IISER Aptitude Test (IAT) 2026 will be conducted for candidates who have a keen interest in science education and research. Every year, one of the IISERs, acting as the exam conducting authority, will organise the test to provide admission to the five-year Integrated BS-MS, four-year BS, and BTech degree programs.

Through the IAT 2026 exam, candidates will be offered admission to participating institutes such as the seven IISERs, IISc Bangalore, and IIT Madras. To conduct the exam, the officials are expected to release the IISER 2026 notification tentatively in the fourth week of January 2026.

To ensure a smooth admission process and understand the eligibility criteria, including age limit, nationality, and subject combinations in Class 12, candidates must go through the IAT 2026 eligibility details carefully.

Interested applicants will be able to fill out the IISER 2026 application form and submit the registration fee within the specified timeline. The IISER Aptitude Test 2026 will be conducted in online (CBT) mode for a duration of three hours to assess candidates’ domain knowledge. The exam will consist of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) from Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

Check out this SciAstra exam page for complete details on the IISER 2026 admission process, eligibility, exam pattern, syllabus, and IAT 2026 exam dates.

Table of Contents

IAT 2026 Highlights

Before starting the IISER 2026 preparation, candidates are advised to check out the important key features of the IISER entrance exam 2026 from here:

Features

Details

Exam Name

IISER Aptitude Test (IAT), IISER Entrance Exam

Exam Organizing Institute

One of the IISERs

Exam Level

Graduate Level

Courses Offered

5 year BS-MS dual degree
4 year BS degree
4 year BTech degree

Exam Mode

Online

Exam Frequency

Once a year

Registration Fee

Gen/OBC/OBC-NCL/EWS – INR 2,000
SC/ST/KM/PwD – INR 1,000

Type of Question

Multiple Choice Questions (60 questions)

IAT Negative Marking Scheme

-1 mark for incorrect, +4 marks for correct

Official Website

https://iiseradmission.in/

What is IAT 2026 Admission Process?

In order to have hassle-free admission to the courses offered, a candidate must be completely aware of the IISER 2026 admission process. Basically, the admission process is combined with all the events or the timeline right from making the registrations till the counselling process, where a candidate is allotted a seat.
IISER Aptitude Test admission process is further divided into three stages, namely,

1. IISER Pre- Exam Events

2. IISER Exam Events

3. IISER Post Exam Events

IAT 2026 Exam Dates

Since IAT 2026 admission dates are yet to be announced by the exam officials, candidates can check out the previous year’s dates from here for reference:

IISER Entrance Exam Dates 2026

Event Date (Tentative)

IISER 2026 Exam Notification

Jan 25, 2026 – Jan 31, 2026

IISER Exam 2026 Registration Date

March 10, 2026 to April 15, 2026

IISER Admit Card 2026

May 15, 2026

IISER Exam 2026

May 25, 2026

IISER Provisional Answer Key 2026

May 25, 2026

IISER Exam Student Response Sheet 2026

May 29, 2026

IISER Final Answer Key 2026

June 24, 2026

IISER Result 2026

June 24, 2026

When will IAT 2026 Notification Releasing?

So far, there has been no update from the exam officials regarding the release of the IISER 2026 exam notification. However, based on previous years’ trends, it is highly anticipated that candidates will be able to view the IISER 2026 notification on the official website in the fourth week of February 2026. More precisely, candidates can check the official website or the press release for the notification from January 28 onwards.

IISER 2026: Courses Offered & Seat Intake

Candidates who are interested in appearing for the IISER aptitude test for academic session 2026-2027 will be offered three types of courses at IISER institutes, IIT Madras and IISc Bangalore. Candidates can check out the programmes offered through IAT exam from here:

1. 5 year BS-MS dual degree programme
2. 4 Year BS degree programme
3. 4-Year BTech (Data Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Chemical Engineering)

Programme Specialization

Campus

Seat Intake

BS‑MS Programme

IISER Berhampur

300

IISER Bhopal

300

IISER Kolkata

280

IISER Mohali

270

IISER Pune

288

IISER Tirupati

350

IISER Thiruvananthapuram

320

B.Tech. / BS Programme

IISER Bhopal (B.Tech.)

140

IISER Bhopal (BS in Economic Sciences)

35

IISER Tirupati (BS in Economic & Statistical Sciences)

50

IISER Kolkata (BS‑MS in Computational & Data Sciences)

30

Total Seats Across Programmes

2,363

IISER Eligibility Criteria 2026

For a candidate looking for admissions in the courses offered through IAT 2026, one must satisfy the educational qualifications, age eligibility criteria, and other details. Check out the IISER Exam 2026 eligibility criteria from here:
Since the IISER 2026 eligibility criteria are yet to be released by the exam officials, for reference, candidates can check out the previous year’s eligibility.

Criteria

Details

Year of passing Class XII

Candidates who have passed their Class 12 in 2024, 2025, or 2026 or appearing from a science stream recognized by COBSE

Nationality

Open to Indian nationals, PIO/OCI holders, and Foreign Nationals.
Foreign applicants must upload an equivalence certificate issued by AIU unless their board is COBSE-recognized

Subject requirement

Candidates need to take at least three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics during Class XII or in science stream.

IISER 2026 Application Form

IISER registration form 2026 will be released online in the month of March 2026 tentatively. Class 12 droppers and appearing students will be able to fill out the IISER application form 2026 by making a registered account, filling in the details asked, choosing exam cities, uploading documents, and paying the IISER 2026 registration fee. IAT 2026 Registration Fee In order to make the successful registrations, candidates need to pay the IISER 2026 application fee via online mode through the secure payment gateway on the application portal.

