Every IITM qualifier previous year question paper on BTechi is listed on this page, with its official answer key. There are 18 course papers from five qualifier sittings (January 2023 to May 2024) for Maths I, Stats I, Computational Thinking (CT) and English I. There are also 4 full four-course exams and 2 mocks. You can sit any paper in a timed exam portal, or download it as a free IITM qualifier previous year question paper PDF with the answer key.
Below you will find a table of every paper by course and term, what each paper looks like, four solved questions from real papers, and a plan to sit these papers like the real 4-hour exam.
If you want the rules first (syllabus, cut-offs, fees), read our IITM BS qualifier exam guide. For the PYQs of every other course in the programme, see the IIT Madras BS Data Science PYQ hub.
The qualifier in one table#
Source: the official admissions page on study.iitm.ac.in. The weekly course structure is on the academics page. Rules can change between terms, so check it before you apply. Our January 2027 admission guide tracks the dates.
Every IITM qualifier previous year question paper, by term#
This grid shows which qualifier papers BTechi has. Maths I and Stats I go back to January 2023. CT and English I start from May 2023.
Each paper below opens in a timed portal and shows the official answer key after you submit. The sheet link opens the same questions as a printable page.
Maths I qualifier papers#
Stats I qualifier papers#
Computational Thinking qualifier papers#
English I qualifier papers#
Full 4-course qualifier exams#
When all four courses are available for a sitting, BTechi also joins them into one full exam with a 4-hour timer, like the real day:
- Full qualifier exam, May 2024
- Full qualifier exam, January 2024
- Full qualifier exam, September 2023
- Full qualifier exam, May 2023
You can also open papers by sitting from the term pages: May 2024, January 2024, September 2023, May 2023 and January 2023.
Mocks: new questions in the same style#
After you finish the real papers, you will remember some answers. That makes your score look better than it is. For a clean test, use the two original mocks: Qualifier Mock 1 and Qualifier Mock 2. They cover all four courses with new questions in the qualifier style. Everything for the qualifier is collected on the Qualifier Pack page.
Download IITM qualifier previous year question paper PDF#
Want to solve on paper, like the real exam? Every qualifier paper above can be saved as a PDF:
- Open the question sheet of the paper you want (links below).
- Click the Save PDF button at the top of the sheet. You can also press P on your keyboard.
- In the print window, choose Save as PDF as the destination, then save.
The PDF has every question and figure, and the official answer key at the end. It is free. Print it, or keep it on your phone or tablet.
Direct PDF links for every IITM qualifier PYQ PDF, newest first:
Tip: print one paper of each course and sit all four together in 4 hours. That is the closest you can get to the real qualifier at home.
What a qualifier paper looks like#
Each course paper uses three question formats:
- MCQ: one correct option.
- MSQ: one or more correct options. Treat each option as its own true/false question.
- NAT: type a number. Check the rounding asked for.
Here is the format mix in the papers on BTechi:
A pattern to notice: many questions come in groups. One passage or data set, then two or three questions on it. If you misread the passage, you lose the whole group. Read slowly.
What the qualifier asks most#
We tagged every question in the qualifier papers by topic. These counts use only the qualifier papers on BTechi (not quizzes or end terms).
Maths I (63 qualifier questions): polynomials and their graphs 14, quadratic functions 13, relations and functions 11, straight lines 11, sets and Venn diagrams 8, best-fit lines and SSE 4, other function questions 2. Practise with the topic sheets for polynomials, quadratic functions, relations and functions, straight lines and sets and Venn diagrams.
Stats I (74 qualifier questions): types of data and scales 17, describing categorical data 17, association between two variables 15, variance, percentiles and outliers 13, mean, median and mode 12. The topic sheets: data types and scales, categorical data, association, dispersion and percentiles and central tendency.
English I (150 qualifier questions): reading comprehension 30, vocabulary and collocations 24, telephone conversations 21, vowels and diphthongs 19, articles and prepositions 17, nouns and parts of speech 13, phrasal verbs and idioms 13. The fastest wins are the telephone conversation sheet and the collocations and vocabulary sheet.
CT has no topic tags yet. From the papers, the same few datasets come back every time: Scores, Words, Library, Olympics and Shopping Bills. Most questions show pseudocode and ask "what will A (or count) represent at the end?", or ask you to pick the right code fragment, or to find the mistakes in a given pseudocode. Our CT cheat notes list these patterns.
For the most repeated question types across all exams, open the most-repeated sheets: Maths I, Stats I and English I.
Four solved questions from real qualifier papers#
Try each one before you read the answer. The answers match the official keys.
1. Maths I, May 2024: three sets, "exactly one"#
Question. 500 candidates applied for a data analyst post. 285 know Python, 195 know C, 115 know Java. 45 know Python and Java, 70 know C and Python, 50 know C and Java. 50 know none of the three. How many know exactly one language?
Solution.
- At least one language: 500 − 50 = 450.
- Inclusion-exclusion: 450 = 285 + 195 + 115 − 45 − 70 − 50 + (all three). So 450 = 430 + (all three), and all three = 20.
- Exactly one = (sum of singles) − 2 × (sum of pairs) + 3 × (all three) = 595 − 2 × 165 + 3 × 20 = 595 − 330 + 60 = 325.
The official key is 325. Find this question in the Maths I May 2024 qualifier paper.
