Bhubaneswar: With 195 seats still vacant in the newly introduced four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) for the 2026-27 academic session, the higher education department has opened Phase-II admissions, giving another chance to eligible candidates who missed out in the first round.First-year classes for ITEP began on Aug 1. The department said candidates can apply in Phase-II irrespective of their status in the first phase. This includes those who had applied but were not selected, those who did not apply and those who were selected but could not take admission.The Common Application Form (CAF) for Phase-II is available on the SAMS ITEP portal and can be submitted till Sept 20, according to the admission schedule.Candidates must have appeared for NCET-2026, conducted for ITEP, and possess a valid NCET scorecard. They must also have passed the higher secondary (+2) or equivalent examination in any stream from a recognised board, institution or university in India, with at least 50% aggregate marks. Students from other states can also apply, but preference will be given to eligible candidates from Odisha. Applicants from outside the state will be considered only after all eligible Odisha candidates have been considered and seats remain vacant, the department said.The department has also made provisions for candidates who have not studied Odia as an MIL (second language) at the HSC/10th level, as a subject at the +2 level, or have not passed the specific Odia language examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha. They can apply for ITEP but will have to pass the prescribed Odia language examination during the course and before completing the four-year programme.The provisional seat allotment for the first round, along with a waiting list in the ratio of 1:30 against available vacancies, will be published on Sept 24 at 4pm. Selected candidates will have to report to their allotted institutions between Sept 25 and 28 for admission and fee payment.A spot selection round will subsequently be held for interested candidates on the waiting list. Physical reporting for this round will take place on Sept 29 and 30, followed by publication of the merit list on Oct 1.Final admission and document validation for selected candidates will be conducted from Oct 3 to 5. If seats remain vacant, candidates from the remaining waiting list will be admitted on Oct 6 and 7, according to the admission notification. The course is being offered in 15 colleges in the state.