Humanities and Social Sciences entrance exam (HSEE)

(1)About HSEE

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) administers the HSEE, which is also known as the Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Exam. The national level entrance exam is the HSEE. Candidates for the five-year Integrated Master of Arts program must pass the HSEE exam in order to be admitted. Students who want to get into the five-year IIT Madras Integrated Master of Arts program; can fill out an online application for the HSEE entrance exam by going to the official website.


Course offered through HSEE

Integrated M.A. in Development Studies

Integrated M.A. in English Studies

(2) HSEE 2023 Exam Date (Tentative)

(3) HSEE 2023 Eligibility Criteria

1. The exam is open to candidates who have passed the Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examinations held by the Association of Indian Universities or Boards of Education.

2. Candidates who have completed a two-year course in the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence academy are eligible to apply.

3. Candidates must have passed the final examination of the 10+2 system, which was administered by a Central or State Board that is recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.

4. Any board, public school, or university examination that is recognized by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as equivalent to the 10+2 system in India or a foreign country.

5. A Senior Secondary School Examination with at least five subjects administered by the National Institute of Open Schooling.

6. A candidate with a General Certificate of Education (GCE) at the Advanced (A) level (London, Cambridge, or Sri Lanka)

7. A Baccalaureate Diploma from the International Baccalaureate Office in Geneva

8. A High School Certificate Examination from Cambridge University or International

 How to Fill?

1. The HSEE 2023 application form will only be available online. The first candidate must sign up by going to the official link, which is http://hsee.iitm.ac.in.

2. After completing the registration process successfully, follow the site's instructions by clicking the "Apply-Online" button.

3. Candidates must carefully and accurately provide all required application details.

4. They must upload scanned images, a signature, and copies of the necessary documents in the format required.

5. Submit the completed application form by the deadline.

(5) HSEE 2023 Admit Card

Candidates can download their admit cards for HSEE 2023 from the official HSEE website following successful registration and payment of the application fee. Your name, photograph, Roll number, date of birth, exam center, and exam date and time will be on your Admit Card. The admit card of the candidate is required to be brought to the Examination Center.

(6) HSEE 2023 Exam Pattern

1. The HSEE 2023 exam will last three hours.
2. Only English will be used during the exam.
3. There are two parts to the exam:

Part I will have objective multiple-choice questions that will last for 150 minutes, or two and a half hours.

English and Comprehension, General Studies, Analytical and Quantitative Ability, Indian Society, and Contemporary World Affairs (post-World War II) are some of the topics that will be covered in this section. and Environment and Ecology

Part II: The candidate will be required to write an essay on a general topic involving reflection, description, or discussion for 30 minutes on the answer sheet provided to them at the conclusion of Part I.

Items that are not allowed in the examination room:

Mobile phones, calculators, iPods, iPads, headphones, and other electronic devices are NOT ALLOWED to enter the examination room. Additionally, things like a slide rule, a log table, an abacus, textbooks, notebooks, and a geometry box, among others. in addition to the fact that no other method of calculation is permitted in the examination hall.

(7) HSEE 2023 Syllabus

HSEE-2023 has two parts: Part I and Part II. Syllabus for Part I consists of English (25% marks of Part I), Analytical and Quantitative Ability (25% marks of Part I), and General Studies (in four sub-parts; 50% marks of Part I). Part II involves essay writing.

PART I

i. English and Comprehension skill
This section tests the candidate’s ability to understand and use standard English, and    to appreciate literary language. Questions are related to the following areas:

Reading skills: Candidates will be required to read the given passage(s) that aim(s) to test their comprehension skills and answer the comprehension questions.

(Or This section tests candidates’ reading comprehension skills of a given passage.)

Grammar: This section tests the candidate’s knowledge of English grammar including sentence structure and usage,  the use of tenses,  verb patterns,  articles, and active  and passive constructions etc.

Vocabulary: This section is a test of vocabulary and the ability to understand meaning, structure and collocation of words.

ii. Analytical and Quantitative Ability
This section tests the candidate’s analytical skills and quantitative abilities. Questions  are related to the following areas:

iNumbers, Algebra, Highest Common Factor (HCF) and Lowest  Common  Multiple (LCM), Calendar, Basic Statistics – Average, Ratio and proportion, Profit and Loss, Percentages, Simple and Compound Interest, Work and time, Discount, Age  sums, linear equations, elementary trigonometry.

