IISER Aptitude Test [IAT]
National Level, Aptitude Test
IISER Aptitude Test
IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) 2026
IAT 2026
[IISER Aptitude Test 2026]
conducted by Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research
Admission to 5-Year BS-MS (Dual Degree), 4-Year B.Tech. and BS Degree Programs, 2026
IAT 2026 is scheduled on Sunday, June 7 2026 (09:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon IST).
Application Portal Opens Thursday, March 5, 2026
Aptitude Test
IAT 2026 will be conducted as a computer-based test in various centres across India.
IAT will consist of 60 questions, 15 questions each from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics.
Total duration of the test will be 180 minutes. Questions will be of multiple choice type. Each question will have only one correct answer.
Each correct answer will be awarded 4 marks.
Each incorrect answer will lead to the deduction of 1 mark.
Unanswered questions will be awarded 0 mark.
Therefore, maximum marks in IAT will be 240.
The total marks obtained by a candidate out of 240 will be considered for preparing the Rank List.
Not every candidate appearing in IAT 2026 will be awarded a rank. The rank cut-off will be announced at an appropriate time. Further, getting a rank does not guarantee offer/admission to an IISER.
Important Dates
Application Portal Opens
March 5, 2026 (Thursday)
Application Portal Closes
April 13, 2026 (Monday), 11:55 P.M. IST
Corrections in Application Forms
April 16, 2026 (Thursday), 11:00 AM IST - April 18, 2026 (Saturday), 11:55 PM IST
Release of Hall Tickets
May 24, 2026 (Sunday)
IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) 2026
June 7, 2026 (Sunday) (09:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon IST)
Fees
Application Fee
The application fee is to be paid by the applicant during the submission of the application form. The application portal shall open on March 05, 2026.
Rs. 2,000/- for candidates applying under General, EWS, OBC, and OBC-NCL categories.
Rs. 1,000/- for candidates applying under persons with disabilities (PwD), persons registered as Kashmiri Migrants/Kashmiri Pandits/Kashmiri Hindu Families (Non-Migrant) and SC/ST category.
Rs. 12,000/- for candidates applying under Foreign National category.
The application fee is non-refundable.
Seat Acceptance Fee (SAF)
The Seat Acceptance Fee is to be paid only after an offer of admission has been made to the candidate. The SAF will have to be paid as per the category mentioned in the offer letter.
Rs. 35,000/- (Rs. 25,000/- + Rs. 10,000/- (Non refundable administrative fee)) for General/EWS/OBC/OBC-NCL/PwD/KM/Kashmiri Pandit/Kashmiri Hindu Families (Non-Migrants) categories.
Failure to deposit the SAF within the stipulated time will result in the cancellation of the offer. Furthermore, the candidate will not be considered in any subsequent rounds of seat allotment during admission 2026.
Once the candidate registers in the allotted IISER, SAF will be adjusted against the first semester fee. Please note that the overall fee structure at various IISERs is different. For more details, please visit the webpage of the respective IISER.
Withdrawal Process
Refund policy for the SAF is given below:
A seat/offer can be withdrawn by pressing the button "WITHDRAW OFFER" in the application portal. No other form/method of withdrawal is accepted. Email or phone communication in this regard is not entertained.
Once the seat/offer is withdrawn, the candidate will not be considered for further rounds of the admission process. A withdrawn candidate cannot re-enter the admission process again under any circumstances.
Withdrawal must be within the stipulated date(s). The date(s) can be found on the admission website.
If a candidate withdraws from the counselling process before the Round-wise withdrawal (RW) deadline, then no cancellation fee will be applicable.
If a candidate withdraws after the RW deadline, but on or before Final withdrawal (FW) deadline, then the non-refundable amount will be deducted.
IISERs and JAC are not liable for losses incurred if the candidate’s application is not withdrawn in the above manner and on or before the stipulated date and time.
Once a candidate has withdrawn the offer through the counselling portal, the amount due will be returned to the bank account details provided by the candidate in the preference portal or by the same channel (credit/debit card, bank account etc.) used to pay the SAF. Such candidates do not have to take any additional steps towards their SAF refund. The refund process will start only after three weeks of the completion of the admission process.
If the candidate does not withdraw on or before the FW deadline, then the SAF will be transferred to the allotted IISER. Any further withdrawal will be taken care of by that particular IISER following the instructions given below.
If the candidate fails to join in-person at the offered IISER on the joining/reporting date mentioned in the offer letter of the respective IISER, the cancellation fee decided by the concerned IISER will be applicable.
