Sri Vijaya Puram: The provisional merit list for admission to professional, technical, and non-technical courses reserved for Andaman and Nicobar Islands students in mainland institutions will be published online on July 10, 2025. The list, covering all eligible applicants except those for B.Sc B.Ed programmes, will be hosted on the Common College Admission Portal at collegeadmission.andaman.gov.in.
The release marks a critical phase in the annual nomination process that facilitates the placement of island students in higher education programmes outside the union territory under the government’s reserved seat policy. Students and parents across the islands will be able to view the list and raise any objections or corrections over a four-day window.
According to the official announcement, all claims, objections, or petitions must be submitted to the Assistant Secretary (Higher Education), A&N Administration, Secretariat, Sri Vijaya Puram by 5 PM on July 14. No complaints submitted after the deadline will be entertained.
Candidates raising objections must submit signed applications including full details: the candidate’s name, address, nature of complaint, registration number, course applied for, category, and serial number as mentioned in the merit list. Any application missing these details will be summarily rejected, officials clarified.
This annual merit list is central to the selection process for island students aspiring to pursue education in disciplines ranging from engineering and medicine to paramedical, agriculture, and general degree programmes. Each year, dozens of seats are earmarked in institutions across India specifically for students from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of a special central government arrangement.
The digital publication of the provisional list aims to ensure transparency and accessibility for students spread across the archipelago, including remote islands with limited connectivity. The online portal allows real-time access and provides a platform for timely grievance redressal, a crucial step before final nominations are made.
Education officials have urged candidates to thoroughly review their merit positions and personal information such as category status, marks, and course eligibility. In previous years, a significant number of corrections have been made during the claim period, avoiding issues during counselling and allotment.
The B.Sc B.Ed programme has been excluded from this provisional list, and its nomination process will be addressed separately. No reason has been officially cited for this segregation, although past years have seen delayed notifications for B.Ed-related courses due to late seat confirmations from host institutions.
For students and families, especially from rural and tribal areas, the merit list provides both relief and anxiety, as it signals the beginning of the selection phase that will determine academic futures. The competitive nature of the limited reserved seats often means that small discrepancies in marks or documentation can significantly affect a candidate’s placement chances.
In light of this, education authorities have reiterated the importance of reading the instructions on the portal carefully and seeking clarification immediately if discrepancies are noticed. The administration has also made provisions for in-person submissions of claims at the Secretariat for those unable to access or upload documents online.
With the July 14 deadline for objections looming, applicants are advised not to delay their submissions. After the window closes, the Education Department will proceed to finalise the list, following which counselling, nominations, and admissions will begin in coordination with the mainland colleges.
This phase, though procedural, is one of the most consequential moments in the academic calendar for hundreds of island youth. For many, these nominations offer access to careers in medicine, engineering, agriculture, and public service, opportunities otherwise difficult to obtain locally due to limited course offerings within the islands.
