Bhubaneswar, June 8: The online and offline admission procedures for Plus Two colleges in the state began today and will continue till June 22.

The admission will be held for 3,74,268 seats in 1,476 colleges. This year, the higher education department announced to increase the seat capacity by one lakh.

While students applying online can download the common application forms from www.dheodisha.in, those opting for the offline procedure can collect their forms from their nearest students' admission management system centres.

As many as 577 such centres have been set up across the state for smooth conduct of college admissions. The department announced that the first selection list of the cut-off marks would be out on July 1, and candidates, who make it to the list, should take admission between July 4 and 8.

A higher education department official said the selected students ought to take admission in the college they had chosen within the stipulated date. Failing which, they will be excluded from the process. The second list would be declared on July 13. Classes will start from July 30.

This year, the students will be provided with online intimation letters to inform them about the colleges, for which they have been selected, and all the students have been asked to create their own email Ids for correspondence and a mobile number, on which they can be contacted.

"Students can choose among six colleges in order of preference, while filling up the CAF. The students need to download two copies of the form - one for the college and the other for themselves for future reference," said higher education department e-admission officer-in-charge Mihir Kumar Das.

Students have also been asked to upload their current photograph for their online admission profiles. They will no longer be required to submit photographs for various college related purposes in future.

Students, who use android devices, can also download SAMS App, an android application for tracking their admission application status, college information, seat availability, cut-off marks and other useful information. The date sheet for Plus Three admission would be notified within a week, said another higher education official.