National Council for Educational Research & Training has been conducting the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) for many years since 1963. It’s a national level examination held with the sole purpose of finding talented students all around the nation and supporting them to continue their education and pursue their dreams. The qualified students will be rewarded with monthly scholarships that would get them through any financial problems obstructing their path for education upto the post graduation level. Only 1000 students each year, will be awarded with the monthly scholarship of Rs 500/- onwards.

Conducting such a national level examination has another purpose of calculating talents in the nation which can help the country develop to higher standards in the academics category at the international level.  The test will comprise of questions brilliantly developed that only the best brain can solve among the candidates. Children in rural areas unable to continue their education due to financial crises are the ones that the nation wants to help grow up to be better individuals with this program. Students with great potential can pass this exam and they will be rewarded with the scholarships. But it doesn’t mean that candidates from other than rural areas cannot attend or qualify for the exam. The priority for the scholarship is for those 1000 students who qualified for the exam with top ranks.

Structure of NTSE

The NTSE exam was recently modified and the post aptitude and mental ability test interviews were removed and subjective questions were replaced with objective questions thereby making the exam a completely objective one. The question paper will have questions from Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Selection for scholarship is based on the ranks of candidates. For aptitude tests, there will be 90 questions that are all supposed to be answered in 90 minutes. To be eligible for scholarship, the candidates are to qualify for all stages of the NTSE to be eligible. 40% marks and more are required for qualification.

Syllabus for NTSE

There is no specific syllabus for NTSE, but it has been following CBSE standard equivalent to 8th Standard and some topics for mathematics will be from 9th standard as well. The candidates should have good knowledge in everything they learned in the previous standards. But in some states, questions from higher classes are also included.

Eligibility Criteria

All students of, Indian Nationality, studying in 8th standard or the respective class of the examination is eligible for taking the examination. They must have an aggregate of 60% or more in their qualifying examination.

How to Apply?

For procurement of application forms, candidates are to contact State/UT Liaison officer or download it from the website below: www.ncert.nic.in .The address of the Liaison officer will be available from the website. This address should be where NTSE concerned letters are to be sent. After filling up the form, it should be submitted at the office of LOI concerned district official of the State, after getting it signed by the Principal of the Candidates’ school. Applications are not to be sent to NCERT.

For candidates residing abroad, the class 7 mark sheet and the state they are comfortable to appear for the NTSE should be forwarded to NCERT at the earliest. The last date is likely by the end of March.

How to fill the Form?

Filling up of the application form for NTSE requires Parental Guidance and support. Either let the candidates fill up the form by themselves and let them get the experience, or the Parents fill it up for them. The form should be filled up carefully. Any mistakes can affect the candidates’ chance to attend the exam. The textual entries should be neat and accurate.

Important Dates (Tentative)

The important dates for the NTSE are given below:

Last date of submission of application forms: Last week of August, 2011/2012

Date of Examination (Stage I): First week of November, 2011/2012

Date of Examination (Stage II): First week of May, 2012/2013

List of NTSE centers

The centers for different states will be announced by the authorities in due time. Candidates are recommended to be attentive for any words from the authorities regarding important dates for the NTSE and their allotment of exam centers. If the candidate requires a change in the center if and only if there are legitimate circumstantial problems which demands such a decision, he/she should sent a request letter  to the NCERT within 15 days after the admit card is issued. Candidates will be provided with English medium booklets at the changed centre. The centers will be allotted in the following states:

• Arunachal Pradesh
• Manipur
• Assam
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Sikkim
• Nagaland
• Tripura
• A and N Islands
• Bihar
• Jharkhand
• Orissa
• West Bengal
• North Chandigarh
• Delhi
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttaranchal
• Chhattisgarh
• Daman and Diu
• D and N Haveli
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Andhra Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Lakshadweep
• Kerala
• Pondicherry
• Tamil Nadu

Contact Address for the NTSE

• NTSE and Scholarship inquiries
• Ph: +91-11-26560464, +91-11-26562704
• Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
• Web URL: www.ncert.nic.in

Reference Books for NTSE

• Ntse Study Package For Ntse For Class VIII from Tata- Mc Graw
• Mission NTSE
• Ntse Olymplad Foundation (class 7) by Disha Experts
• Foundation Guide for NTSE/ OLYMPIADS (Class 6) by Disha Experts
• Study Pacakge for NTSE for Class VIII by Tata Mgraw Hill
• Mental Ability for NTSE and Other Talent Search Exams.by Ashish Arora
• NTSE: National Talent Search Examination by G K
• NTSE (Class X) Exam Guide by Rph Editorial Board
• Self Study Guide for NTSE Exam (VIII) by Expert Compilation

Coaching Centers for NTSE

• ACE Creative Learning
• Resonance
• Aryan Clasess
• TIME
• Elite Educational Academy in ECIL
• Vikas Educatioinal Institute
• Sri Mega Study Circle
• Leelavathi Tution Point
• Shaarvani Educational Academy
• Rama Sri Harsha Tutorials
• Aakash Institute
• Prospective Academy

Study Plan

NTSE is a tough exam which requires a good amount of hard work and dedication. The candidates can seek help from coaching centres and refer guides to prepare for the exam. There’s going to be a lot of competition. So the candidates should be confident and stress free while attending the exam.

How and Where To Get the Results?

The results will be announced by either the state Government or NCERT.

The results will be updated in the following website: www.ncert.nic.in

Score Validity

The NTSE exam score is normally valid for 1 year.