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Earn university credit through SWAYAM and NPTEL

SWAYAM is the Ministry of Education's free online-course platform; NPTEL (the IITs and IISc) is one of its national coordinators. Under UGC's 2021 regulations your own university can count a SWAYAM course towards your degree — but only courses it has accepted, and only after you pass the proctored exam.

Every step below was read on the official pages listed at the end, on 22 Oct 2026.

The rule, from the gazette

  • Name: University Grants Commission (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) Regulations, 2021 — notified at New Delhi on 25 March 2021. They replaced the 2016 SWAYAM regulations. Gazette text (PDF, hosted by SWAYAM) ↗
  • Limit — regulation 4(7): an institution may allow only up to forty per cent of the total courses offered in a programme in a semester through SWAYAM.
  • Timing — 4(5): the SWAYAM course list is notified before 1 November for the January semester and before 1 June for the July semester; 4(6): institutions decide within four weeks, through their competent authority, which courses they will accept for credit transfer.
  • Exams — 5(4): the proctored term-end exam is conducted by the SWAYAM Board or another agency the Ministry of Education authorises (in practice NTA and NPTEL; SWAYAM's page for universities says universities that adopted the regulations may also conduct SWAYAM exams). 5(2): internal assessment is at most 30%.
  • Credit — 5(7): the parent institution incorporates the marks or grades obtained in the SWAYAM course in your marksheet.
  • Mobility — 6(2): "No university shall refuse any student for credit mobility" for courses earned this way. Regulation 7 asks every institution to amend its statutes and ordinances within four weeks.

UGC's reminders to universities

  • 26 Mar 2021 — UGC letter sending the 2021 regulations to universities. UGC letter (PDF) ↗
  • 19 Jan 2023 — SWAYAM courses for the January 2023 semester, to be approved and adopted through statutory bodies. UGC letter (PDF) ↗
  • 11 Aug 2023 — list of MOOCs for July 2023, urging credit transfer under the 2021 regulations. UGC letter (PDF) ↗
  • 21 May 2024 — the Ministry of Education's SWAYAM Guidelines 2024. Guidelines (PDF) ↗

Step by step for a student

  1. Ask your department or the registrar whether your university has adopted the 2021 regulations and which SWAYAM / NPTEL courses it accepts this semester, and for how many credits. Get the list in writing — your university decides the credits, not SWAYAM. SWAYAM for universities ↗
  2. Enrol on SWAYAM or NPTEL. Learning is free; the certificate exam is optional and paid — check the fee on the course page. SWAYAM ↗
  3. Submit the weekly assignments on time. On NPTEL, 25% of the final marks come from assignments and 75% from the final exam; NPTEL's FAQ says you need an assignment average of at least 40/100 and at least 40/100 in the exam. NPTEL semester page ↗
  4. Register for the proctored exam before the deadline and sit it at your exam centre. NPTEL runs two semesters a year: January–June and July–December.
  5. Submit the certificate (or the result the exam agency sends your university) to your college for credit transfer, and check that the grade appears in your marksheet.

Also from the Ministry: SWAYAM Plus

  • SWAYAM Plus is the Ministry of Education's platform for industry-partnered, credit-eligible courses and internships. SWAYAM Plus ↗

Sources (read on 22 Oct 2026)

Not checked by Shishya

  • The NPTEL exam fee (course pages print it, but they did not open for us on 22 Oct 2026) — read it on your course page.
  • A fixed credits-per-week rule: your university decides the credits.
  • How many universities have adopted credit transfer.

Rules and portals change. If a step here no longer matches the official page, the official page is right — write to us from the Contact page.