Further, candidates who have paid SAF but fail to show up by the last date of admission fee payment at the concerned IISER will not be considered for further rounds of admission.
If the candidate decides to discontinue after joining any particular IISER, the refund policy of that IISER will be applicable.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be Indian nationals, OCI/PIO/Foreign Nationals to apply for IAT 2026.
Candidates must have passed the Class XII (or equivalent) examination either in 2024 or 2025 or appearing in 2026 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 in 2024 or 2025 or appearing in 2026 with science stream 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 2026 Application Form under "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National (You'll need to produce original when necessary)".
Candidates must have taken at least three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics during their Class XII (or equivalent) examination.
For admissions to the following programs, candidates must have Mathematics during their Class XII (or equivalent): 5-year BS-MS in Computational and Data Sciences program at IISER Kolkata, 4-year B.Tech. program at IISER Bhopal, 4-year BS in Economic Sciences program at IISER Bhopal and 4-year BS in Economic and Statistical Sciences program at IISER Tirupati.
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 that, the percentage needs to be calculated using aggregate marks, that is, considering ALL the subjects taken in Class XII (or equivalent) level.
Note:
The students from the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), from Kashmir division/Winter Zone areas of Jammu division and the U.T. of Ladakh, who appeared in their Class XII or equivalent level examination in Dec 2023, are also eligible to apply for the IAT 2026, provided they satisfy all the other eligibility criteria. During the application process, these students must pick 2024 as their year of passing the Class XII examination.
Candidates belonging to Kashmiri Pandit/Kashmiri Hindu Families (Non-Migrants) may apply for the IAT 2026 as Kashmiri Migrants subject to the fulfilment 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, June 7, 2026 (9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon IST), at various centres across India.
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 2026. However, their admission will be subject to fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria given above.
For candidates who had appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2025 and reappeared in any subject (for whatever reason) in 2026, the better of two performances 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.
The IAT 2026 will broadly follow the rationalized NCERT syllabus for 2025-2026.
Please click here for the details.
Mock Test
Click here to start the Mock Test.
The Mock Test link is only for practice purpose Click on the "Sign In" button to begin Please read the instructions carefully.
Admission to IISERs is exclusively through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT), which is a computer-based test scheduled on Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 09:00 A.M., at various centres across the country.
Candidates will be asked for preferences of IISERs in the online application form during counselling, if eligible. This is required to be done only after the declaration of the IAT 2026 results. Note that, the prefernces of IISERs are not required during the filling up of the application form for appearing in the IAT 2026.
Entire counselling process will be conducted online. There is no need for the candidates to visit any IISER in-person during the counselling process.
Candidates can check if they received admission offers by logging into their application portal.
Admission offers to any candidate will be given strictly based on the following factors:
- seat availability at each IISER in the current allocation round,
- IAT rank obtained by the candidate,
- IISER preferences given by the candidate, and
- the category to which the candidate belongs.
If a candidate receives an admission offer, he/she can either choose to accept the seat OR reject it. If candidate rejects the offered seat or if no action is taken by the candidate before the deadline, then candidate will not be able to participate in further rounds of counselling.
If a candidate receives an offer, then to To "Accept & Float" or to "Accept & Freeze", the student must pay a seat acceptance fee through online mode before the prescribed deadline. If the seat acceptance fee is not paid, the candidate will not be considered for admission in subsequent allocation rounds.
Seat Acceptance Fee (SAF) is to be paid only after an offer of admission has been made to the candidate. The SAF must be paid as per the category entered by the candidate in the application.
Rs. 35,000/- (Rs. 25,000/- + Rs. 10,000/- (Non refundable administrative fee)) for General/EWS/OBC-NCL/PwD/KM categories Rs. 17,500/- (Rs. 12,500/- + Rs. 5000/- (Non refundable administrative fee)) for SC/ST categories.
The candidate can exercise two options:
- candidate can FREEZE the seat (they will be allotted to the IISER shown in the offer. They will not participate in further rounds of counselling),
- candidates can FLOAT (they will participate in further rounds of counselling to get their higher preferences). - VERY IMPORTANT: The candidates MUST take action on their choices in every single round (i.e., choose FREEZE/FLOAT in every single round). They MUST confirm in every round if they want to FLOAT or FREEZE. If a candidate DOES NOT TAKE ACTION (i.e., choose FLOAT/FREEZE) in a given round, they will NOT be able to participate in subsequent rounds of counselling. Their candidature will be considered as having been WITHDRAWN. They will be eliminated from the counselling process and will not be able to get back into the counselling process.
