NTSE

NTSE exam is the National level scholarship program by Govt. of India and most venerated exam of India. It is not only about scholarship but a matter of great pride and honour for every student to be recognised as the nation’s talent. The NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) examination is conducted every year at two levels – Stage I (State level) and Stage II (National Level). NTSE Stage I is conducted by States and NTSE Stage II is conducted by NCERT.

NTSE Stage I	State level
NTSE Stage II	National level

NTSE Eligibility Criteria

According to the criteria laid out by CBSE, NTSE is open for the students of Indian nationality irrespective of whether they study in India or abroad at class X level.

Candidates studying in India will be selected on the basis of their screening examination will be eligible for NTSE.

Candidates studying Abroad having Indian Nationality are eligible. They are exempted from the first level and are permitted to appear directly at the second level examination.

NTSE Eligibility Criteria (Stage 1)	Candidate must have scored a minimum of 60% marks in Class IX. The candidate must be of recognized school in the respective State or Union Territory. The Open Distance Learning (ODL) program students will also be considered eligible if they are below 18 years of age as on July 1, YYYY(the same year in which candidate giving the exam) and are not employed when they appear for Class X examination.
NTSE Eligibility Criteria (Stage 2)	Only students who manage to clear NTSE Stage I will be eligible for NTSE Stage II examination.

NTSE Scholarship

NTSE scholars are provided with the scholarship of Rs 1250 per month for Class XI and XII and Rs 2000 per month for graduation and higher studies by Indian government. Apart from this, being an NTSE scholar provides following benefits:

NDA National Defence Academy Exam organized by UPSC gives preference to NTSE scholars. Renowned Engineering College for Information Technology such as IIIT-Hyderabad offers 15 seats to NTSE scholars. This institute is considered equivalent to IIT-Bombay. NTSE scholars will have upper edge in Foreign University admissions. Preference in various Public and Private sector Jobs. IIIT-Delhi, an Engineering College under Government of Delhi, gives ‘bonus marks’ to NTSE scholars.

NTSE Syllabus

Syllabus of NTSE is based on 9th & 10th class level. For Stage 1, NTSE preparation should be state wise & for Stage 2, the preparation should be national level wise. Students are advised to go through each and every topic. NTSE consists of multiple choice questions which are asked from the subjects like Mathematics, Science, Social Science, English, General Knowledge and Mental Ability syllabus.

NTSE Exam Pattern

The NTSE is conducted in two stages i.e. Stage I and Stage II. The NTSE paper is available in both the Hindi and English medium. The students have to select any one language from both the languages. The paper is divided into two sections i.e. Mental Ability Test (MAT), and Scholastic Ability Test (SAT).

MAT (Mental Ability Tests)	100 Questions	120 Minutes
SAT (Scholastic Ability Tests)	100 Questions	120 Minutes

• The paper is comprised of Objective type multiple choice questions.
• The examination is conducted through the offline mode only.
• For every correct answer, 1 mark will be given and there is no negative marking at stage 1 and stage 2.
• Reserved category candidates have to secure 32% marks to qualify the test, whereas general category candidates have to secure 40% marks to qualify the test.

NTSE Reservation

a) 15% for students belonging to SC category.

b) 7.5% for students belonging to ST category.

c) 27% for students belonging to OBC category.

d) 4% for Physically Challenged group of students, benchmark disabilities of which –

1% each will be reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses:

Blindness and low vision

Deaf and hard of hearing

Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy.

1% for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses:

Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness

Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses in the posts identified for each disabilities

NTSE Exam Highlights

Conducting Body	NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training)
Mode	Offline
Medium	English and Hindi
Duration	120 Minutes ( For each part)
Type & Number of Questions	Objective Type Questions (Stage 1: 200 Questions), (Stage 2: 200 Questions)
Sections	2 (Mental Ability Test and Scholastic Ability Test)

The qualified students are eligible for scholarship on the basis of the final merit list.

Frequently Asked Questions on Eligibility Criteria for