Category

IISER Application Fee

General / OBC-NCL

Rs 2,000

SC / ST / Kashmiri Migrants / PwD

Rs 1,000

IISER Exam Pattern 2026

As per IAT 2026 exam pattern, the exam officials will test the candidates knowledge in the concerned subject in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). There will be a total of 60 MCQ questions that the examiners ask, with 16 questions from each section, namely, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology.
The IISER 2026 exam will be held in online mode/computer-based for a duration of three hours, or 180 minutes. According to the IISER 2026 shift timings, the exam will be conducted in one shift, the morning shift from 9 AM to 12 PM.

IISER Syllabus 2026

Candidates must prepare for the exam through the specified IAT syllabus 2026. Exam officials will release the syllabus along with the exam notification in the month of March 2026, tentatively. The exam questions will be asked from the topics mentioned in the Class 11 and 12 NCERT books on physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology subjects. Candidates are suggested to thoroughly go through the topics mentioned in the IISER syllabus. The questions will be designed in a certain way to test the candidate’s domain knowledge and critical and analytical skills.

IISER Admit Card 2026

Candidates who had earlier successfully filled out the registration form and paid the application fee will only be able to download the IAT Admit Card 2026. It is anticipated that the exam officials will release the IISER Hall Ticket 2026 in the second week of May 2026 in online format, and candidates will be able to download the admit card PDF by logging in to their registered accounts.
The IAT Hall Ticket 2026 will contain important information, including the candidate’s name, roll number, photograph, exam date, shift timing, and exam centre address details.

IISER 2026 Exam Analysis

Test takers will take the IISER entrance exam 2026 for getting admission to the courses offered. The exam officials will test the candidate’s critical, analytical, and practical knowledge from subjects like mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology from the specified IAT 2026 syllabus.
Based on the reactions and exam difficulty received from the test takers, the IISER exam analysis 2026 will be provided here by the SciAstra team. After analyzing the IISER question paper 2026, the exam analysis, difficulty level, and safe score will be provided here.

IISER 2026 Answer Key

IAT Answer Key 2026 is released by the exam officials on the same day after the successful conduct of the examination. The answer key carries the correct answers for the questions asked in the IISER 2026 exam.
At first the exam officials will release the IISER 2026 provisional answer key, which is subject to raise objections. Based on the objections received by the candidates against the answer earlier provided, if found valid, the same question will get dropped. Corrections will be done in the provisional answer key, and the exam officials will later release the IISER 2026 final answer key.

IISER Result 2026

IISER 2026 result is anticiapted to be released in the fourth week of June 2026. The exam officials will compile the result based on the IISER final answer key 2026. Once the result is released, candidates are no longer to raise any objections.
The exam officials will issue the IAT rankcard 2026 in the form of results where the candidates will be given AIR/category ranks. Test takers will be able to tally their IAT 2026 scorecard by downloading their student response sheet and comparing it with the IISER final answer key. The IISER 2026 Rankcard will help the candidates to enrol in the counselling rounds conducted by various IISER participating institutions.

IISER Entrance Exam Cut Off 2026

Candidates preparing for IISER aptitude test 2026 can check out the expected cut off for the upcoming session from here:

Marks vs College: Cutoffs for 2026 (Expected)

Colleges

General

OBC-NCL

SC

IISc

215-235

200-220

160-180

IISER PUNE

165-200

140-160

115-135

IISER KOLKATA

150-180

130-150

110-120

IISER MOHALI

145-175

120-140

100-110

IISER BHOPAL

140-170

115-135

95-115

IISER TVM

130-160

110-130

90-110

IISER TPT

120-140

105-125

85-105

IISER BPR

110-130

95-110

80-100

IISER Bhopal BTech

150-170

125-145

100-120

IISER Tirupati (BS in Economic and Statistical Sciences)

130-150

110-130

100-110

IISER Kolkata (BS-MS in Computational and Data Sciences)

160-180

140-160

110-130

IIT MADRAS

200-220

180-200

140-160

IIT GUAWHATI

180-200

160-180

130-150

Also Read: Category & College Wise IISER 2026 Cut offs

IAT Counselling 2026

In order to take admission to the BS-MS/BS/BTech courses offered at IISER institutes, test takers need to participate in the IISER counselling process 2026. Rank holders need to fill out the IISER Counselling registration form in the timeline mentioned. It is anticipated that the IAT counselling 2026 will start in the fourth of June 2026.
Candidates must note that IISER 2026 counselling is done for admissions to the seven IISER institutes only. However, the exam was held to provide admissions to the IISc Bangalore, IIT Madras, and IISER Institutes. Candidates who wish to take admissions to IISc and IIT Madras need to fill the counselling form separately by visiting their official websites.

IISER Seat Allotment List 2026

The exam officials will release IISER 2026 seat allotment list once the candidates complete the counselling registration process.
IISER seat allotment list 2026 depicts the rank range in the form of opening and closing ranks for the courses offered based on the seat intake. Here, candidates must note that based on the seats that remain vacant, the exam-conducting authority releases multiple rounds of IISER 2026 seat allotment lists.
The IISER 2026 opening and closing ranks of each participating institute of IAT 2026 will vary. Also, the conducting authority will release the IAT 2026 seat allotment list category-wise.

Also Read: IAT Seat Allotment 2026

Start Your IISER 2026 Preparation

Every year, the difficulty level and competition for the IAT exam continue to rise, making early and strategic preparation essential for success. With expert guidance from dedicated mentors at SciAstra, you can strengthen your preparation and secure admission to prestigious BS-MS, BS, or BTech programmes at IISERs, IISc, and IIT Madras.

Explore the IISER 2026 preparation batches offered by SciAstra and choose the one that best fits your goals — start your journey today!

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