The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Students’ Association (FTIISA) has strongly condemned the institute’s handling of the FTII Entrance Test 2024–25, alleging lack of transparency, arbitrary rule changes, and possible violations of the Union Government’s reservation policy.
In a detailed press note released on Sunday, the association said that “new rules are arbitrarily introduced without involvement or proper intimation to students.”
The students have questioned “the core of the admission policy and whether it adheres to the Central Government’s Reservation Policy.”
According to the students, the FTII entrance test is conducted without fixed intervals or a consistent design. The test consists of two written papers, an objective (MCQ) Paper-I and a subjective Paper-II, collectively called Stage 1. Only candidates who qualify in Paper-I are evaluated for Paper-II.
Candidates for Stage 2 are shortlisted in a 1:4 ratio based on the total marks of both papers. Stage 2, a Mixed Format Assessment involving practical, analytical, and performance evaluation, carries 70% weightage in the overall selection process.
This year, the Stage 2 process took place online for the first time since 2019. Students allege that this move compromised the quality and integrity of the assessment.
On 17 October 2025, FTII released the final merit list for both the Film and TV wings. Students raised objections after noticing that a candidate eligible under a reserved category was placed on the waiting list for the general category but not selected under their respective reserved category.
The Students’ Association said that when such issues were brought to the administration’s notice, FTII revised the merit lists on 24 October 2025. The revision altered the relative merit positions of several candidates. The administration decided to retain previously selected candidates while including additional names whose marks were “previously wrongly calculated.”
However, the student body stated that “new issues have been realised in the revised list by students.”
The students’ body pointed out that FTII admitted 23 students in the MFA in Cinema (Screen Acting) course instead of the 16 seats mentioned in the prospectus, attributing the change to a “clerical error.”
The revised merit list shows category-wise admissions as follows: 1) OBC-NCL: 7 seats (30%), 2) EWS: 4 seats (17.39%), 3) SC: 2 seats (8.7%), 4) ST: 1 seat (4.35%) and 5) General: 9 seats (39.17%).
FTIISA argues that the “clerical error” disproportionately reduced seats for reserved categories and questions how FTII “chose to increase seats from 16 to 23” and why such changes were made without official explanation.
The statement also highlights that similar irregularities occurred in two other courses in the Film Wing.
The association criticised FTII for publishing only roll numbers of candidates qualified for Stage 2, without mentioning their reservation categories. It demanded publication of the Cumulative Rank List (CRL) for both Stage 1 and Stage 2, with clear marking and reservation details.
“Due to the lack of transparency, candidates now question if such a discrepancy might have happened at Stage 1 and if some candidates might have been omitted due to FTII’s ‘clerical error’,” the statement reads.
Students have also alleged that the “freezing” of reserved-category status during Stage 1 is neither documented nor communicated officially, allowing ambiguity in how vertical reservation is applied.
“When deserving candidates from reserved categories score higher, their candidature is restricted to reserved lists. This is a blatant misuse of vertical reservation,” the association said.
The FTII Students’ Association has put forward eight key demands, urging the institute to immediately halt the admission process until all issues are clarified.
They have called for the publication of Stage 1 and Stage 2 results with public disclosure of external experts’ signatures and category-wise markings, along with the inclusion of all deserving candidates if further discrepancies are identified.
The association has also sought a clear communication of rules governing reservation and merit calculation, and demanded that the seat preference choice be reintroduced after the release of final merit lists instead of during registration.
They have asked the administration to explain how the final merit lists align with the FTII Prospectus 2024–25 and the Union Government’s reservation policy.
Furthermore, the students have demanded the formation of an external reform committee with members from the FTIISA and the institute’s SC/ST cell to review the admission process, and the inclusion of student representatives in the FTII Executive Council.
“The FTII admission process lacks transparency,” the statement concludes, demanding accountability and immediate reforms to ensure fairness for all candidates.
The post FTII Students’ Association alleges violation of reservation policy, demands halt to admissions appeared first on Maktoob media.
