How Many Times Do You Travel to the Exam Centre in an IITM BS Term?
Editorial Team
In a normal IITM BS term, you travel to an exam centre about three times: once for Quiz 1, once for Quiz 2 and once for the end term. All your courses share each sitting, so four courses do not mean twelve trips. Over three terms a year, that is about nine trips. The DS admissions page says the same thing in its own words: students appear for in-person exams roughly once a month. These trips are to centres in the cities you choose, not to the IIT Madras campus.
The trips in one term: September 2026 example
| Trip | Date | How long you sit | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz 1 | Sunday, 15 November 2026 | 2 hours for 1 or 2 courses, 3 hours for 3, 4 hours for 4 | Weeks 1 to 4 |
| Quiz 2 | Saturday, 5 December 2026 | Same as Quiz 1 | Weeks 1 to 8 |
| End term | Sunday, 10 January 2027 | 1.5 hours per course | The whole course |
The dates are from the official academic calendar. The sitting lengths are from the handbooks.
Why more courses do not mean more trips
- Quizzes are one sitting. The handbooks say each quiz is a single session for all your courses: 4 hours for 4 subjects, 3 hours for 3, and 2 hours for 1 or 2.
- The end term is planned for one day. Each course has a 1.5-hour end term. The handbooks say this lets exams run on Sundays, with 4 courses done in 2 sessions of 3 hours each.
So a student with 4 courses and a student with 1 course make the same number of trips. The 4-course student just sits longer.
Can you go fewer times?
The rules need you to attend at least one of the two quizzes to write the end term. So the minimum is two trips a term. But a missed quiz scores 0 and there is no make-up quiz, so skipping one costs you marks. See Quiz 1 and Quiz 2.
If you are only writing a make-up end term for an I grade, you need just the end term trip for that course.
What can add trips
Programming exams. Courses with an OPPE have extra "Programming Quiz" dates. For the September 2026 term, the academic calendar lists Programming Quiz 1 on 21 and 22 November 2026 and Programming Quiz 2 across four days: 19 and 20 December 2026, and 2 and 3 January 2027. The official pages we checked do not say whether these are at a centre or remotely proctored for students in India, so follow your course's OPPE instructions. See what OPPE is.
The qualifier. Before you join, the qualifier is one in-person exam of 4 hours. A re-attempt, if you need one, is another trip.
Campus labs for ES and Aeronautics. These are the only planned trips to IIT Madras itself. The ES handbook groups the 5 Foundation labs so that you visit the campus at most twice during the whole Foundation level. The Aeronautics academics page says students travel to IIT Madras for some lab courses at the Diploma and degree levels. Read ES campus visits.
Trips per year
| Your plan | In-person exam trips |
|---|---|
| One term, both quizzes and the end term | 3 |
| One term, one quiz and the end term (the minimum) | 2 |
| Three terms a year, both quizzes each time | About 9 |
An older answer in the DS FAQ still mentions three quizzes a term. The current handbooks and the DS academics page both say two, so plan for two.
How to make the travel easier
- Pick your cities with care. At registration you pick 2 cities for your quizzes and exams. The handbooks let you pick a different pair for each quiz and for the end term, which helps if you will be in a different place that month.
- Know that either city can be given. The FAQ says your centre is allotted in one of your two cities, depending on availability. A city can have more than one centre.
- Change before the deadline. The FAQ says each exam has a deadline for changing the city, in the "Exam Cities and Hall Tickets" page of your dashboard.
- Expect weekends, but check. The FAQ says IIT Madras tries to hold all exams on weekends, though this may not be possible every time. Quiz 2 in the September 2026 term is on a Saturday.
- Go only to your allotted centre. The handbooks say any other centre will turn you away. See the exam centre policy.
Common questions
Do I have to go to IIT Madras for exams?
No. Quizzes and end terms are at exam centres in the cities you choose. The only planned campus trips are lab visits in Electronic Systems and Aeronautics.
Are the qualifier exam cities the same as my later exam cities?
No. The FAQ says the cities you chose in the application form are for the qualifier only. You pick again when you register for courses.
Can I write all my exams online because I live far away?
Not if you are in India. Learners in India must write at a centre. Remote proctoring is for students outside India in countries without a centre. See whether you can take exams from home.
Does the programme pay for travel?
The official pages we checked do not mention any travel support for exams. Plan the cost of about nine trips a year yourself.
Official sources
- IIT Madras BS academic calendarIIT Madras · study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Data Science student handbookdocs.google.com (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Electronic Systems student handbookdocs.google.com (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Data Science academics pageIIT Madras · study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Data Science admissions pageIIT Madras · study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Data Science FAQIIT Madras · study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab)
- IIT Madras BS Aeronautics and Space Technology academics pageIIT Madras · study.iitm.ac.in (opens in a new tab)