Winter programmes for high school students in India, 2026-27: online and on-campus options, checked

Which winter programmes can a Grade 8 to 12 student join this December and January?

Programmes in this table are open to students in Grades 8 to 12 (or the matching ages), start between 1 December 2026 and 31 January 2027, and are open to students in India, online or on a campus in India. Each runs at least two days, or six hours of live sessions, and had its dates and fee (or “free”) published on the organiser’s own page when we checked on 12 November 2026.

Not included: tuition and exam coaching, olympiad preparation, single talks or webinars, competitions without a teaching programme, MUN and other conferences, internships, programmes with rolling or flexible start dates, and programmes for undergraduates. Rows are in order of start date, not ranked. Two rows are One Young India’s own programmes, marked “ours”; we run them.

• Inspirit AI gives its dates and times in US Pacific Time. In IST, Winter 1 and 4 (8:00am to 10:30am Pacific Time) run 9:30pm to midnight on the same dates; Winter 3 and 6 (7:00pm to 9:30pm) run 8:30am to 11:00am the next day; Winter 2 and 5 (12:30pm to 3:00pm) run 2:00am to 4:30am the next day.
• Horizon’s and Cornell’s pages give their fees with a dollar sign but do not name the currency; Inspirit AI’s is in US dollars. We show each as published, without a rupee conversion.
• Refund rules, as published on 12 November 2026: Somaiya’s fees, once paid, are non-refundable. Inspirit AI’s terms refund 100% of course fees for cancellations up to 21 days before the start and 50% up to 7 days before, then nothing. Cornell refunds 100% of tuition for a withdrawal on days 1 to 3 of the session and 50% on days 4 and 5, minus nonrefundable charges; its application fees, deposits and course fees are nonrefundable.
• Horizon, AIC NMIMS and IMAANDAAR show no refund rule on the pages we read. Our own rule is on our Refunds & Cancellations page.

How should a parent read this table?

“Fee as published” is the figure on each organiser’s page, with its own tax wording. AIC NMIMS includes taxes. Inspirit AI says all inclusive, and its terms say its fees are inclusive of taxes. IMAANDAAR says all-inclusive without mentioning GST; Somaiya, Horizon and Cornell do not say. Where a page is silent on tax, ask before paying.

What a fee covers differs too. IMAANDAAR’s fee list names tuition, meals, sports facilities, healthcare, learning materials, mentorship and feedback; its programme facts add fully air-conditioned student housing, which the fee list does not name, so ask.

AIC NMIMS lists materials, meals, mentorship, sessions and industry visits. Somaiya lists a residential option at ₹6,000, with an AC hostel. Cornell charges online students tuition only, and says course-related materials, if applicable, may cost extra.

Days are not hours. Inspirit AI publishes 25 hours of live sessions. Horizon’s “at least 100 hours” is the student’s total time, including reading, writing and homework, at an expected 8 to 10 hours a week. Somaiya gives daily timings; AIC NMIMS and IMAANDAAR give days only, and the Cornell pages we read give no class times.

Deadlines differ as well. Inspirit AI’s page gave a deadline of 15 November 2026, but it processes applications on a rolling basis and says seats are limited. Cornell wants its application form by 23 November 2026 and the materials by 1 December 2026. AIC NMIMS and IMAANDAAR publish no deadline.

So does entry. AIC NMIMS and Horizon interview a shortlist. Somaiya takes registrations, and payment confirms the seat. Cornell asks for payment within four business days of enrolment in a course, or the course is dropped.

Online or on campus: which suits the winter break?

Two campus programmes are in Mumbai: Somaiya, generally 10:00 am to between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm, with a hostel option, and AIC NMIMS, residential or non-residential. IMAANDAAR is fully residential, from arrival on 18 December; its schedule lists departures on the evening of 23 December and the morning of 24 December. A student from another city should add travel when comparing fees.

