IGNOU Admissions for Academic Session for January 2025 have been closed now.
Last Date to Apply was 31st March 2025. See Notification here.
| Type of Program | Admission Link | Last Date |
|---|---|---|
| Online Distance Learning Programs (ODL full form) (except certificate and semester based) | Closed | 31st March 2025 |
| Online Programs (except certificate and semester based) | Closed | 31st March 2025 |
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been known for its unique delivery of lessons for its distance programmes. Being one of the largest public Universities in the world, IGNOU has been an epitome of distance learning in India. The University conducts admissions twice in a year mainly- January and July. While the applications for January session are usually open till March, July session registrations go on till the end of September. Typically, IGNOU offers admissions for its courses ranging from bachelors, masters levels to certificate and diploma programs. These courses have different examination processes including semester system and annual examination system. Lets now get into the Admission process at IGNOU.
Admissions at IGNOU are typically done online and does not require you to go to the University for any sort of form filling or verification. Everything can be done in the comfort of your home. Actually, it is quite easy to take admission at this University as compared to a lot of Universities. IGNOU does not have any sort of Cut off lists, although it does have a certain basic eligibility criteria for most of its courses. Moreover, barring 3-4 courses that require students to take an entrance exam, most of the courses at IGNOU are available through direct admissions.
Lets first understand things that you need to have before applying for Admissions:
Every Admission session, IGNOU releases a new prospectus listing down all its latest courses offered along with their details such as eligibility criteria, updated fee structure and subjects. This is an essential document for you, since you are seeking an admission at the University. Use this document wisely to check on which course interests you, you may find the list of courses as per different levels here for easier access to details.
Once you have chosen a course for yourself. Understand if you fit its eligibility criteria. For instance, if you wish to apply for a course in Bachelors of Library and Information and Science (BLIS) at IGNOU, you need to fill in one of the three categories- Do you have a bachelors degree in any course before? If yes, are your aggregate marks above 50%? If yes, do you have a marksheet or final certificate to prove the marks? If not, do you have a diploma in library along with bachelors degree? Or Have worked in a library for 2 years after graduation? The University is flexible in approach and will give you a lot of options to be eligible at the course. The idea here is that you need to have an official transcript or experience letter to prove that you have a degree or working experience. This document would be submitted as part of admission process and the University will then decide if they consider the document valid enough for elibility.
Talking about documents needed, there some papers that you need before sitting down and applying for admission to IGNOU. Below is a list of scanned documents that you need:
This is an essential step since some of the students applying do not have their own Email IDs. It is essential that you make your own Email Account and have a personal phone number. All the communication done by University is made through your contact details. While applying , make sure to add all these correctly along with right home address since your marksheets and degrees are sent on the same address.
Last but not the least, you require a PC with a good internet connection so that you are not logged out or face challenges while uploading files in the system. You can also try applying for admission using a phone with internet connection, but we do not recommend so since files need to be in correct resolution before applying.
This is a new step added by the University. Each student applying for a course at IGNOU need to have a DEB ID beforehand. Here is the process to create DEB ID before applying for admission at IGNOU.
Once you have all the things you need, save your documents at one place so that they are easier to browse in between while applying. Now, when you start to apply, it may take somewhat around 15-20 minutes to finish filling the entire form together but trust us, having documents ready at one place will definitely reduce your time to apply. Here are the steps:
The first and foremost step to apply is by visiting the official website of the University. Here is a direct link so as to avoid any confusions. Beware, a lot of other sites might also have the name close to this and might ask you to pay. Always choose the correct URL for the official website. Secondly, the website has recently been renovated so it might be possible that it doesn’t load the first time or it asks you a security question. Do not worry, navigate to website or reload it anyway. You are safe!
Once you’re at the homepage of the website, you will see menu bar right in the top centre of the screen. Click on ‘Student Services’ from there. Next, you will see a screen a list of services offered by the University, choose and click on ‘Admissions’.
Now here is where students get confused, they know the course they want to apply for, but unable to understand what to choose from here. You see, all the courses at IGNOU are offered in one mode only. They either in ODL or online. To understand which mode is your course in , go back to Prospectus list of courses and check the courses. Now here, it is important to understand the difference between the two modes – ODL and Online. ODL is Online Distance Programme at IGNOU and one of the most popular and widely practised courses at IGNOU. This is also oldest mode of studying at the University. Most of the popular courses at IGNOU are in ODL Mode. The other mode is online mode.Here the lessons and studies are carried out in online mode only and students never have to visit the University. The study material available in ODL can be hard copy but for the other mode it is only online.
Now, select the mode of your course -ODL or Online
Since you have opened this page for the first time, you will have to register yourself before beginning with the application process. This is also done so that you get login details and can come back to the application form or for checking other statuses or confirmations. In order to register, find and click on ‘Click Here for New Registration’ on the top left corner of the admission portal page.
Once you click for new registration, you will see a form where you need to fill in your student details. Enter any Username that you like, your official full name, Email ID. Enter any password, your mobile number and finally Captcha. Before you click submit, make sure to note down the username and password entered here. This will be useful later. Click on Register. Next, the University might send an OTP on your mobile number of a verification email on your Email ID. Therefore, always make sure to enter your own Email ID and Mobile number.