2. Maths I, January 2024: the grocery store#
Question. 60 customers each bought at least one of bread, milk and fruits. 28 bought bread, 37 milk, 30 fruits. 16 bought bread and fruits, 17 bread and milk, and 9 bought all three. (a) How many bought milk and fruits? (b) How many bought milk and fruits but not bread?
Solution.
- (a) 60 = 28 + 37 + 30 − 16 − 17 − (milk and fruits) + 9. So 60 = 71 − (milk and fruits), and milk and fruits = 11.
- (b) Milk and fruits but not bread = 11 − 9 = 2.
Official keys: 11 and 2. Both are in the Maths I January 2024 qualifier paper.
3. Stats I, May 2024: add 5 to every mark#
Question. Manoj scored 60, 70, 65, 75, 80. Nitin scored 5 marks more than Manoj in each subject. (a) Find Nitin's mean. (b) Find the correlation coefficient between their marks.
Solution.
- (a) Manoj's mean = 350 / 5 = 70. Adding 5 to every value adds 5 to the mean, so Nitin's mean = 75.
- (b) Nitin = Manoj + 5 is a straight line with a positive slope, so r = 1.
Official keys: 75 and 1. Adding a constant moves the mean, but it does not change the spread or the correlation. This "shift or scale every value" idea is one of the most repeated Stats I question types on BTechi. See the Stats I May 2024 qualifier paper.
4. English I, May 2024: collocations and a phone call#
Question (collocations). Match Column A (Bank, Strong, Lazy, Short, Ancient) with Column B (Temper, Account, Ruins, Afternoon, Coffee).
Answer. Bank account, strong coffee, lazy afternoon, short temper, ancient ruins.
Question (telephone). Jay calls: "Hello? (i) ____" Prateek: "Hello. Yes, I am Prateek Agarwal." Which fits blank (i)?
Answer. "Am I talking to Prateek Agarwal?" The other options ask about a house, a family or a son, and none of them fit Prateek's reply.
Both sets are five 1-mark questions each. That is 10 marks from two short tasks. Practise them in the English I May 2024 qualifier paper.
How to sit qualifier PYQs like the real exam#
Past papers only help if you use them in the right order. Here is a plan for the four weeks of the qualifier.
Weeks 1-3: topic sheets, untimed#
After each week of lectures, open the topic sheets for that week and solve them on paper. Do not time yourself. The goal is to learn the question types. You can also use Maths I qualifier practice, Stats I qualifier practice, CT qualifier practice and English I qualifier practice for short mixed drills.
End of week 3: one course paper at a time, timed#
Pick the oldest papers first (January 2023, May 2023). Sit one course paper at a time in the portal. Score it by course and write down every wrong answer in a mistakes log.
Week 4: full 4-hour exams#
Sit at least two full exams under real conditions: four hours, one sitting, no phone, no notes. Use the May 2024 full exam and the January 2024 full exam. If you have already seen those questions, use Mock 1 and Mock 2 instead.
A simple time plan for the 4 hours:
Do not leave your weakest course for the end. The 40% per-course rule means your weakest course decides your result.
Last two days: repeats and mistakes only#
No new papers. Read the most-repeated sheets and your mistakes log. Then read the cheat notes for all four courses: Maths I, Stats I, CT and English I.
Mistakes people make with qualifier PYQs#
- Doing only the newest paper. The 2023 papers are just as useful. Many question types repeat across all five sittings.
- Skipping CT papers. CT looks easy, but it needs exact tracing. Do every CT paper on paper, with a variable table.
- Ignoring English until week 4. English I papers have 35-40 questions. Sounds and idioms need daily practice.
- Reading answers before trying. Attempt first, then check the key.
- Re-sitting the same paper and counting the score. A second attempt measures memory, not skill. Use the mocks for a clean score.
Frequently asked questions#
Where can I download the IITM qualifier previous year question paper PDF for free?#
BTechi offers every qualifier paper as an online paper (timed, with the official answer key) and as a printable sheet. To get a PDF, open the sheet, for example the Maths I May 2024 sheet, click Save PDF (or press P) and choose Save as PDF. The PDF is free, and it has the official answer key at the end. The table in the download section links every paper.
Do the IITM qualifier PYQs have answer keys?#
Yes. Every paper on BTechi uses the official answer key. You see your score and the correct answer for each question after you submit.
How many IITM qualifier papers are there on BTechi?#
18 course papers: 5 each for Maths I and Stats I (January 2023 to May 2024), and 4 each for CT and English I (May 2023 to May 2024). There are also 4 full four-course exams and 2 original mocks.
Are qualifier questions repeated?#
The exact question rarely repeats, but question types do. Venn diagram counting, the shift-every-value question in Stats I, collocation matching and telephone conversations in English I come back again and again. The most-repeated sheets collect them.
Are the 2023 and 2024 papers still useful for the 2026 and 2027 qualifier?#
Yes. The qualifier still covers weeks 1-4 of the same four courses. Always follow the official course content for your term, and use past papers to learn the question style.
How many papers should I solve before the qualifier?#
All 18 course papers, plus at least two full 4-hour exams or mocks in week 4. That is about 15-20 hours of practice spread over four weeks.
Is there negative marking in the qualifier exam?#
Check the instructions in your exam and on your hall ticket. The marking scheme is stated there. We do not assume one.