Online, the clock matters more than the place. Inspirit AI sets its sessions in US Pacific Time, which in IST means late evening, the small hours or the morning (see the note under the table). Cornell’s pages we read give no class times, so ask before enrolling.

What should a winter programme give the student for the fee?

Five questions sort most programmes, and each can be asked by email before paying.

1. How many hours of live teaching?
2. Who teaches, by name? None of the table’s pages says who will teach its 2026-27 dates; most describe roles, such as faculty, mentors or instructors.
3. What does the student make? The table’s last column gives each output as the organiser describes it.
4. What feedback does the student get, and from whom? Horizon names a grade report from the instructor; IMAANDAAR lists mentorship and personalised feedback.
5. What is the refund rule, in writing? Three outside organisers publish one (see the notes under the table); for the other three, ask.

What are the red flags before paying?

Each of these is a reason to ask more before paying:

• a promise of admission, or of publication;
• an award that comes with the fee rather than with the work;
• no named standard for judging the student’s paper or project;
• a refund rule that is missing or unclear;
• a countdown or a “last seats” push before the questions above are answered.

How can a parent judge a programme that is not listed?

Apply the same test: a start date with its year, a fee with its tax wording, the grades and the hours. Then ask the five questions above, in writing.

Many programmes failed the rule, most often because the page showed no 2026-27 dates or no fee. MIT World Peace University’s page shows only its Three-Day Winter School 2025, for Grades 9 to 12, and Azim Premji University, which listed a Winter School 2025 for Grades 11 and 12, shows none that names school students in its events list from November 2026 to January 2027.

Are there free winter options?

Not among the programmes that met the rule: none of the eight rows is free. The Department of Science and Technology’s INSPIRE portal showed no dated 2026-27 science camp on its home page.

Horizon offers need-based financial aid selectively; the student asks for it in the application, and the household income must be below $75,000. Inspirit AI offers payment plans. Somaiya says scholarships are currently not available for its 2026 winter school. Cornell’s financial assistance page describes aid each summer for students affiliated with partner community-based organisations.

Our own merit scholarship is under “Where One Young India fits”, below. See also our page on scholarships for school students in India.

For students on Indian boards

For a student in Class 10 or Class 12, a winter programme competes with board preparation. Every row except Horizon and Cornell ends by 10 January 2027. Horizon’s cohort starts on 14 December 2026 and usually runs 12 to 16 weeks, at an expected 8 to 10 hours a week. Cornell’s session runs from 4 to 22 January 2027, with final exams on 22 and 23 January.

CBSE’s date sheet for the Class X and Class XII Board Examinations, 2027, dated 6 November 2026, says the examinations are scheduled to begin on 16 February 2027.

A CBSE circular dated 5 November 2026 says practical examinations, projects and internal assessment for Classes X and XII in 2026-27 are scheduled from 1 January 2027 for all affiliated schools in India and abroad. Winter-bound schools hold them from 9 November to 19 December 2026, and the circular says the one for regular session schools will be issued separately.

Before booking a December or January row, ask the school for its practical dates.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations listed its ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) Year 2027 examination timetables among the latest notices on its site, dated 10 November 2026.

Where One Young India fits

We run programmes in this area, so weigh this section with that in mind. One Young India runs two of the programmes above: Model NITI Aayog and Entrepreneurship in Action. Each includes a year of Learnacy Essential. Model NITI Aayog is an independent educational programme. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with NITI Aayog or any government body.

The policy programme is a simulation of NITI Aayog, India’s policy think tank. The entrepreneurship programme needs no coding: students direct AI in plain language to build a working product.

Essential gives a student a year to explore any subject, test ideas in labs and write a white paper, with feedback from an AI writing coach on their drafts. Both programmes add a cohort, mentors and live sessions to that independent work. Learnacy Essential pays for the tools, the courses and the feedback. It never buys acceptance.

