News & Updates

IIT Madras, a premier institute, offers a niche Online Degree program aimed at producing graduates who will be employable in a sector that presently has high demand - Data Science and Applications - and admission is open to students from any subject stream as long as they have studied Mathematics & English in Class 10.

Eligibility

1. The candidate must have studied Mathematics and English in class 10.
2. Should have cleared class 12 or equivalent.
IMP: School students who have appeared for their Class 11 final exams can apply irrespective of their group/stream/board. Those who qualify can join the program after passing Class 12.

Program structure/progression and multiple exit stages: There are FOUR LEVELS in the Online Degree program and to get a BS/BSc Degree in Programming and Data Science from IIT Madras, a learner has to successfully complete all.

Level 1: Foundation Level (8 courses) --> Exit option: Foundational Certificate
Level 2: Diploma Level (6 Programming courses + 6 Data Science courses) --> Exit option: Diploma in Programming or Diploma in Data Science
Level 3: Degree Level (11 courses) --> Exit with B.Sc in Programming & Data Science
Level 4: B.S. Degree (additional 8-month apprenticeship or a project with companies or research institutes)  << BS Level added in 2022

Modes of Entry and Selection process

1. Regular Entry - Any candidate, irrespective of the stream, is eligible, as stated above.
(a) Qualifier process
All applicants will have to go through a Qualifier Process, like a trial month, wherein they will get access to 4 weeks of content for the four foundational level courses - English I, Mathematics for Data Science I, Statistics for Data Science I and Computational Thinking.
Video content of 2 - 3 hours duration will be released for each course on a weekly basis.
Along with the content, the first three weeks will also include an assignment for each course that need to be completed and submitted online within the given deadline.
Average assignment score in each course will be calculated. Only those who get minimum required average assignment scores in all four courses will be allowed to write the Qualifier Exam.
(b) Qualifier exam
Only learners who get minimum required average assignment scores will be eligible for the in-person invigilated Qualifier Exam conducted at the end of 4 weeks of coursework. Only these candidates will receive hall tickets.
Only those who pass the Qualifier Exam will be eligible to register for Foundational Level courses.

2. JEE-based Entry: Candidates qualified to appear for current years JEE Advanced can directly join the program (no need to go through the Qualifier process). They need to wWatch video content on the IITM Online degree portal and submit weekly assignments for the first 4 weeks of the four foundational level courses. Thereafter, appear for the in-person quiz of 4 hours duration conducted at the end of 4 weeks of coursework covering all 4 courses. And finally register for courses at the Foundation Level based on the quiz scores

Note : There is also a Diploma Only Entry which is primarily aimed at working professionals or learners who already possess the fundamentals taught in Foundational Level courses and wish to exit with one or two Diplomas (Diploma in Programming AND/OR Diploma in Data Science) from IIT Madras. Learners entering via Diploma Only Entry can only do Diploma Level courses and cannot proceed to the Degree Level courses.

Key dates

Last date of application: 10 May 2023
Qualifier Phase Week 1 Start: 2 Jun 2023
In-person Qualifier exam: 16 Jul 2023

Check IIT-Madras-BS-DataScience for complete details.