Data interpretation, Analytical reasoning, Logical reasoning, Brainteasers, and Patterns.

iii. General Studies

Indian Economy:

a. This section is intended to test the understanding of some basic  economic concepts  and awareness of key issues pertaining to the Indian economy with a focus on the developments after independence. The concepts and issues covered are:

b. Understanding the Economy: Scarcity, opportunity cost, resource allocation, economic systems and their characteristics, features of market economies, forces of demand  and supply, elasticity of demand and supply.

c. Main Features of Indian Economy: Natural resources; human resources -population size and composition, literacy and education, occupational distribution.

d. Major Economic problems: Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality – concepts, measurement, trends, sectoral distribution and policies, inflation – trends, causes and remedies.

e. Economic Growth and Development: Meaning and measurement of economic growth, stages of development, national income concepts and trends, trends in savings and investment; human development index, national policy on education, health  and  health care policies. Planning in India: Five-Year Plans – objectives, priorities and problems.

f. Sectoral Development: agriculture – Green Revolution and technological changes, current issues and policies; industry-evolution of industrial policies in India (from 1948), strategies for industrial development, public and private sectors, small and medium industries, infrastructure, transport and communication, service sector etc.

g. Foreign Trade and International Economy: balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves and trade policy, I.M.F., W.T.O., international aid.

h. Money, Banking and Public Finance: Concepts of money and measures of money supply.

iv. Indian Society and Culture:

a. Structure of Indian Society: Caste, Class and Tribe, Institutions of Marriage, Family  and Kinship, Political institutions, Demographic Indicators and Trends.

b. Social Change in India: Sanskritization, Modernisation, Westernization and Secularization, Social Movements and Regionalism, Panchayati Raj Institutions & Governance, Affirmative Action Programme of the Government, Commissions and Policy Interventions.

c. Medieval and Modern Indian History: Delhi Sultanate and Mughal era; British Raj; Uprising of 1857; (Social) Reform, and Resistance Movements; Indian National Movement and the Emergence of the Indian nation.

d. Indian Philosophy and Thinkers: Jainism, Buddhism, Orthodox Systems, Sikhism, Sufism, Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

e. Indian Traditions and Knowledge Systems: Classical dance forms, Architecture, Education, Ethics, Language and Grammar, Painting, Music, Theatre, Textiles Indian Literature, Mathematical and Medical systems.

v. World Affairs:

a. Emergence of the US and USSR; emergence of UN system; the Cold War and nuclear race; disintegration of Soviet Union, decline of Communism and rise of nationalism; Arab-Israel conflict; India and the World; NAM and role of India; India-China and India- Pakistan relations, China and the World, conflict and wars.

b. Democracy and Development; Challenges to democracy; North-South  divide  on issues of development; UN and its various developmental and peacekeeping operations; Nuclearisation and Non-proliferation; India in SAARC and ASEAN; International terrorism, fundamentalism and the War on Terror;  Indo-US  relations; New centres of power in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

c. Hunger and Poverty; Human Rights, Democracy and Development; Environmental degradation and green politics; Issues of Race, Ethnicity and Gender; Deprived Classes and minority politics; Religion in the contemporary world; Culture and Civilization; Globalization and changing economic, cultural and political landscape; Mass media and cultural change; Emergence of various popular mass movements.

vi. Environment and Ecology:

a. Global Environmental Picture: Population Growth, Degradation of Soils, Global Atmospheric Changes, Loss of Biodiversity.

b. Ecosystems: Structure of Ecosystems, Biotic Structure, Categories of Organisms, Feeding and Non-feeding Relationships, Ecosystems and how they Work, Elements in Living and Non-living Systems, Energy Laws, Nutrient Cycling.

c. Pollution: Major forms of Pollution and their Impact, Primary  and  Secondary Pollutants, Control Strategies, Indoor Pollutants, Global Warming, International Treaties.

Principles of Solar Energy, Hydropower, Wind Power, Biomass Energy, Ocean  Thermal Energy, Geothermal Energy, and Tidal power.

PART II

a. Topics for the essay writing in Part II will be based on current affairs and general knowledge.

b. The essay should build an argument, demonstrate a clear perspective and be substantiated with examples, wherever possible.

(8) HSEE 2023 Result

Soon after the written exam is over, the result will be announced. By going to the official website, candidates who took the entrance exam and passed can check their results online. To check the result, they must enter necessary information like the roll number or registration number, date of birth, and name.

1. The HSEE-2023 cumulative marks will be used to create the rank list.

2. Candidates with scores of at least 50% on the HSEE-2023 will be included on a common rank list. The GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PwD categories will each have their own separate rank lists.

3. In order to appear on the respective rank lists, candidates in the GEN-EWS and OBC-NCL categories must obtain a score of at least 45% on the HSEE-2023 exam. In order to appear on their respective rank lists, candidates from the SC and ST categories must achieve a score of at least 25% on the HSEE-2023 exam.

4. When assigning a stream at the time of admission, the candidate's rank and choice of stream (DS or ES) will be taken into account.