OVERVIEW
NTSE
The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a national level scholarship program in India started in the year 1963. The purpose of the scheme is to identify talented students and nurture their talent. It covers areas like Science, Social Science, Engineering, Medicine, Management and Law. The scheme is open to students of Indian nationality. It helps students to proliferate their mental level and also helps them to sharpen their minds. It is organized by NCERT and honours talented students by providing financial assistance in the form of a monthly scholarship. For the courses in Basic Sciences, Social Sciences and Commerce, this assistance is provided up to Ph.D. level whereas for professional courses like Engineering, Medicine, Management and Law this assistance is given only up to Post Graduation.
NTSE is conducted by NCERT for the students of Class X. The exam is conducted at two levels: Stage-I (State Level) and Stage-II (National Level). The NTSE paper consisting of Paper-I: Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Paper-II: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Quota for State/UT will be computed proportionally on the basis of student’s enrolment in Class IX and X. 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 and engineering up to second-degree level subject to the fulfilment of the conditions.
Exam Structure
The written examination for NTSE consists of two stages as Stage-I & Stage-II. Stage – I examination will be at the States/UTs level and Stage – II examination at the National level.
Stage-I examination at States/UTs level will comprise two papers namely Paper-I: Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Paper-II: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for nominating the required number of candidates for the second level test to be conducted by the NCERT.
The number of questions, maximum marks and time allotted are as follows:| Paper | Test | Timings | No. of Questions | No. of Marks | Time Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper-I | Mental Ability Test (MAT) | 09.30 am to 11.30 am | 100 | 100 | 120 minutes |
| Paper-II | Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) | 13.30 pm to 15.30 pm 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm for visually challenged candidates | 100(Science-40, Mathematics-20, Social Science-40) | 100 | 120 minutes |
Note:
Candidates have to take the examination in following Parts: Disclaimer: Some states provide their own customized pattern of exam. Students are requested to refer their state’s State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT) website for State Level NTSE details.More Information
- The questions in MAT and SAT are multiple choice based questions.
- Candidates are required to answer all the questions in separate Answer sheets.
- Each question has four alternatives.
- The candidate has to select one correct answer from the given alternatives and mark in the answer-sheet as per the instructions Each question in both the paper shall carry one mark each.
- A student shall get one mark for correct response.
- There is no negative marking in either of the test papers
- Part I: Mental Ability Test (MAT) This test is given to the candidates to judge their power of reasoning, ability to think, ability to judge, evaluate or discriminate, ability to visualize in the space, spatial orientation, etc. A variety of questions, for example: Analogies, Classification, Series, Pattern perception, Hidden figures, Coding-decoding, Block assembly, Problem solving etc. are used for this purpose. There shall be 100 multiple-choice type questions in MAT paper, with four alternatives. Each question will carry one mark. Candidates are required to answer the questions on a separate OMR sheet as per instructions given in the test booklet and on the OMR sheet.
- Part-II: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) The scholastic Aptitude Test will consist of 100 multiple-choice questions of one mark each. Each question shall have four alternatives, out of which only one will be the correct answer. There shall be 40 questions from Science, 40 from Social Science and 20 from Mathematics. Candidates are required to answer the questions on a separate OMR sheet to be provided at the examination centre as per instructions.
- For more details, please refer: