Applicants must be Indian nationals, OCI/PIO/Foreign Nationals to apply for IAT 2025.
The candidates must have passed the Class XII (or equivalent) examination with science stream from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India. Foreign Nationals need to upload an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities unless they have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India. The equivalence certificate must be uploaded while submitting the IAT 2025 Application Form under "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National (You'll need to produce original when necessary)".
Candidates should have been born on or after October 01, 2000. Five years of age relaxation is given to SC, ST, and PwD candidates, i.e, these candidates should have been born on or after October 01, 1995. Note that, there is no restriction based on the completion year of Class XII.
Candidates must have taken at least three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics during their Class XII (or equivalent) examination.
Candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD are required to score a minimum of 55% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in their Class XII (or equivalent) examination. Candidates belonging to other categories are required to score a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate or equivalent grade in their Class XII (or equivalent) examination.
NOTE:
Candidates belonging to Kashmiri Pandit/Kashmiri Hindu Families (Non-Migrants) may apply for the IAT 2025 as Kashmiri Migrants subject to the fullfillment of other eligibility criteria. These candidates must upload a valid domicile certificate at the time of application under "Kashmiri Migrant Certificate".
Admission to IISERs
Admission to IISERs is exclusively through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT), which is a computer-based test scheduled on Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM, at various centres across the country.
Performance Criteria in Class XII (or equivalent examination)
Candidates whose Class XII (or equivalent) examination results have not yet been declared can apply for IAT 2025. However, their admission will be subject to fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria given above.
For candidates who have appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination multiple times (for whatever reasons), the best of the performances in terms of aggregate in a given year will be considered.
If a board gives aggregate marks considering both Class XI and Class XII, then only Class XII (or equivalent) examination marks will be considered. If a board gives aggregate marks considering the results of all three years of a 3-year diploma or courses of equivalent duration, then only the marks scored in the final year will be considered. Similarly, the marks scored in the final two semesters will be considered for boards that follow a semester system.
If a board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade-sheet, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the board specifying the equivalent marks and submit it before the deadline of the mark-sheet submission. In case the board does not provide such a certificate, the percentage marks will be assessed as follows:
percentage marks = (CGPA or CPI obtained × 100) / PS,
where PS is the maximum value of the point scale used by the respective board.
Reservation Policy
Reservation policies as mandated by the Govt. of India will apply
Scheduled Caste (SC) - 15% of seats
Scheduled Tribe (ST) - 7.5% of seats
Other Backward Classes belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL) - 27% of seats
Persons with Disability (PwD) with at least 40% impairment - 5% of seats (horizontal, within the same category)
Kashmiri Migrants - 3 seats per IISER (supernumerary)
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) - up to 10% (as per Government of India rules)
Note that the EWS/OBC-NCL certificate should be issued on or after April 01, 2025
Services of a Scribe
As per the office memorandum of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the PwD candidates who are visually impaired OR dyslexic (severe) OR have disability in the upper limbs OR have lost fingers/hands, thereby preventing them from properly operating the computer-based test platform may avail the services of a scribe (amanuensis) for the IISER Aptitude Test.
As per the office memorandum of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment candidates with less than 40% disability and having difficulty in writing may avail the services of a scribe (amanuensis). These candidates must also upload the “Disability and Having Difficulty in Writing” certificate (see Downloads section) duly issued by the competent authority.
Eligible candidates who desire to avail the services of a scribe need to opt for this during the online application process of IAT 2025.
If it is found at any stage that a candidate has availed the services of a scribe, but is not eligible to do so, the candidate will be excluded from the process of evaluation, ranking, and admission. If such a candidate has already been admitted to any IISER, the candidate's admission will be cancelled. The opinion of the medical board constituted by individual IISER shall be final.
Compensatory Time
PwD candidates having disabilities with at least 40% impairment as applicable, are eligible for one hour compensatory time in the IISER Aptitude Test. Persons with less than 40% disability and having difficulty in writing covered under the definition of Section 2 (s) of the RPwD Act, 2016 but not covered under the definition of Section 2(r) of the said Act are also eligible for one hour compensatory time on the production of “Disability and Having Difficulty in Writing" certificate (see Downloads section) duly issued by the competent authority.
If it is found at any stage that a candidate has availed of compensatory time, but is not eligible to do so, the candidate will be excluded from the process of evaluation, ranking and admission. If such a candidate has already been admitted to any IISER, the candidate's admission will be cancelled. The opinion of the medical board constituted by individual IISER shall be final.
OCI/PIO
OCI/PIO card holders can apply for IAT 2025, provided they satisfy other eligibility criteria. They shall be eligible to compete for the unreserved seats. The applicant needs to upload an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities unless they have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India.
Foreign Nationals
Candidates who are not citizens of India AND do not hold OCI/PIO cards shall be considered as foreign nationals. Such candidates are eligible to appear for IAT 2025. The applicant need to upload an equivalence certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities unless they have passed the Class XII or equivalent level examination from any board recognized by the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India. The equivalence certificate must be uploaded while submitting the IAT 2025 Application Form under "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National (You'll need to produce original when necessary)".