Priority is being given to special talents alongside academic performance for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Students who excel in sports, arts, and science competitions can secure admission to IITs through supernumerary (extra) seats.
For the 2026 academic session, several leading IITs have opened admission pathways based on sports, fine arts, and Olympiad achievements.
**Direct admission for Science Olympiad achievers without JEE**
Students excelling in Science Olympiads will be granted direct admission without taking the JEE (Advanced) exam. Applications can be submitted and details regarding the process obtained by visiting the website https://josaa.nic.in/.
Admission based on ‘Sports Excellence’ will be available for students who have demonstrated outstanding performance on the sports field. This pathway offers admission to IIT Indore, Kharagpur, Madras, Mandi, and Roorkee.
An admission process based on ‘Fine Arts and Culture Excellence’ has been introduced for those interested in arts and culture, enabling admission to IIT Madras and IIT Mandi.
**Opportunity for admission to three IITs**
This initiative offers the greatest relief to meritorious science students. Under the ‘Science Olympiad Excellence’ admission category, students with outstanding performances in Science Olympiads can secure admission to IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, and IIT Mandi.
Candidates will not be required to appear for the JEE (Advanced) exam for this purpose. IIT Madras has launched a special Olympiad-based admission process for mathematics experts.
Students excelling in Mathematics Olympiads will be eligible for admission to the four-year BS program recently launched by IIT Madras.
**No impact on general category seats**
In this process, students are evaluated based on their special talents alongside standard engineering entrance examination criteria. The special admission mode does not affect the seats available for general category students.
The admission process differs significantly from the standard JoSAA system. When candidates visit the JoSAA website and select the SEA, FACE, or SCOPE options, they are redirected to a separate online portal to submit their applications.
