Guidance Centre for
Competitive Examinations
National Talent Search Examination (NTSE)
National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a National-Level Scholarship Program at the Secondary School level to identify and recognise students with high intellect and academic talent. NTSE is conducted every year at Two levels – Stage-I (State Level), conducted by the States/Union Territories and Stage-II (National Level), conducted by NCERT. The objective of the two-tier examination is to identify the talented students who have a special aptitude for Sciences, Mathematics, Social Sciences and questions based on Analytical Reasoning.
For further details visit NTSE official site
Stage 1 (State level)
- NTSE Stage-I is conducted by the respective State/UT bodies. Only Indian students are eligible to appear in this level.
- The students studying in Class X are eligible for appearing in the test.
- They are required to have obtained at least 60% marks in their Class IX, in the last academic year.
- The student must be studying in a recognized school in the respective State or Union Territory.
- The SC, ST and PH category candidates get a relaxation of 5% and the minimum score they must have obtained in their Class IX is 55% marks.
Stage 2 (National level)
- Students, securing 80% marks or above in the State level exam, are eligible for the Stage-II to be held by NCERT at National level.
- Around 4000 students are shortlisted for the National level NTSE across the country.
Selection process
It is a Two-Stage Selection Process for award of Scholarship. For Stage I, Selection is done by States/UTs through a Written Exam. Students who qualify Stage I are eligible to appear in Stage II examination conducted by NCERT.
For stage-II, there is a quota for each State and Union Territory computed based on Student enrolment at secondary level. Qualifying marks for candidates from General Category is 40% in each paper and for candidates from SC, ST, PH is 32% in each paper.
Scholarships
1000 scholarships are awarded every year, of which 750 are unreserved. Students who qualify Stage II are eligible for the scholarship. The scholarships under the present scheme are awarded to the candidates for pursuing courses in Sciences and Social Sciences up to Doctoral level and in professional courses like Medicine, Engineering and Law up to Second-Degree level.
The amount of scholarship is as follows-
- Scholarship of Rs.1250 per month for class XI and XII.
- Scholarship of Rs.2000 per month for Undergraduate & Post Graduate.
- Scholarship for Ph.D. is provided in accordance with the UGC Norms.
Syllabus
Stage 1
The syllabus is broadly based on topics covered in Classes 9th and 10th of the respective state. There are objective type questions for both papers i.e. Mental Ability Test and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) on relevant topics.
Stage 2
There is no prescribed syllabus for the NTS examination. However, the standard of items shall be conforming to the level of Classes IX and X. A separate booklet called ‘Learn about the Test’ containing sample items for both the Tests- MAT and SAT is available in print as well as on the NCERT website
Paper Pattern
The paper pattern is the same for both the stages. The first stage is conducted by the respective State/UT bodies and the second stage is conducted by NCERT
| Papers | Subjects | No. of questions |
|---|---|---|
| Paper1- Mental Ability Test (MAT) | Aptitude Test | 100 |
| Paper 2- Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) | Science, Social Science, Mathematics | 100 (Science – 40 Social Science – 40 Mathematics – 20 ) |
Reference Books
- State board and Ncert textbooks of IX and X
- MEGA Study Guide for NTSE (SAT, MAT & LCT) Class 10 Stage 1 & 2
- Study Package for NTSE
- Study Guide NTSE (MAT + SAT) for Class 10th