner should be able to travel to assigned exam centres for quizzes and exams, each term. Check the list of exam cities where our exam centres are currently located.
Note: The details below are for the BS degree in Data Science and Applications from IIT Madras. We also offer a Diploma Only Program for those who are interested exclusively in pursuing a Diploma in Programming or Diploma in Data Science. Please visit the Diploma Program website for further details on this.
Who can apply for admission?
1.
Anyone who has passed Class 12 or equivalent can apply irrespective of age or academic background. Those who qualify can join the program immediately. View list of accepted class 12 equivalents.
2.
School students who have appeared for their Class 11 final exams can apply irrespective of their group/stream/board. Those who qualify can join the program after passing Class 12.
It is expected that the applicants have studied Mathematics and English in Class 10.
No additional eligibility other than the ones mentioned above is required to apply for the qualifier process or join the foundational level courses after clearing the qualifying exam.
Application Process
Applications for the batch starting January 2025 is now open. Apply Now .
Anyone who is eligible may start applying by filling in a simple application form and paying the application fee.
| General Category / OBC Applicant | ₹3000 application fee |
| SC / ST Category / PwD (>= 40% disablity ) Applicant | ₹1500 application fee |
| SC / ST Category Applicant who is ALSO PwD (>= 40% disablity ) | ₹750 application fee |
An additional exam facilitation fee will apply for learners opting to write the Qualifier Exam in an Exam Centre outside India.
Application will be considered only when, after payment, applicant also fills in further details and submits required documents for verification. Applications without details & documents, even if paid, will not be considered valid.
Admission to the Foundation Level
Regular entry: All candidates, irrespective of their backgrounds, can earn admission to the Foundation Level by successfully completing the qualifier process. See details below
JEE-based entry: Candidates eligible to appear for the most recent JEE Advanced are directly admitted to the Foundation Level. See details below
Regular Entry
All regular entry applicants must go through the Qualifier Process to earn admission to the Foundation Level.
Qualifier Preparation: The qualifier process includes 4 weeks of coursework based on lecture videos, assignments, and live sessions of the four foundational level courses - English I, Mathematics for Data Science I, Statistics for Data Science I, and Computational Thinking - that will be provided through our online portal. Every week an assignment must be submitted for grading in each course.
Qualifier Exam: At the end of the 4 weeks, a qualifier exam will be conducted for eligible candidates based on the content covered in the 4 weeks of study.
In each course, the average of the best 2 out of the first 3 assignment scores will be calculated. sudoOnly those who get the minimum required average assignment scores in all four courses (as given below) will be allowed to appear for the Qualifier Exam.
| Minimum Average Assignment Score required in each course | |
| General Learner | 40% |
| SC / ST / PwD with 40% disability | 30% |
| PwD with 40% disability & SC / ST | 30% |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 35% |
Note: Relaxations in pass criteria indicated for various categories of learners is applicable ONLY for the qualifier process. There will be no relaxations in terms of grades / pass criteria once registered into the program.
Qualifier Exam and Passing Criteria (regular entry):
Only learners who are eligible to appear for the qualifier exam will receive the hall ticket for it.
The in-person Qualifier Exam at the end of 4 weeks of coursework is of 4 hours duration and covers all 4 courses.
To pass the Qualifier Exam, the learner has to get a minimum Average Qualifier Exam Score and a minimum Qualifier Exam Score in each course individually. Refer table:
| Min. Req. Qualifier Exam Score in each course | Min. Req. Average Qualifier Exam Score | |
| General Learner | 40% | 50% |
| SC / ST / PwD with 40% disability | 30% | 40% |
| PwD with 40% disability & SC / ST | 30% | 40% |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 35% | 45% |
Note: Relaxations in pass criteria indicated for various categories of learners is applicable ONLY for the qualifier process. There will be no relaxations in terms of grades / pass criteria once registered into the program.
Only those who pass the Qualifier Exam will be eligible to register for the Foundation Level courses.
Validity of the Qualifier Exam result:
For candidates who have already appeared for or cleared class 12 board exams, the Qualifier Exam result is valid for a period of 3 terms (or 1 year). So, a learner may choose to not join the program immediately after clearing the Qualifier Exam and join in the second or third term following the Qualifier Exam.
For candidates who are yet to appear for class 12 board exams, the Qualifier Exam result is valid for a period of 6 terms (or 2 years). The extended validity is given to these candidates to facilitate joining the program after passing class 12.
Though everyone who passes the Qualifier Exam will be allowed to register for Foundation Level, there will be limitations on the number of courses a learner will be allowed to register for in their first term based on the Average Qualifier Exam Score (M).
| Average Qualifier Exam Score (M) | Number of courses allowed to register for |
| Minimum required <= M < 50% | up to 2 courses |
| 50% <= M < 70% | up to 3 courses |
| M >= 70% | up to 4 courses |
Re-attempt Qualifier Exam (regular entry)
Learners who were eligible to appear for the qualifier exam, but did not clear the qualifier exam or were absent for it, will be eligible to re-attempt the qualifier exam in the same term (refer important dates) without having to repeat the assignments.
Anyone who is eligible may apply by filling in the re-attempt application form that opens up immediately after the qualifier results are announced and paying the re-attempt fee.
| General Category / OBC Applicant | ₹1500 re-attempt fee |
| SC / ST Category / PwD (>= 40% disablity ) Applicant | ₹750 re-attempt fee |
| SC / ST Category Applicant who is ALSO PwD (>= 40% disablity ) | ₹375 re-attempt fee |
Learners who are not eligible to re-attempt OR do not clear the re-attempt exam may try again by applying again for the next term. Such learners will be required to pay the full application fee (₹3000 for general category applicants) and go through the entire qualifier process including the weekly assignments and qualifier exam.
JEE-based Entry
Candidates qualified to appear for current year's JEE Advanced can directly join our program by following the steps below:
Complete the application form found here. Pay the admission fee of Rs 3000/-
Once we verify your proof for JEE advanced, you are eligible to directly start the foundation level courses.
Next, you have to register for courses (English 1, Maths 1, Statistics 1, Computational Thinking) by paying the course fees. You can register to 1/2/3/4 courses depending on the time you would have to study.
We will inform you of when you can register for courses.
Only after you register for courses, will you get access to content.
Thereafter you continue the program as a regular student.
You can pursue this even as you join another college or degree.
International Students
Are you a learner outside India interested to join this program?
Are you worried about the in-person assessments?
This program is open to learners from all around the globe. You can study from IIT Madras and earn the BS in Data Science and Applications irrespective of the country you are from.
IIT Madras is setting up modalities to conduct in-person exams in
as many countries as possible. Currently, we conduct in-person
exams in the following cities outside India:
UAE - Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi
Sri Lanka -
Colombo, Jaffna
Bahrain - Manama
Kuwait - Salmiya
Oman - Muscat
Students residing in these countries must write exams in the designated exam centres. Students have to appear for in-person exams roughly once a month.
Learners residing in any other country, apart from those shown above, can also enroll for this program and appear for remote proctored exams. Please write to the following email id with any queries you might have - ge@study.iitm.ac.in. Our team will get in touch with you and guide you on the next steps.
Outside India learners who have taken exams with us till date:
159
View detailed location of learners outside India