How IITM BS Classes Work: Online Lectures and In-Person Exams

In the IIT Madras BS programme, you learn from recorded videos that are released every week, and you submit weekly assignments online. The exams are different. Two quizzes and the end term exam are written in person at an exam centre in a city you choose. Only students writing from outside India take them with remote proctoring. This is the same for Data Science (DS) and Electronic Systems (ES).

What a normal course week looks like

A 4-credit course runs for 12 weeks. Every week, the course team releases:

• recorded videos of about 2 to 4 hours in total, split into several lectures with theory and tutorial videos
• a short self-test for each video lecture
• a practice assignment for the week, with solutions
• text transcripts and any related notes
• the weekly graded assignment, which counts towards your marks

The videos belong to IIT Madras, but they are also put on YouTube as a public playlist. Anyone can watch them.

The handbooks describe only recorded content here. They do not describe any timetable of live classes.

Your student email and portal

After you clear the qualifier, you register for courses with your personal email and pay the fee. Once your documents are approved, you get an official email ID: roll_number@ds.study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab) for DS, or roll_number@es.study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab) for ES. From then on, you log in to the portal, the dashboard and your courses with this ID.

The three kinds of assessment

Weekly assignments

• Each 12-week course has one or more assignments every week. You submit them online before the deadline.
• Take the best 5 scores out of the first 7 weekly assignments. Their average must be at least 40 out of 100, or you cannot write the end term and you will not get a hall ticket for it.
• Assignment marks also count in your final score. Any assignment you skip is counted as 0.
• The exact rule can change from course to course, so read the grading document of each course.

Quiz 1 and Quiz 2

• Quiz 1 covers weeks 1 to 4. Quiz 2 covers weeks 1 to 8.
• All your quizzes are in one sitting: 4 hours if you have 4 subjects, 3 hours for 3 subjects, and 2 hours for 1 or 2 subjects.
• A quiz you miss is counted as 0. There is no make-up quiz.
• You must attend at least one of the two quizzes, or you cannot write the end term.
• In the term just after your qualifier, your qualifier score counts as the Quiz 1 score for Foundation courses. If you write Quiz 1 again, the better score is used.

More in the Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 guide.

End term exam

• Each course has a 1.5-hour end term exam at the end of the term.
• Exams are planned on Sundays. Four courses fit into 2 sessions of 3 hours each.
• The end term makes up 50% of your total course score.
• You pass a course if your total course score is 40 or more out of 100.

See the end term exam guide for the eligibility rules.

Programming exams

Some courses also have a programming exam called the OPPE, with its own rules and its own "I_OP" grade if you miss or fail it. The OPPE guide covers it.

Where do you write the exams?

You pick your exam city when you register, from a list the programme publishes. The handbooks say new cities were added from the September 2024 term. On exam day, you must go only to the centre printed on your hall ticket. If you go to any other centre, you will not be allowed in.

If you write exams from outside India, they are remotely proctored. You must confirm your location during the check. If you give a wrong location, you cannot take the exam and it is treated as malpractice. The exam centre policy guide has the details.

What is different for Electronic Systems?

ES theory courses work the same way. ES lab courses are hybrid: you do the experiments at home using process videos, then go to IIT Madras in person to show them and finish the lab. Read the ES labs guide before you register for a lab.

Common questions

Can I watch the videos at any time?

Yes. The content is recorded and released week by week, so you can watch it when it suits you. What you cannot move are the deadlines for weekly graded assignments and the dates of the in-person exams.

What happens if I miss a quiz?

You get 0 for that quiz and there is no make-up. If you attended the other quiz and meet the assignment rule, you can still write the end term, unless your course's grading document sets a different rule.

How many hours a week should I plan per course?

The videos alone are about 2 to 4 hours a week for a 4-credit course. On top of that you have self-tests, a practice assignment and the graded assignment, so plan more time than the video length.

Is the end term exam online?

No. The end term exam, like both quizzes, is written in person at an exam centre. The exception is students writing from outside India, who are remotely proctored and must verify their location.