IISER Round 1 Counselling 2026 Starts July 24

The IISER IAT 2026 result is out. Registration and choice filling ran from July 2 to July 9, and now, as the ISER Round 1 Counselling process begins, the seat allotment rounds are officially underway.

If you are in this process right now, the next few weeks are the ones that actually decide which IISER you end up in. Not the exam. This part. And the way this counselling process works is specific enough that students who do not understand it make avoidable mistakes that cost them either their seat or a better one they could have had.

Everything you need is here. The exact dates, how the choice filling and allotment process works, what documents you need, what the Float mechanism means and the things that quietly get students removed from the process every year.

IISER Counselling 2026 Dates: Everything From Registration to Final Reporting

Registration and choice filling closed on July 9, 2026 at 5 PM. If you submitted your preferences before that deadline you are in the pool. If you missed it, the ISER Round 1 Counselling allotment on July 24 will not include you.

• Registration and Choice Filling:  July 2 to July 9, 2026 at 5 PM
• Round 1 Seat Allotment:  July 24, 2026
• Round 2 Allotment:  August 1 to 5, 2026 (expected) 
• Round 3 Allotment:  August 8 to 12, 2026 (expected)
• Round 4 Allotment:  August 18 to 21, 2026 (expected)
• Round 5 Allotment:  August 25, 2026 (expected)
• Rounds 6 to 9:  Running through September 2026 as needed
• Physical Reporting:  After final allotment, at the allotted IISER campus

Dates are based on the 2025 schedule and 2026 registration timeline. Verify all dates on iiseradmission.in. Do not rely on third party sites for deadlines.

What Is the IISER Counselling Process: How It Actually Works

The IISER counselling process runs through iiseradmission.in and is managed by the Joint Admissions Committee. It is fully online until the very last step which is physical reporting at your allotted campus.

Only candidates who qualified IAT 2026 and appear on the merit list can participate. The KVPY and JEE Advanced routes to IISER have been discontinued as of 2026. IAT is the only path now.

Your IAT rank, your category and the order of preferences you submitted during choice filling all go into the allotment algorithm. After each round the system gives you the best available seat on your preference list that your rank can get you. You then decide what to do with it.

What Is the IISER Choice Filling Process

Choice filling is where most students make the mistake that haunts them later.

During the July 2 to July 9 window, you logged into iiseradmission.in and submitted your preferred combinations of IISER campus and programme in order of preference. The order you fill them in is everything. The system tries to match you to the highest preference available for your rank. If you put IISER Pune BS-MS first and IISER Kolkata BS-MS second, the system will try Pune first. Only if Pune is full does it move to Kolkata.

Students who filled only 2 or 3 preferences often end up with nothing when both those seats are taken. The official guidance says fill maximum possible campus preferences. That means list every IISER and programme combination you would genuinely attend. All seven campuses if needed. All relevant programmes.

The seven participating IISERs are at Berhampur, Bhopal, Kolkata, Mohali, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Tirupati. Programmes include the 5 year BS-MS and BTech programmes in Data Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Chemical Engineering at select campuses.

How Many Rounds Are There in IISER Counselling 2026

Around 9 rounds. The exact number depends on how quickly seats fill up.

Each round works like this. The allotment comes out. You check whether your application number appears. If it does, you have a seat. You then have to pay the Seat Acceptance Fee within the deadline for that round. After paying you choose whether to stay with that seat or float to a higher preference.

Here is something a lot of students miss. If your application number appeared in an earlier round but does not appear in the current round, that does not mean you lost your seat. According to the official portal, if your application number was in the first round and not in the second, it means you were not floated and your original offer is still valid.

If your number appears in both rounds, you were floated to a higher preference IISER and the second allotment is the one that is now valid.

The Float Mechanism: What It Means and Why It Matters

This is where IISER counselling confuses students the most.

When you accept a seat and pay the SAF, you are by default kept in consideration for higher preferences in the next round. If a seat opens at an IISER ranked higher on your preference list, the system moves you there automatically. That is Float.

If your higher preferences are already full in the next round, nothing changes. You keep the seat you already accepted. You do not drop to something worse. You never go backwards in IISER counselling.

If you are happy with your allotment and do not want to be considered for an upgrade, you Freeze. Your seat is locked and you are done with further rounds.

Do not Freeze in Round 1 unless you genuinely got your first preference campus and programme. Float costs you nothing and keeps the door open for something better.

Seat Acceptance Fee: Exact Amounts and What Happens to the Money

The moment you get a seat allotment you have to pay the Seat Acceptance Fee within the deadline for that round. Missing that deadline cancels the seat and removes you from all future rounds. Permanently.

General, EWS, OBC-NCL, PwD and Kashmiri Migrants:  Rs 35,000 total. Rs 25,000 is refundable and adjusted against first semester fees. Rs 10,000 is a non-refundable administrative fee.

SC and ST:  Rs 17,500 total. Rs 12,500 refundable. Rs 5,000 non-refundable administrative fee.

Payment is through the portal via net banking, UPI, credit card or debit card. Once you pay and then Float to a better seat in a later round, the SAF transfers automatically. You do not pay again for an upgrade. The administrative fee portion is gone regardless of what happens next.

IISER Counselling Documents Required

Two sets of documents matter here. The ones you need for the online process right now and the originals you carry to campus for physical reporting later.

For online verification during counselling:

• IAT 2026 admit card and scorecard
• Class 10 certificate for date of birth proof
• Class 12 mark sheet (if results are out) or a declaration that you are awaiting results
• Category certificate for SC, ST, OBC-NCL or EWS if applicable
• PwD certificate if applicable
• Passport size photograph and scanned signature in the format specified on iiseradmission.in

For physical reporting at the IISER campus, you carry all originals plus your seat allotment letter, migration certificate from your school and any other documents specified in the admission letter from the specific campus.

Warnings: The Things That Remove Students From the Process

Not theory. These happen in every round.

Missing the SAF deadline in any round

Seat cancelled. Removed from all remaining rounds. No appeal, no reinstatement. The deadline for each round is listed on iiseradmission.in and the window is short. Pay the same day you see the allotment. Do not wait.

Not doing anything after getting a seat

Getting an allotment and not responding is treated as a withdrawal. You lose the seat and you lose access to all future rounds. Seeing the result is not enough. You have to pay the SAF and take action.

Submitting too few preferences during choice filling

If you only fill 2 or 3 preferences and those seats are taken, the system has nothing to offer you. You are out of the process with no seat even though you qualified IAT. Fill every campus and programme combination you would genuinely attend.

Not checking the portal daily

IISER does not guarantee SMS or email alerts for every action. Allotment results, document queries, fee confirmations, all of it lives on iiseradmission.in. Check every morning from now until you physically report to your IISER. Missing a query response can cancel a seat the same way missing a payment does.

You cleared IAT. The hard exam part is behind you. What decides your IISER campus now is how carefully you handle the next few weeks of this process. Keep iiseradmission.in open every morning and respond to everything the day it shows up.

Also Read: IISER IAT 2026 Dates Released