Divya Verma

Updated on - Mar 10, 2025

IGNOU Latest Updates

March 10, 2025

• IGNOU Admission 2025 is ongoing for several ODL & Online Learning (OL) courses for the January Session. The last date to apply for the program has been extended to March 15, 2025. Interested candidates can apply online via the official website @ignouadmission.samarth.edu.in.
• The entrance test for B.Ed and Post Basic Nursing admissions at IGNOU will be held on March 16, 2025. Admit cards will be issued in March 2025, and results are expected in April 2025.

Indira Gandhi National Open University or IGNOU was established in 1985. It is one of the largest central government-run open universities offering distance learning programs in the world. IGNOU has achieved a NAAC grade of  "A++" and is recognised by UGC. In NIRF ranking 2024, IGNOU was ranked #1 in the Open University category.

Popularly known as Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU started operation with 2 distance learning courses and more than 4500 enrolled students. Today, over 4 million students are enrolled in various part-time or distance learning courses offered by the university. IGNOU has 21 Schools of Studies, 67 regional centres, about 2,667 learner support centres, and 29 international partner institutions.

With its Online and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Learning (OL) methods, applicants can choose from more than 300 Bachelor's, Master’s, Diploma, Certificate, and Doctoral degree programs offered by IGNOU. IGNOU admission is offered twice a year in January and July sessions. For admission to these courses, IGNOU begins accepting online applications for admission in November or December for the January session and in May or June for the July session. 

Table of Contents

• IGNOU Highlights
• IGNOU Admission
• IGNOU Courses & Fees
• IGNOU Assignments
• IGNOU Study Material
• IGNOU Study Center
• IGNOU eGYANKOSH
• IGNOU Placement
• IGNOU Cutoff
• IGNOU Ranking
• IGNOU Result
• IGNOU Partnership & Collaboration
• IGNOU Scholarship
• IGNOU Alumni

IGNOU Highlights

Students can find Indira Gandhi Open University highlights in the table below:

IGNOU Admission

IGNOU conducts its admission cycle twice a year for fresh admissions. These are in January and July. Aside from a few courses like B.Ed, B.Sc nursing, MBA, and PhD, IGNOU admission to most of the courses offered by IGNOU is merit-based. Applicant interested in admission must complete their IGNOU registration on the official admission Samarth portal and pay the registration fee of INR 300. This amount is non-refundable, therefore applicants must research their course of choice thoroughly before. 

The official admission portal for admission is the Samarth portal. The portal links for registration for online courses and open & distance courses are given in the table below:

Students must visit the IGNOU official website to check the IGNOU admission status of their fresh registration or re-registration for both the January and July sessions. Students must input their program code or enrolment number to verify their status.

Students should verify their IGNOU admission status because application forms are occasionally denied or remain in a "pending" state because of problems with eligibility or inaccurate academic proof.

IGNOU Courses and Fees

IGNOU offers more than 300 courses in different subjects and streams. These include undergraduate, and post-graduate courses, diplomas, and certificate courses too. Bachelor courses like BA, B.Com, and B.Sc and master courses such as MA, M.Com, and MBA are offered by the institute. 

MA is one of the IGNOU courses with the highest number of specializations offered with a wide range of subjects. Students can opt for topics like psychology, political science, economics, sociology, philosophy, etc.

A list of IGNOU courses and fees is given below:

IGNOU Assignments

IGNOU has a multi-tiered evaluation approach that includes self-assessment tasks in every course, ongoing evaluation mostly through tutor-marked assignments, and practical assignments.

For every course, students are expected to submit their IGNOU assignments as per the instructions given for the session. There are different IGNOU solved assignments available for students to download and take reference from. Students must follow the instructions for the IGNOU assignments carefully. IGNOU Study material related to the course can also be downloaded from eGYANKOSH after successful registration. 

IGNOU Study Material

To help students, IGNOU has made provisions for study material to be in both modes- offline and online. Students will receive their offline IGNOU study material through mail to their registered mailing address. However, online study material is available everywhere and students who opt for this get a 15% discount on their program fee. 

Just as assignments, online IGNOU study material is available on eGYANKOSH. The study material is available in different languages for students of different linguistic backgrounds. These are available in different sets and modules. There is also an app for students to download the e-content from. 

IGNOU Study Center

IGNOU being an open university has students all over the country. As IGNOU strives to provide academic support to all students, there are many study centres in every state. In tier 1 and 2 cities, there are more than 1 study centres. These are strategically placed so students can access a range of instructional resources and support services at approved study centres.

