Plus 3 admissions 2025 in Odisha: Fresh guidelines for spot round, CAF changes

In a major relief for students applying for undergraduate (+3) courses, the Government of Odisha’s Higher Education Department has issued revised guidelines for Phase-I (Waiting List/SPOT) round admissions for the academic session 2025–26.

As per the new directive, applicants who had earlier submitted their Common Application Form (CAF) during Phase I but failed to update their +2/equivalent marks or incorrectly filled in their institution preferences can now edit their CAF entries.

This move follows complaints from students who were either not considered for selection or had omitted preferred colleges due to errors in the CAF submission.

The government has now allowed all such applicants to:

1.     Re-edit their +2 marks and institutional choices,
2.    Submit fresh preferences for institutions and subjects,
3.    Without having to pay the CAF fee again.

This facility will be available after completion of the third round of admissions and will be applicable during the 4th round (Waiting List/SPOT) of the selection process.

Key highlights of the revised guidelines include:

1.    Fresh preferences must be submitted even if applicants had filled earlier choices. Old preferences will not be considered.
2.     The CAF editing facility will only be accessible through the applicant’s student login credentials on the SAMS portal.
3.     Those already selected or admitted in earlier rounds are still eligible to participate in this round and can revise their preferences accordingly.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will view these fresh CAFs and prepare merit lists based on vacancy and subject availability. The selection process will remain purely merit-based and strictly follow the stipulated timeline.

Memo copies have been issued to senior officials, including the Minister, Commissioner-Cum-Secretary, and Joint Secretary, for immediate implementation.

Students and institutions are advised to adhere to the timeline and complete all activities as per Annexure-A attached to the official communication.