Applications are open for the SWAYAM July 2026 semester examinations, with the National Testing Agency publishing the course-wise timetable alongside its 9 October registration notice. Learners enrolled in the listed courses can apply until 11:50 pm on 31 October. The new information lets candidates check examination clashes before choosing and paying for papers.

The application notice covers 662 courses. The examinations will run from 8 to 12 December in computer-based mode. Those December dates were announced earlier and covered in Dalimss News's report on the SWAYAM examination calendar. The current development is the opening of applications and publication of the detailed course-and-shift allocation.

Match the course to its examination shift

Under the official information bulletin, eligibility is tied to enrolment in the relevant July-semester course. This examination form does not itself enrol someone in a new course. The earlier SWAYAM course-registration window was a separate stage of the learning process.

There will be two shifts each day: 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm. A candidate may select only one course in a shift, allowing a maximum of ten papers across the ten sessions. Someone studying two courses assigned to the same session must choose which examination to take.

The bulletin also warns that a course selected for the examination cannot be changed once its fee has been paid. That makes Annexure II, which lists course identifiers, titles, dates and shifts, a necessary check before payment. Similar course names should not be treated as interchangeable with the exact course in which a learner enrolled.

All papers last three hours, but the question pattern differs. The bulletin lists 72 papers with 100 multiple-choice questions carrying one mark each, and 590 with 50 questions carrying two marks each. Both patterns total 100 marks. There is no negative marking for an incorrect answer in the multiple-choice sections.

Question papers will be in English, except language papers, which will be in the respective language. The individual course entry in the timetable also identifies its question count. Candidates taking several papers therefore need to check each course rather than assume that the same pattern applies throughout their schedule.

Fees, corrections and the next notices

The published examination fees, as of 12 October 2026, 7:15 am IST, are ₹750 for the first course and ₹600 for each additional course for General category candidates. For Gen-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD and PwBD candidates, they are ₹500 for the first course and ₹400 for each additional course. Applicable payment-gateway service or processing charges and GST are extra.

The bulletin specifies that the OBC-NCL concession follows the central list. Candidates who appear only in a state OBC list, and not the central OBC-NCL list, must select General. Applicants should use the category instructions in the current bulletin when completing the form rather than infer eligibility from a different examination's rules.

Successful fee payment is permitted until 11:50 pm on 1 November, a day after the application-submission deadline. The correction window runs from 2 to 3 November, closing at 11:50 pm. These are separate deadlines: the later payment date does not extend the last date for submitting the application.

Applications are linked from the official NTA SWAYAM examination portal. The bulletin requires four examination-city choices in preference order. A preferred city is not a guaranteed allocation, and the city-intimation and admit-card dates will be announced separately. The final centre, examination date and shift will appear on the admit card.

After the examination, NTA's role includes declaring results and hosting scorecards. The respective national coordinator will provide the final score and certificate. The bulletin requires at least 40 per cent separately in the term-end written test and internal assessment for certificate and credit-transfer eligibility, so examination registration alone does not establish completion.

For learners balancing several courses, the immediate priority is a workable personal timetable: match the course identifier, check the shift, and review the fee before confirming the selection. The application notice is dated 9 October; neither the city-allocation notice nor the admit-card release should be assumed to have arrived with it.