New Delhi: The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has announced a “final opportunity” for teacher education institutions (TEIs) running four-year integrated BA-BEd, BSc-BEd, and BCom-BEd programmes under the now-omitted Appendix-13 of its 2014 regulations to transition to the new Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP).
The council will open its online portal in mid-September to allow institutions to apply afresh for the transition into ITEP, submitting relevant documents, including proof of being a multidisciplinary institution.
The rules under Appendix-13 of the NCTE Regulations, 2014, which allowed standalone colleges to run four-year integrated BEd courses, were scrapped in October 2021. Institutions were then instructed to shift to the new ITEP under the 2021 regulations, with a transition deadline set for 2025–26. In July 2025, the NCTE extended this deadline by one year, permitting admissions under the old courses until 2025–26.
In line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, NCTE has directed standalone teacher education institutions (TEIs), which offer only teacher education courses, to transform into multidisciplinary higher education institutions (HEIs).
In guidelines issued on May 15, NCTE outlined three pathways for standalone TEIs to expand beyond their single-discipline status and integrate with broader academic streams: start at least two new undergraduate programmes; merge with an existing multidisciplinary Higher Education Institution (HEI); or collaborate with one within a 10 km radius. All standalone TEIs, approximately 15,000 across India, must become multidisciplinary HEIs by 2030 as envisioned in NEP 2020.
{{/usCountry}}In guidelines issued on May 15, NCTE outlined three pathways for standalone TEIs to expand beyond their single-discipline status and integrate with broader academic streams: start at least two new undergraduate programmes; merge with an existing multidisciplinary Higher Education Institution (HEI); or collaborate with one within a 10 km radius. All standalone TEIs, approximately 15,000 across India, must become multidisciplinary HEIs by 2030 as envisioned in NEP 2020.
{{/usCountry}}“We offer UG and PG courses in arts, science, commerce, journalism and pharmacy and other vocational courses at SD College, Barnala running since 1956 and offers B.Ed and M.Ed courses in its campus under S.D. College of Education. Hence, we qualify as a multidisciplinary institution. In June 2025, we applied to NCTE for permission to start ITEP courses and submitted the required documents along with fees of about ₹1.77 lakh. During scrutiny, NCTE officials pointed out 15 deficiencies in our papers, which we will soon rectify by uploading the revised documents,” principal of S.D. College of Education in Barnala (affiliated to Punjabi University) Tapan Kumar Sahu said.
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At its 67th general body meeting on July 28, 2025, NCTE decided to give a “final opportunity” to all TEIs running four-year integrated BA-BEd and BSc-BEd programmes — including those whose earlier applications were rejected — to reapply online for transition to ITEP.
“Therefore, all the institutions concerned are hereby informed and advised to be in readiness to apply afresh with all the required relevant papers or documents, including proof of being a multidisciplinary institution, as per guidelines for transforming NCTE-recognized standalone TEIs into multidisciplinary HEIs, available on the NCTE website. This shall be the final opportunity for institutions offering 4-year Integrated BA-BEd or BSc-BEd programmes to transition into the four-year ITEP,” a notice issued by NCTE member secretary Abhilasha Jha Misra on August 25 said. The notice was uploaded on the NCTE website on Saturday.
The NCTE has clarified that TEIs failing to apply for transition will not be allowed to admit students in BA-BEd, BSc-BEd, and BCom-BEd programmes once the new academic session begins in 2026–27.
The ITEP, launched in 2023–24 in 57 TEIs, has expanded to 19 central universities, 21 state universities, 7 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), 3 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and 14 colleges by 2025-26, with admissions through a national-level entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). In its Draft NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2025, the council also announced four specialised ITEP programmes — ITEP Yoga, Physical Education, Sanskrit Education, and Art Education — which will be offered from the 2026-27 academic session, pending approval of the draft rules.