IIT Admission for Olympiad Winners | Direct Entry Route 2025

Surprisingly, IITs, the best premier institutions in the global spectrum, are inching towards the admission criteria adopted by foreign universities. Several leading universities abroad are highly impressed with the performance of the Olympiad scores achieved by the UG aspirants from India. And they have begun to consider the Olympiad scores of Indian aspirants abroad. IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur took a step in steadily changing the admission procedures on their campus as Olympiad for IIT admissions. IITs began to believe that subject proficiency is more important than the regular exam pattern implemented in JEE (Main |Advanced). Such changes directly target the top-tier talent inclined for research-oriented education and tend to improve the Indian scientific and engineering landscape. Besides the IIT Madras New dimension pathway , Olympiad-oriented admissions are already underway by leading institutions such as IISc, IISERs, IIT Bombay, and IIT Gandhinagar.

Details of Olympiad Oriented IIT Admissions at a Glance:

From this academic year, 2025-26, IITs began to introduce the inclusion of students into their campus fold as designed for select UG programs. You can get complete information on the procedure of selection and admissions into IITs over the official website: ugadmissions.iitm.ac.in/scope, and admissions are open from June 03, 2025, onwards.

IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras New Admission Pathway

IIT Madras New Admission Pathway allows Candidates to enroll for a seat in IIT. Candidate should approach them through a separately designed web portal, which completely differs from the JoSAA portal.

Two-Step Procedure for Admission via Olympiad Scores

It includes initial screening and a written exam, followed by an interview.
In the first step, the screening committee will review and screen the applications of the Olympiad achievers. And the shortlisted candidates will be called for the written examination and interview.
A candidate shortlisted by the committee should write a written test and attend the interview when called for.

Important Note

The Dean of Academic Affairs leads the Selection Committee, which conducts a fair and efficient admission process, and for discrepancies, the issues will be addressed by the Selection Committee.

Eligibility Criteria for Olympiad Achievers at IIT Kanpur

The applicant's age for the Olympiad IIT must be as specified for the JEE Advanced aspirants.
The candidate must have appeared for the Class XII while applying for the Olympiad IIT or should belong to the preceding year’s batch.
Candidates must have dealt with Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry in class XII.
The candidate applying for a particular subject must have attended the Olympiad Training Camp.
Candidates applying for the Olympiad should not belong to the following categories. A candidate should never have applied for JEE Main through JoSAA, or even cancelled the IIT admission before.

Eligibility Criteria for Olympiad Achievers at IIT Madras

Candidate must be a Person of Indian National (PIO) or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and should be holding the proof correspondingly. Their PIO or OCI card shall be valid if it is taken before March 4, 2021.

The contesting candidates for the IIT seat at Madras should have attended Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp (IMOTC), Orientation-cum-Selection Camps (OCSCs) for Science Olympiads, and the International Olympiad for Informatics Training Camp (IOITC).
The candidate should have completed Class 12th in the academic year 2024-25 or the preceding year.
The candidate must have obtained the certificate from recognized organizations such as Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) or Indian Association for Research in Computer Science ( IARCS), and these organizations conduct Olympiad Training Camps.

Additions @ IIT Madras | IIT Kanpur

In every program, two supernumerary positions will be provided for each course allotted for Olympiad achievers. Of them, one position goes to female candidates.

Academic Experts' Opinion @IITMadras

In a press release, IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti said that the program is designed to identify students proficient in problem-solving outside textbooks.

Moreover, the professor described the ScOpE vision for admissions: "The biggest puzzles of the world are solved not by repeating textbooks, but by those with the courage to break them piece by piece, and build miracles for the upcoming generations."

Olympiad for IIT Madras Admission

Olympiad achievers are eligible for the following programs of Olympiad for IIT Madras:

The undergraduate education in IIT Madras covers Aerospace Engineering (BTech & BTech + MTech), Biotechnology ( BTech & B.S), Chemical Engineering (BTech), Civil Engineering (BTech), Computer Science and Engineering (BTech) Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (BTech) Electrical Engineering (BTech) Engineering Design BTech + MTech, Physics (BTech & B.S.), Mechanical Engineering (BTech) Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (BTech) Ocean Engineering (BTech) Medical Science and Technology (B.S.), Chemistry (B.S.).

Olympiad - Oriented Admissions in IIT Kanpur

The top achievers of the Olympiad can find their place in five departments as classified by the Kanpur campus.

These departments are Biological Sciences, Bioengineering, Computer Science, Engineering Chemistry, Economic Sciences, and Mathematics & Statistics.

Conclusion

Slowly, the objectives of IITs have made a significant change, and IIT Madras new dimension pathway is bringing a drastic shift in the admission procedures. Their current opinion defines the importance of subject proficiency compared to the regular exam pattern ( JEE Main | Advanced). They observe that Olympiad for IIT can build a strong research-oriented education, and harness the Indian scientific and engineering landscapes. One need not be surprised to discover that IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, and other leading universities, such as IISc and IISERs, are making similar moves in their institutions.