All Integrated First Degree and Higher Degree Programmes of the Institute provide for a Practice School option. A student who exercises such an option receives, on successful completion of the programme, a degree which carries the tag "With Practice School". 

Theme 
BITS is strongly wedded to orienting education to meet the rapidly changing needs and challenges of the environment. If university education is an organised attempt to help people become intelligent and able to face open-ended real-life situations, it must at least have an economic relevance to society.

The Practice School (PS) method of education, a controlled simulation of real life, adopted at BITS creates the circumstance whereby the university is linked with the world of work. The curriculum through PS finds a formal method of bringing the reality of the world of work into the educational process. In short, it is a part of the total programme and takes the class-room for a period of 7.5 months to a professional location where the students and the faculty get involved in real-life problems. Thus the PS institutionalises efforts to build the long-needed bridge between the professional world and the educational world. Particularly for science and humanities streams the PS constitutes a bold and radical educational innovation with no parallel.
The programme requires that the students undergo the rigour of the professional world in form as well as in substance, providing them an opportunity to apply their class-room knowledge to live situations. It differs from the 'Practical Training' as well as `Sandwich Schemes' in as much as the entire student education at a PS station is supervised by the BITS faculty resident at the station. Credits obtained by the student at the station form a part of his total credit towards his degree. 

The PS Programme 
The PS programme for the Integrated First Degree has two components, namely PS-I of two months duration implemented during the summer following the 2nd year and PS-II of five and a half months duration implemented during either of the semesters of the final year. Dual degree students can also opt for PS-II in both the semesters of the final year.
The PS Programme for Higher Degree has a single component, namely Practice School for Higher Degree which is also of five and half months duration and implemented in the final semester of the Higher Degree Programme.

Evaluation in PS Courses
The PS method of education is a vehicle through which one can meaningfully innovate in methods and techniques of student education and evaluation to bring them closer to real-life situations. In consonance with this objective, the students at the PS stations are divided into inter-disciplinary groups, each one being allotted, a priori, an identified PS assignment. One of the members from the group is appointed leader and is given total responsibility for planning, scheduling, implementing and defending the steps to solution. During the process the professional expert(s) associated with the assignment and the PS faculty play the role of consultants. In all PS courses the concept of continuous evaluation is followed. At the end of each PS course students are awarded letter grades based on their total performance and these grades are directly incorporated in his degree transcript. 

Thus, the PS constitutes an integral part of education at BITS. The educational process in the PS courses seeks out and focuses attention on many latent attributes which do not surface in the normal classroom situation, such as intellectual ability, professional judgement and decision-making ability, inter-disciplinary approach, skills for data-handling, ability for written and oral presentation, ability for team-work, leadership qualities, industry, sense of responsibility, ability to meet deadlines, etc. These attributes are judged by the faculty through various instruments of evaluation, namely, quiz, viva, seminar, group discussion, project report, diary and daily observation of student's performance. Supplementing the Degree Transcript issued by the Institute the PS Division also issues 'Practice School Transcript' to those who opt for the PS stream. This PS Transcript gives a complete record of the academic performance of the student during the PS programme. Further, it includes a rating sheet which qualitatively describes the student's personality traits mentioned earlier. 

Some PS Statistics 
Ever since its beginning in the year 1973 with just one PS station accommodating 12 students and 4 faculty members, the PS has grown immensely. In the academic year 1975-76 the programme was thrown open to all the students of the Institute. Thus during any academic year arrangements have to be made for PS programme for a steady number of 1400 students, accompanied by nearly 95 faculty members. Specifically, it means accommodating a steady number of 656 students and 52 faculty members at about 90 different organisations for PS-I operative every summer, also arranging at a time for about 375 students accompanied by about 50 faculty members to attend PS-II implemented round the year at about 90 different host organisations. So far about 15,000 students have utilized this programme. While all the host organisations pay the students out-of-pocket allowance, some organisations provide the students and the faculty with housing and other facilities also.