National Talent Search Examination (NTSE)

The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a national level scholarship program in India to identify and nurture talented students. The scheme is open to students of Indian nationality. Only students studying in Class VIII are eligible to appear for the selection process. As it is organized by an official body (NCERT), it is widely regarded as the toughest and most prestigious examination at high school level in the country.

Soon after NCERT was established in 1961, a programme to identify and nurture the talented students took up the shape of a scheme called National Science Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) in the year 1963. The objective of this scheme was to identify talented students and awarding them with scholarships.

The scheme was partially decentralized in 1985. Under the new arrangement, the selection of candidates for the awards became a two-tier process. The states and the union territories have been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the first tier screening examination known as State Level Talent Search Examination. The states got complete autonomy to design and conduct their written examinations. However, they were advised to follow the national pattern which comprised MAT and SAT.

A stipulated number of candidates who gets qualified at the national level examination are called for face-to-face interviews. The award of scholarships is finally determined on the basis of the candidates’ scores obtained in all three components namely the MAT, the SAT and the Interview (MAT and SAT papers from II phase, I phase is only considered for scrutiny).

From the year 2000 the number of scholarships was raised to 1000 with the provision of reservation for SC and ST candidates based on the national norms of 15% and 7.5% respectively.

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 provided in this brochure.

Selection procedure

Identification of talent comprises a three-stage selection process. While the individual state or union territory conducts the first stage selection, the second stage selection at the national level is carried out by the NCERT, usually on the second Sunday of May. This is followed by the interview of the selected 1500-1600 students.

Eligibility

Before 2006, all students studying in Class X in any type of recognized school were eligible to appear at the state level examination from the state in which the school is located. The state could impose any other eligibility condition for appearing in the screening examination like any qualifying percentage of marks in the previous annual examination, etc. But from 2006 onwards, a separate examination for Class VIII has started. More than 1,50,000 students appear for the screening examination of the NTSE every year.

From 2008-2009 National Talent Search examination is held only for class VIII.

State level examination

The state level examination has two parts for nominating the required number of candidates for the second level test to be conducted by the NCERT.

• Part-I:Mental Ability Test (MAT), (the MAT, which consists of 90 multiple choice type questions, is to be attempted by all the candidates.)
• Part-II: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The SAT consists of 90 multiple choice type questions (35 from Science, 35 from Social Science and 20 from Maths). Each state and union territory selects and recommended a stipulated number (state quota) of candidates for the national level examination to be conducted for about 3000 candidates by the NCERT.

National level examination

Candidates acquiring more than the required percentage in the state level examination and within a specified number of top ranks (state quota) are eligible to appear for the national level examination. NCERT conducts the National Level NTS each year in the 2nd week of May for about 3000 candidates. The national level examination has two parts for nominating the required number of candidates for the interviews to be conducted by the NCERT:

• Part-I:Mental Ability Test (MAT), and
• Part-II: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)(with questions on history, civics, geography, rarely economics, maths, physics, chemistry and biology.)

Scheme of Testing

The scheme of testing is given below:

Test	Duration	No. of Items	Maximum Marks	Qualifying Marks(General)	Qualifying Marks(SC/ST/PC)
Mental Ability Test (MAT)	90 minutes	90 MCQ & 10 questions of one word or sentence	100	40	32
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)	90 minutes	90 MCQs , (35 in Science, 20 in Mathematics & 35 in Social Science) &10 questions of one word or one sentence each.	100	40	32

Interview

Candidates acquiring more than the required percentage in the national level examination and standing in about top 1500-1600 students across India and abroad are eligible to appear for the interview. The interview pattern is based on the regular courses, that is the general subjects taught in the schools like science, history, geography , civics etc. It must be noted that the questions asked may be related to theoretical parts of the subjects and may not be just general questions. It is advised to study the school curriculum carefully. Students should also have extra information of higher classes to excel. Normally you must concentrate on SAT rather than MAT.

According to NTSE 2009 final results, the cut-off marks for general category stood at 155/225 (200 for written test+25 for interview), for SC-122/225, for ST-118/225 and for PC/disabled-72/225.

Syllabus

There is no Prescribed syllabus for the NTSE examination. However, the standard of items conforms to the level of CBSE Class 8 Public Examinations. Also, parts of classes IX and X are also included.

Scholarship

The students who qualify all the stages of NTSE successfully are eligible for scholarship. The amount of scholarship has been enhanced to Rs. 500/- per month for all the students studying in Class IX onwards except for Ph.D., wherein it is paid according to UGC norms. The older system of book grant has been removed. The criterion of parental income for deciding payment of scholarship has also been discontinued.