Candidates who have chosen to FLOAT will be again considered for seat allocation in the next round. If they are eligible to secure a seat in an IISER that is higher in their preference list than the currently accepted one, they will be offered that seat. PLEASE NOTE: Upon excersing the float option, if a candidate is offered a seat in an IISER of thier higher preference, the seat previously alloted stands cancelled.
If seats in preferred IISERs are filled, then candidate will not be considered in further rounds of counselling. For example, if a candidate had given only two preferences as IISER-X and IISER-Y, and if the seats in these IISERs are filled, then the candidate will not be considered for seat allocation anymore. This process happens even if the student has not been allocated any seat in previous rounds of counselling.
Admission offers given are provisional. They will be confirmed only after the candidates report at the IISER where they have secured admission and provide all the required documents in original.
The candidate will be solely and entirely responsible for the authenticity of information and documents submitted by the individual. At any time during or after the process of admission, if it is found that a candidate is ineligible for admission as per the prescribed rules/criteria, the candidate's admission will be cancelled immediately.
Requests for extension of date or time for seat acceptance will not be entertained under any circumstances. Published deadlines will be strictly followed.
All the announcements related to the admission process will appear on this website. Candidates must follow this Official Website for any updates.
Applicants must be Indian nationals, OCI/PIO/Foreign Nationals to apply for IAT 2026.
Candidates must have passed the Class XII (or equivalent) examination either in 2024 or 2025 or appearing in 2026 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 in 2024 or 2025 or appearing in 2026 with science stream 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 2026 Application Form under "Please upload copy of document supporting your claim of Foreign National (You'll need to produce original when necessary)".
Candidates must have taken at least three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics during their Class XII (or equivalent) examination.
For admissions to the following programs, candidates must have Mathematics during their Class XII (or equivalent): 5-year BS-MS in Computational and Data Sciences program at IISER Kolkata, 4-year B. Tech. program at IISER Bhopal, 4-year BS in Economic Sciences program at IISER Bhopal and 4-year BS in Economic and Statistical Sciences program at IISER Tirupati.
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 that, the percentage needs to be calculated using aggregate marks, that is, considering ALL the subjects taken in Class XII (or equivalent) level.
Note:
The students from the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), from Kashmir division/Winter Zone areas of Jammu division and the U.T. of Ladakh, who appeared in their Class XII or equivalent level examination in Dec 2023, are also eligible to apply for the IAT 2026, provided they satisfy all the other eligibility criteria. During the application process, these students must pick 2024 as their year of passing the Class XII examination.
Candidates belonging to Kashmiri Pandit/Kashmiri Hindu Families (Non-Migrants) may apply for the IAT 2026 as Kashmiri Migrants subject to the fulfilment of other eligibility criteria. These candidates must upload a valid domicile certificate at the time of application under "Kashmiri Migrant Certificate".
Admission to IISERs is exclusively through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT), which is a computer-based test scheduled on Sunday, June 7, 2026 (09:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon IST), at various centres across India.
Candidates whose Class XII (or equivalent) examination results have not yet been declared can apply for IAT 2026. However, their admission will be subject to fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria given above.
For candidates who had appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2025 and reappeared in any subject (for whatever reason) in 2026, the better of two performances 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.
Application Portal Opens
March 5, 2026 (Thursday)
Application Portal Closes
April 13, 2026 (Monday), 11:55 P.M. IST
Corrections in Application Forms
April 16, 2026 (Thursday), 11:00 AM IST - April 18, 2026 (Saturday), 11:55 PM IST
Release of Hall Tickets
May 24, 2026 (Sunday)
IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) 2026
June 7, 2026 (Sunday) (09:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon IST)
The tentative total number of seats including supernumerary seats available for BS-MS / BS / B.Tech. programs is 2343, with each IISER having the following number of seats
BS-MS Program
Number of Seats
IISER Berhampur
300
IISER Bhopal
300
IISER Kolkata
280
IISER Kolkata (BS-MS in Computational and Data Sciences)
30
IISER Mohali
275
IISER Pune
288
IISER Thiruvananthapuram
320
IISER Tirupati
250
B.Tech. / BS Program
Number of Seats
IISER Bhopal (B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering)
40
IISER Bhopal (B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
75
IISER Bhopal (B.Tech. in Data Science and Engineering)
80
IISER Bhopal (BS in Economic Sciences)
55
IISER Tirupati (BS in Economic and Statistical Sciences)
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