Is there an aptitude test for B.Arch admission at IOE?
Yes. A campus or college may conduct a subject-related Aptitude Test for applicants whose names are published for Architecture admission. In the 2083 cycle it ran inside the priority-amendment window, from 19 August 2026 at 10:00 to 22 August at 15:00, and that window has closed.
Architecture carries one step that the engineering programmes do not. Applicants whose names are published for Architecture admission may be required by the campus or college concerned to sit an Aptitude Test related to the subject. It is a campus-level filter applied to candidates who are already named, not a second entrance: you still have to pass the IOE entrance examination and appear on the central merit list to get that far. In the 2083 cycle the published schedule placed the aptitude test inside the same window as priority amendment, from 2083-05-03 at 10:00 to 2083-05-06 at 15:00, which is 19 August 2026 at 10:00 to 22 August 2026 at 15:00. That window has closed. Because each campus runs its own test, the format is published nowhere centrally, so the only way to find out what yours involves is to ask that campus directly.
When did it run in the 2083 cycle?
Inside the priority-amendment window and nowhere else. The Guidelines schedule puts B.Arch aptitude testing on the same row as the amendment of priority order, which opened at 10:00 on 19 August 2026 and closed at 15:00 on 22 August. The first merit list was published by 10:00 the following morning. The test appears against the first list only: there is no aptitude row against the second or third list in the published schedule.
Is it optional for the campus?
The booklet says a campus or college "may" take it, so it is a power rather than a duty, and whether it happens depends on the campus you have been named at. Architecture is also not offered at every constituent campus, so the question only arises at those that run it.
What it does not change
You still need to pass the IOE entrance and appear on the central merit list, and the admission list is still published in entrance merit order. The Aptitude Test is conducted at campus level among applicants already named, which makes it a filter inside Architecture admission rather than a second entrance you can be admitted through.
Which constituent campuses run Architecture at all?
Not all five, so for many candidates the question never arises. The booklet’s own quota tables carry an Architecture row at Pulchowk, Purwanchal, Thapathali and Chitwan, and no Architecture row at Paschimanchal. Chitwan Engineering Campus appears in those tables with Architecture as its only programme, which makes it the one campus where this is the only admission the test could apply to. Check the campus you are naming rather than assuming the programme runs across the system, because a priority order built on the wrong assumption is corrected in an amendment window that closes on the same afternoon as the aptitude test itself.
It is a five-year degree, and two other rules move with that
Architecture runs five academic years where the engineering programmes run four, and the booklet adjusts elsewhere to match. The outer limit for finishing is ten academic years rather than eight. A candidate entering on a government-sponsored seat needs a departmental approval letter covering five years rather than four. And the award at the end carries its own name: the booklet gives the Bachelor of Architecture title to those who complete the Architecture programme, where the engineering programmes lead to the B.E. None of that changes the aptitude test, but all of it changes what you are committing to when you rank Architecture ahead of an engineering programme.
What to ask, and who to ask
Ask the specific campus, because the booklet does not describe the format, the length or the materials. Ask what it involves, how long it takes, what to bring and on what date, and ask when your priority form goes in rather than after your name appears. In a cycle where the test shares a window with the amendment deadline, there is no slack between the two.
Section 5.2 of the BE/B.Arch Booklet 2083, page 12, for the power to conduct the test; the campus list is read off the quota tables at sections 6.1 and 6.3, pages 13 and 15; the five-year length and the degree title are at 11.2.2 and 11.2.3, page 22, and the sponsored-seat approval at 6.4(k), page 17. The 2083 dates are from the first-list schedule table in the Admission Guidelines 2083, page 1, converted from Bikram Sambat and read off a rendered page image. A future cycle republishes this schedule with new dates, so check the current Guidelines rather than reusing these.
Sources
- IOE B.E./B.Arch Booklet 2083published 7 August 2026 · read 18 August 2026
- IOE Admission Guidelines 2083 (Centralized Admission Monitoring Committee)published 12 August 2026 · read 18 August 2026
Last reviewed by Ram Raj Thapa, Admissions Officer, Imperial College of Engineering. Every figure on this page is cited to the document it came from.