If all the details were successfully submitted, go back to the same admission portal again. This time, on the right hand side enter your Username and Password that you just created. This will be headed under ‘Registered User Login’ on the top right side of the page. Enter Captcha.
After logging, you will be asked to fill an online form. Fill all the details very carefully and with utmost accuracy. Whenever you move to the next page, make sure to scan through the page you just finished filling and then click next. Also make sure to save every page before moving to next so that you can come back later in case you need to leave in between. Since it is a long form, you can take a break by saving whatever filled till now and then logging back again. You will be taken to the same page from where you were filling up the last time. Always make sure to check the last date of the admission if you want to leave in between.
While filling out to admission form, make sure to select your study centre or regional carefully. The Study Centre and Regional Centres carry out most of the administrative tasks at the University level. Therefore, it is essential that you choose the study and regional centre close to where your reside so that it is easier for you to commute. Study Centres are also places that provide you with all the important information, library faciliaties , assignment submission, counselling classes. Each study centre is allotted on the basis of the course you have taken. But students are given a preference to choose from the list of study centres available.
You can now upload all the documents that you saved at one place before. In case any document doesn’t get uploaded or your facing any issues, read the red error carefully. If it is about the file size, refer to the maximum size they are referring and try to use any online converters to convert the file lower than the maximum size. In case you find yourself stuck, the page not moving, not showing anything , no errors, you will need to reload the webpage. If you are logged out, do not worry, if you have saved all the pages filled before, they will not go anywhere. Login and reach the document upload page again. If you still face any technical issues during filling the form, you can reach out to 011 29571528 or email at csrc@ignou.ac.in.
After filling the form and uploading documents, you will see all the details filled by you at one page. The idea is to recheck everything you entered before moving ahead. Next, you will see declaration box at the bottom of the page. Read the box carefully and then check the tick mark. The declaration box basically confirms that all the information entered by you in this form and true to best of your interest and have not concealed any information falsely in order to gain admission to the University.
This is the final step of the application process. In this step you will pay the fees for the course and other material. For instance, if you have opted for hard copy of the study material to be dispatched to you, you will be paying 15% above the programme fees. This step is discounted in case of not opting for any hard copy. One thing to also note here is that IGNOU does not take examination fees as part of its admission process. This means that examination fees is paid later by each student while filling out Exam Form before their Term End Examination (TEE).
You can pay fees through credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI or any other methods listed on the page. Make sure to wait and not reload the page until payment confirmation page appears. If you get stuck in between and your payment is done but is not showing anything here. Wait and do not repay. Usually in such cases, wait for 24 hours. If you still do not receive any acknowledge of the payment, email the transaction details including the Control Number, your name, programme opted, mobile number, amount paid etc. to the Centralised Student Registration Cell at 011-29571301 or 011-29571528 or email at csrc@ignou.ac.in.
After having filled everything online and paying the fees, you receive a confirmation of your enrollment to the programme at your Email. This does not happen immediately.Therefore keep a regular check of emails as well as revisit the admission portal to see if all the formalities were successfully completed from your side. It will also show a status. Most probably, University takes some time to scrutinize each application. The forms are checked first come first basis regionwise, therefore the process might take 30-60 days.
After successfully completing the admission process and payment, you should receive confirmation of your enrollment in the selected program. Keep track of any further instructions provided by IGNOU for the commencement of your studies.
Most of the students are not aware that the University has a fee and refund policy in place. When a student wants to withdraw their application or admission from IGNOU, certain fees are refundable and non refundable. Here are the details:
Generally a student is eligible to refund if he/she opts out of the admission process or the University cancels a students admission on certain grounds. Here the specific time of when the withdrawl happened is important to know.
According to the Refund Policy by IGNOU, students can apply for refund by submitting a refund application form along with relevant documents to IGNOU’s regional centre or headquarters. The process usually sometime and after confirmation, the University disburses the fee through the original payment mode used by student during application.
This is the fees that varies with each course and can be seen exactly on the University prospectus under Programmes and details. Sometimes, late fees is applicable on them in case the student applies for the program after the last date through other means.
The program fees as mentioned before is the refundable component during withdrawl or cancellation of admission. However, components such as registration charges are non refundable. Here are the details of IGNOU’s refund policy as per timelines:
| Time Limit | Refund Amount |
|---|---|
| Before confirmation of admission | Full Programme fee |
| Within 60 after confirmation of admission | Programme Fee after 15% deduction |
| 60 days after confirmation of admission | Zero Refund/ No refund |
If you haven’t received your admission confirmation even after 60 days of applying for the programme. It is time to check Admission Status. The Admission Status can provide all the details on the student details, enrollment number, designated regional centre, designated study centre etc. Once confirmed. It is a important piece of information and therefore should be checked as soon as possible.
This is another important element of the IGNOU Admission Process is Re Registration. You will keep hearing this term when you start studying at IGNOU. But if you are a new student, you dont need to worry about this. Re Registration is for students who have finished a semester or a year at your program and then have to register yourself for second or third year. Another condition is when your admission validity has been expired, but you are yet to submit projects or assignments or give exams for all courses.
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