The policy programme’s white paper is published only if it is accepted. Publication depends on review and is not guaranteed. Our Learnacy page names the standard for papers submitted through Essential: an average of at least 4 out of 5 on the review rubric, no criterion below 3, and the editorial checks. The programme pages do not say whether the same standard applies.

On the five questions above: the policy programme is fully live, not recorded, with faculty, a cohort and a panel for the student’s pitch, and every participant in either programme receives a certificate of participation. Feedback comes from an AI writing coach on drafts and from editorial review, both part of Essential. For named teachers, ask us before paying, as with any organiser.

Refunds follow our Refunds & Cancellations page.

Our scholarships are awarded on merit: on a programme page, use Request a scholarship, tick “Apply for a merit scholarship”, and write one white paper on our brief. We never ask about family finances. Our interest forms take no payment.

Common questions

Are there free winter programs for high school students?

None of the eight options in the table is free, and the INSPIRE portal’s home page showed no dated 2026-27 government science camp. Horizon offers need-based aid, and Inspirit AI payment plans. One Young India’s merit scholarship, described above, is awarded for a strong paper.

Can a student in the UAE join these winter programs?

This list does not cover programmes held in the UAE. A student there would look at the online rows, checking each organiser’s eligibility and session times: Inspirit AI sets its times in US Pacific Time, and Cornell’s pages we read give no class times.

Are there winter programs for middle school students?

Four of the eight rows take students from Grade 8: AIC NMIMS, IMAANDAAR and our two programmes. Inspirit AI also runs a separate programme, AI Pioneers, for 5th to 8th grade students: its winter cohorts run daily from 19 to 30 December 2026, with no class on 24 and 25 December (US Pacific Time), 25 hours in all, for a fee of $1,400 USD.

What is the difference between a winter course and a winter programme?

The names overlap, so this list does not go by them. It counts a fixed start date, at least two days or six hours of live sessions, and dates and a fee on the organiser’s own page, with the other conditions above the table. Flexible starts and single talks are left out.

When do 2026 winter programmes close applications?

On 12 November 2026, the earliest deadline still ahead was 15 November 2026 (Inspirit AI, which also processes applications on a rolling basis), then 22 November 2026 (Horizon) and 23 November 2026 (Cornell’s application form; materials by 1 December). Somaiya’s early bird registration closes on 30 November 2026, its regular registration on 15 December 2026. AIC NMIMS and IMAANDAAR publish none.

Sources

1. Horizon Academic Research Program, Programs (the tuition is in the FAQ on the same page).
2. O.P. Jindal Global University, IMAANDAAR Winter Programme.
3. Inspirit AI, AI Scholars Live Online, Terms (linked from that page as its Refund Policy) and AI Pioneers for 5th to 8th Grade Students.
4. AIC NMIMS (NMIMS Atal Incubation Centre), Startup Winter School, and its Startup Winter School 2026 brochure (PDF; it also prints an early bird offer and a November batch that the web page does not show).
5. Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Summer and Winter School, and Winter School Programme 2026 Frequently Asked Questions (PDF).
6. Cornell University, School of Continuing Education, Precollege Studies: Winter Dates and Deadlines, Tuition and Fees, Eligibility, Refunds and Withdrawals and Financial Assistance.
7. MIT World Peace University, Winter School Program.
8. Azim Premji University, Imagining Worlds: Winter School 2025, and Events.
9. Department of Science and Technology, INSPIRE (home page).
10. Central Board of Secondary Education, Date Sheet for Class X and Class XII Board Examinations, 2027 (PDF, dated 6 November 2026) and circular on practical examinations for winter-bound schools (PDF, dated 5 November 2026), both listed on cbse.gov.in.
11. Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, CISCE (home page).
12. One Young India, Refunds & Cancellations.

Related

• Read a free first chapter: what is public policy?
• Early Entrepreneurs: a course preview
• Entrepreneurship programmes for school students in India
• All our programmes
• More for parents