IIT Madras became the first IIT in the country to introduce admissions for sportspersons in its undergraduate programmes.
The Institute introduced the 'Sports Excellence Admission' (SEA) initiative from the academic year 2024-2025, under which it offers two supernumerary seats, of which one is exclusively for female students, in each of its undergraduate programs for Indian Nationals. Over the past two years, two batches of students have already been admitted through this initiative, marking an important step towards encouraging sports culture within the IIT system.
This initiative was launched to recognize and reward talented students who have excelled in sports. The program encourages deserving students to pursue higher education while continuing to excel in their respective sports.
To be eligible for admission through this program, candidates must secure a position in the Common Rank List (CRL) or category-wise rank list in JEE (Advanced), and must have won at least one medal in any National or International-level sports competition in the last four years.
A separate 'Sports Rank List' (SRL) is prepared based on the total score obtained by candidates according to their performance in a specific list of sports. The seat allotment is done based on this list.
The admission process through SEA requires a student to qualify JEE (Advanced), but admissions are conducted through a separate portal operated by IIT Madras instead of the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) portal.
This initiative has also been adopted by some of the other IITs. IIT Indore joined the model last year, and IIT Kharagpur and IIT Mandi are also introducing similar admissions for sportspersons from this year, reflecting a broader shift towards recognising athletic excellence alongside academic achievement in premier engineering institutes.
More details are available on the official portal
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