These centers provide:

1. Academic Support: In the form of tutors and academic counselors who assist students with course material and assignments.
2. Study Materials: Students have access to course books, reference materials, and other resources.
3. Examinations: Term-end examinations and assignment submissions are handled at the center. 
4. Workshops and Practical Sessions: They provide hands-on training for certain courses, particularly in fields like science and technology.
5. Counselling Services: They are also a place for guidance on academic progression, career advice, and personal development.

These centers help facilitate the distance learning experience by providing a local support system for students.

IGNOU eGYANKOSH

IGNOU eGYANKOSH is the world's largest digital repository with all the study material offered by one educational institute. IGNOU eGYANKOSH is designed for students to offer ease of access from anywhere. This is also an opportunity for students to get a fee break on their program fee. eGyanKosh makes it simple for students to see or download the study materials.

IGNOU Placements 

IGNOU placement drives are organized by a separate cell- Career Placement Cell. This facilitates internships and placement drives for students after the course completion and ensures the right job for the right aptitude. 

Through on-campus and off-campus IGNOU placement campaigns, it places between 70% and 80% of students annually. In the recent past, IGNOU's top recruiters included industry leaders Globiva, Radical Minds, and Aviva India.

On-campus placement

Students can register with the placement department to participate in the placement process. IGNOU placement process includes pre-placement talks, training sessions, and assessments like written tests, group discussions, and panel interviews. 

Off-campus placement

Students can use their strong alumni network and add-on skills to get jobs through off-campus drives. The details of IGNOU placement 2024 are given below:

IGNOU Exam Centers

Every year, at the term end, IGNOU conducts term-end examinations for various courses. These are conducted twice a year, in December and June, before the start of a new term. The test centers are placed all over the country to ensure their availability for all students peering for exams. 

All students taking the midterm or end-of-term exam can find the list of exam locations on IGNOU's official website. Exam locations for all courses will be assigned based on the preferences of the students.

Once the forms are submitted with the exam center request, applicants have 5 days to request a change in the exam center through the portal. IGNOU does not entertain any request after the lapse of the buffer period. 

IGNOU Cutoff

Though admission to most of the IGNOU courses is merit-based and direct, there are few courses for which the university conducts entrance exams such as for B.Ed. The IGNOU cutoff for 2025 for integrated B.Ed programs is yet to be released. 

The IGNOU entrance exam is conducted for integrated B.Ed courses such as BA-B. Ed and B.Com-B.Ed. 

IGNOU BA-B.Ed Cutoff 2025

For admission to the Integrated BA+B.Ed course, the expected IGNOU cutoff 2025 ranges from 360 to 370 for the general category. The expected IGNOU BA-B.Ed cutoff for 2025 for other categories is given below:

IGNOU B.Com-B.Ed Cutoff

The expected IGNOU cut-off 2025 score for the general category ranges from 290 to 300. More details for the Integrated B.Com+B.Ed courses are in the table below.

IGNOU Ranking

Though IGNOU is one of the top open universities in the world, it hasn't been ranked in India earlier due to a lack of category in any ranking agency. In 2024, a new category was introduced by NIRF. The latest IGNOU ranking 2024 is given below:

IGNOU Result

IGNOU results for its term-end exams are available on its official website. As there are two terms, the results for all the subjects at the end of the term are updated twice in one year- June and December. Internal assessments and practicals and end-of-semester exams make up the two halves of the IGNOU evaluation system. Students must pass their semesters with at least 40% in their PG and 35% in their UG courses. 

The IGNOU results for the December Term End Exam 2024 are available on the university's official website and students would need their enrolment number to check their marks. The results are under the student support on the top menu. Once the result is visible on the website, students must check if all the details are correct such as:

• Name of the candidate
• Roll number
• Subject code
• Subject name
• Course name

IGNOU Partnerships and Collaborations

To better serve a particular learning population and advance the remote learning methodology, IGNOU established the National Centre for Disability Studies and the National Centre for Innovation in Remote Education. IGNOU also aims to improve educational possibilities and opportunities for its students, therefore, it has partnered with different universities all over the world. Some of these are Bakhtar University, Asia e-University, and Mauritius Institute of Education. 

Over the years, IGNOU partnerships with universities and Indian embassies in different countries have gained accolades for excellence, for example from the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Canada.

IGNOU Scholarships

In its strive to provide a good education to all, IGNOU scholarships are offered to students of different category of students. Applicants can fill out the form for scholarships at the time of admission. Their validity and authorization are determined by the committee. 

The scholarships are valid only for students who do not belong to the creamy layer and the single girl child of the family. In many cases, there is a fee waiver or fee reimbursement for submitting the required documents. More details are given below:

IGNOU Alumni

As IGNOU is one of the top open universities in the country, there is a vast number of its students who make up for impressive alumni. A few of those are given below: