CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras announced on Tuesday announced the introduction of a cultural quota in BTech admissions for students who excel in fine arts, starting from the 2025-26 academic year.
Under the Fine Arts and Culture Excellence (FACE) admissions, two supernumerary seats per programme will be allotted in all BTech and BS programmes. Of these two seats, one is reserved for girls, and one will be gender-neutral.
“Students who qualify in the JEE (Advanced) exam and feature in any of the rank lists are eligible for admissions under this initiative. The admissions will be conducted through a separate portal,” IIT Madras director V Kamakoti told reporters on Tuesday.
“This is an experiment by IIT Madras, similar to the sports quota introduced for eminent sportspersons this year. We hope it will bring innovative ideas,” he added.
Students, after qualifying in the JEE (Advanced), will be separately ranked based on scores given to their previous recognitions, including awards and fellowships such as the National Bal Shree Honour, Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, National Youth Award under arts and culture, and active B grade certification from All India Radio and Doordarshan. They must also be empanelled artists to perform at Indian festivals by the govt of India in the last six years.
Students with awards such as the Scholarship of Young Artists, awards in the National Youth Festival competition, and the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Award will also receive marks for their recognition.
These awards and recognitions are separated into three categories. Students will receive 100 points for a once-in-a-lifetime award by the govt of India, while category A and category B will fetch them 75 points and 50 points, respectively. The admissions will be based on the rank list.
Applications for this FACE admission process will open on June 2, 2025.
