IGNOU: Admission 2025, Courses, Fees, Cutoff, Placement, Ranking

Divya Verma

Updated on - Dec 16, 2024

IGNOU Latest Updates

December 16, 2024

• IGNOU January 2025 Session admissions are now open. The last date to submit the form is January 31, 2025. Applicants must apply using DEB ID on the official website of IGNOU- ignou.ac.in. 

December 12, 2024

• IGNOU has made it easier by implementing a procedure for learners to generate their DEB ID, which is must while enrolling in courses of ODL and also through online mode. For DEB ID, the learner is required to follow strict rules and regulations as mentioned at the official website of IGNOU

December 10, 2024

• The IGNOU B.Ed 2025 application process is now open. Eligible candidates can apply for the application form on the official website of IGNOU. This course provides a route to professional teaching careers. Applicants should go through the eligibility criteria, ensure that all details are correct, and submit the form before the deadline to get a chance for admission into this prestigious program.

December 02, 2024

• IGNOU TEE December 2024 begins today. More than 27,000 students from different countries are appearing for the term-end exam of several diploma and degree courses. The last exam for the session is scheduled for January 9, 2025.

Indira Gandhi National Open University was established in 1985. Popularly known as IGNOU or Indira Gandhi Open University is one of the largest government-run open universities offering distance learning programs in the world. In 1987, IGNOU started operation with 2 distance learning courses and more than 4500 enrolled students. 

IGNOU has recently been ranked #1 by NIRF ranking 2024 among Open Universities.  IGNOU also has an "A++" grade from the NAAC and is recognised by the UGC and has 21 Schools of Studies, 67 regional centres, about 2,667 learner support centres, and 29 international partner institutions.  More than 4 million students are enrolled currently take advantage of its part-time or distance learning courses. All the courses and degrees offered at IGNOU are recognized all over the world. 

With its Online and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Learning (OL) methods, applicants can choose from more than 200 200 Bachelor's, Master’s, Diploma, Certificate, and Doctoral degree programs offered by IGNOU. 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. Therefore, two sessions start in January and July. 

Table of Content

• 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, nursing, M.Phil, and PhD, admission to most of the IGNOU courses 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. 

What are IGNOU admission dates? Interested applicants can utilize the opportunity to apply twice a year. The deadline for completing the online IGNOU Admission application forms is tentatively January 31, 2025. Before the deadline of January 31, 2025, students who wish to enroll in any of the programs offered by IGNOU University for the forthcoming January 2025–2026 session must finish the registration process. Interested students can register online at ignou.ac.in, the official IGNOU website. All courses at IGNOU need a registration fee of INR 300.

Where can I apply for IGNOU registration? 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:

Are all IGNOU courses UGC approved for the NET exam? Yes. All the IGNOU courses are valid and UGC-approved for students to sit in UGC-NET. Students with the minimum scores requirement can appear for the NET exam for PhD qualification and lectureship requirements. 

Are IGNOU courses recognized for graduation courses during CA? Yes, Students studying CA courses can apply for graduation courses such as BA for graduation eligibility. 

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. The 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 2024 for this has not been released yet. 

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

For admission to the Integrated BA+B.Ed course, the expected IGNOU cutoff 2024 ranges from 360 to 370 for the general category. The expected IGNOU BA-B.Ed cutoff for 2024 for other categories is given below:

IGNOU B.Com-B.Ed Cutoff

The expected IGNOU cut-off 2024 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 June 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: