IIT Kharagpur to admit students for Olympiad and sports achievements: Which other IITs offer non-JEE admission route?
For a long time, cracking the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced has been the main way to get into India’s top engineering schools, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). But IIT Kharagpur is about to change that. From the 2026 academic session, students who have done exceptionally well in international Olympiads or won medals in national and international sports can get admission without needing a JEE rank. This move aims to give talented students more opportunities to join one of India’s leading engineering institutes.According to the Times News Network, the IIT Kharagpur Senate has approved the plan in principle. A committee is now working out the details, taking inspiration from similar programs at IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Gandhinagar, and IIT Indore.
New pathways: SCOPE and SEA
Two supernumerary admission routes will be introduced
- Science Olympiad Excellence Admission (SCOPE): Students who have participated in major international Olympiads, including the IMO, IPhO, IChO, IBO, and IOI, or attended Olympiad training camps will be eligible. Their achievements will be scored to generate a department-wise rank list, from which seats will be allotted.
- Sports Excellence Admission (SEA): Candidates who have won medals in recognized sports competitions over the last four years, including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Khelo India University Games, Senior Nationals, Federation Cup, and All India Inter-University events, can apply with proof of their accomplishments.
Unlike the conventional JEE route, students applying through SCOPE or SEA will not need a JEE rank. However, general eligibility criteria such as passing class 12 and age limits as per JEE rules will still apply.
Why IITs are diversifying admissions
The move reflects a broader shift in IITs toward recognizing talent beyond standardized testing. IIT Kharagpur’s director, Suman Chakraborty, told TNN that the initiative seeks to make IIT education more inclusive while attracting a richer mix of talents in academics, sports, and other fields.IIT Kharagpur’s approach aligns with similar programs at other IITs
- IIT Madras offers SCOPE, SEA, and FACE (Fine Arts and Culture Excellence) pathways, with two supernumerary seats per program and at least one reserved for women.
- IIT Bombay admits students in its BS Mathematics program via the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) route.
- IIT Kanpur, Gandhinagar, and Indore have their own Olympiad and sports excellence frameworks.
This system also integrates with the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA), making it the first time that IITs are formally recognising talent-based quotas for undergraduate admissions at a national level.
Opportunity beyond exams
For students who have excelled in sports or Olympiads but struggled with conventional exam preparation, this represents a life-changing opportunity. “Merit is more than marks,” Chakraborty told TNN. “These pathways ensure that outstanding intellectual or athletic talent is recognised and nurtured at our campuses.”Experts say this mirrors global trends in higher education, where holistic admission processes are designed to value creativity, problem-solving, and domain-specific expertise alongside academic scores.
Other non-JEE routes you might not know about
Even before the introduction of SCOPE and SEA, several IIT programs already allowed students to enter through alternative pathways beyond the JEE framework.
- GATE: Used for M.Tech admissions across IITs.
- JAM: The Joint Admission Test for M.Sc. and Joint MSc-PhD programs.
- CEED/UCEED: Qualifying exams for design programs at institutes such as IIT Bombay and IIT Guwahati.
- CAT: Entrance for management programs at IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay.
- IIT Madras Online B.Sc. in Data Science: A self-paced, fully online undergraduate program with its own qualifying exam.
These diverse routes demonstrate how IITs are gradually evolving from being solely test-centric institutions into multidisciplinary ecosystems that value a variety of talents, skills, and achievements. They complement the new Olympiad and sports-based admissions, highlighting a broader shift toward more inclusive and holistic selection criteria.
What’s next
The exact details of how students will apply and be selected are still being worked out. This includes how achievements will be scored, how medals or awards will be verified, how seats will be accepted, and how the process will coordinate with JoSAA. IIT Kharagpur is expected to release the full guidelines before the 2026 session.If the system works well, it could be adopted by other IITs too. This means more students could get in based on their success in Olympiads or sports, without needing a top JEE rank. For the first time, winning a medal in a lab or on the field could carry the same weight as a top exam score, marking a big change in how India defines excellence in engineering.
