The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a National Level scholarship program in India to identify and nurture talented students. It honours and helps talented students by providing financial assistance in the form of a monthly scholarship for the entire Academic Career.
NTSE or National Talent Search Examination is a national level exam conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for granting scholarships to the meritorious students studying in class 10th. NTSE is only held for 10th standard students and the exam is conducted in two different stages – Stage I and II.
The first stage exam is a state-level exam and is conducted by all the Indian states and UTs. On the other hand, NTSE stage II is conducted for those students who clear the first stage. As mentioned earlier, only those who qualify in NTSE stage 1 will be eligible to write the Stage II exam. This is the main criteria. Meanwhile, the objective of organizing NTSE is to award scholarships to potential candidates who are aspiring to pursue higher education in the field of Science or Social Studies. With these scholarships, students will be able to continue their education in their desired stream. NTSE scholarship will be awarded on the basis of the overall performance of students in both the stages of the examination.
NTSE is one of the oldest and most prestigious scholarship exams in India. An NTSE scholar commands tremendous respect in the society. Around 1000 NTSE Scholars are finally awarded scholarships based on Stage – II.
It honours and helps talented students by providing financial assistance in the form of a monthly 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 and engineering up to second-degree level subject to the fulfillment of the conditions.
Around 2000 scholarships are awarded for each stage of education. These stages are:
NCERT has defined an age limit for the students to appear for the exam. Candidates should be below the age of 18 years (as on July 1, 2020).
Due to the COVID situation in the country, there is no exact date given about the registration and date of the examination but students who are pursuing their studies from schools in India are eligible to appear in the stage 1 exam. Eligibility criteria are as follows:
Stage – I Examination at the State / UT level will comprise two parts, namely (a) Mental Ability Test (MAT), (b) Language Test (LT) and (c) Scholastic Ability Test (SAT)
Stage – II Examination at the National Level will comprise(a) Mental Ability Test (MAT), (b) Language Test (LT) and (c) Scholastic Ability Test (SAT)
| NTSE Exam (Paper 1 & Paper 2) | |
| Stage 1 | 1 Mark will be awarded for every correct answer. |
| No negative marking for the wrong answer. | |
| Stage 2 | 1 Mark will be awarded for every correct answer. |
| For every wrong answer, one-third of the marks will be deducted. | |
| No negative marking for questions left unattempted. | |
NTSE Reservation
| Category | Reservation |
| Schedule Caste | 15% |
| Scheduled Tribe | 7.5% |
| Person with Disability | 3% |
