IIT-K reserves seats in BTech, BS for Olympiad performers

IIT Kanpur reserves seats for BTech and BS programs through Olympiads, testing students' knowledge and skills in various subjects.

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has announced that it will reserve a certain number of seats for admitting students into BTech and BS programmes through Olympiads in five departments from the academic year 2025-26. 

The institute has reserved two seats for Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, six seats for computer science and engineering, two seats for Chemistry, three seats for Economic Sciences and four seats for Mathematics and Statistics. Candidates will be considered from Olympiads such as INMO/IMO, INOI/IOI, INChO and IMOTC. All the mentioned Olympiads are recognised by the government.  

The International Olympiads are annual competitions for pre-university students that test their knowledge, critical thinking, laboratory, and problem-solving skills. Indian students have been acing these Olympiads for many decades with an enrollment of 20,000 and 60,000 students across subjects each year.  

Each Olympiad consists of a five-stage rigorous selection process. It begins with a subject-specific National Standard Examination (NSE), a challenging test for which only the top 400-500 students from the 1st stage qualify. These students then appear in the Indian National Olympiads (INOs), where the top 40-50 students make it to month-long extensive selection camps that engage students in lectures by subject-experts and researchers, challenging problem-solving questions, and experimental sessions. Olympiads on astronomy include analysis of astronomical data and night sky observations. The top four to six best-performing students (based on subjects) from the selection camps make it to the pre-departure training camps, where they prepare more. 

There are at least eight major organisations that conduct these competitive examinations. While some are conducted by private entities, there are 13 Science and Mathematics Olympiads conducted by the government that are part of larger International Olympiads supported by governments of various countries.  

According to the guidelines specified by IIT-K, the prescribed age limit of the candidate should be the same as that of the JEE (Advanced) candidates for the corresponding year. The candidate should have appeared for the Class XII or equivalent examination for the first time in either the year of admission to IIT Kanpur or the previous year with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as compulsory subjects. The candidate should have scored first class marks in the qualifying examination. The candidate should not have been admitted to an IIT through JoSAA in the previous year, irrespective of whether the candidate continued in the program or accepted a seat at IIT by reporting Online or physically at the reporting centre in the past. The candidate whose admission to IITs was cancelled for whatever reason after joining any IIT are NOT eligible to get admission through Olympiads. The candidate should have attended the International Olympiad Training camp in the discipline specified by the department concerned.