NTSE 2019-20 – Exam Dates, Application Form, Eligibility Criteria & Admit Card
Each year NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training) conducts a national level NTSE (National talent search examination) to provide scholarship to bright and deserving students. This exam is to figure out the students with high intellect and skills at the secondary level of their schooling.
Every year more than 12 lakhs students appear for the first stage of the examination out of which only 5000 are selected for the second level. And finally the scholarship is provided to 1000 students. But this year NTSE will provide scholarship to 2000 students.
Students currently pursuing their class 10th can fill up the national Talent Search Examination forms now. The forms can be obtained from the respective states’ SCERT website or from their school’s office. The NTSE level 1 exam dates are 2nd, 3rd and 17th November 2019.
NTSE 2020 Exam Details
| Exam Name | NTSE Stage1 | NTSE Stage2 |
| Exam Level | State Level | National Level |
| Conducting Body | Respective states and Union territories | NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training |
| Exam Objective | To provide scholarship to 2000 students for higher studies | |
| Selection Procedure | Mental Ability Test(MAT), Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT) and language test | Mental Ability Test(MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT) |
| Exam Mode | Pen and Paper based test | Pen and Paper based test |
| Negative Marking (for wrong answers) | No negative marking | No Negative Marking |
NTSE 2020 Schedule
Candidates should follow the schedule to facilitate timely functioning of various activities related to NTSE 2020. We have prepared a table to make it easy for the aspirants.
| Events (Stage 1) | Important Dates |
| NTSE 2020 Notification | 17th July 2019 |
| Start of NTSE Application Process | August or September (varies from state to state) |
| Last Date to submit application form | As announced by each state and UT (almost 1 month after the start of application process) |
| Admit Card Release Date | Second Week of October 2019 |
| NTSE Exam Date (Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Andaman & Nicobar) | 2nd November 2019 |
| NTSE Exam Date (West Bengal, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Bihar and Jharkhand) | 17th November 2019 |
| NTSE Exam Date (for other States and Union Territory’s) | 3rd November 2019 |
| Result Declaration | January-April 2020 |
| Events (Stage 2) | Important Dates |
| Examination Date | 10th May 2020 |
| Admit Card Release Date | April 2020 |
| Announcement of Stage 2 Results | September 2020 |
NTSE 2020 Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility for NTSE exam 2020 varies from state to state. The states decide their own eligibility criteria for Stage 1 of the examination. But the criteria for stage 2 is set by the NCERT itself and it remains same for all the states. Students should make sure if they are eligible or nit for the ntse exam before applying for the examination. If the student does not satisfy the eligibility criteria he will not be allowed to sit in the examination.
The general eligibility criteria for NTSE exam 2020 stage 1 is as follows-
- Age Limit- The age of the candidate must be less than 18 years as on 1st July 2020. The students exceeding the given age limit will not be allowed to sit in the examination.
- Educational Qualification- Candidate must be a student of class 10th in any recognized school can apply for the NTSE exam 2020. There is no restriction regarding domicile in this exam. Also the students studying in open school or any distance learning program can also apply for the NTSE exam.
- Candidates must be appearing for the class 10 for the first time, this means they should not have failed in class 10th.
- In some states requires the students to score minimum 55% marks in their class 9th exam.
Ntse stage 2 eligibility criteria– The candidates who have cleared the Stage 1 exam with the minimum marks required are eligible for giving the exam.
NTSE Application form 2020
The application forms for NTSE Stage 1 exam are released by the respective SCERT’s or education departments of the state or union territory. The application release and submission dates can also vary from state to state. Students are required to submit their application form to their school office or to their regional liaison officer’s office. The students should keep in mind the last date for submission of application forms, it can be seen on the states official website.
Steps To Submit NTSE 2020 Application Form
- First visit the official website of the respective state education department.
- Find the NTSE section on the website.
- Download the NTSE application form from the official website.
- You can also get the application form from the school office or the liaison officer’s office.
- Fill the details as required on the application form. Fill all the details in your own handwriting and everything should be filled in Block Letters.
- Affix the latest passport size coloured photograph on the form and sign at the required places.
- Also affix all the required documents with application form.
- Get the application form checked and signed by the principal of the school.
- Submit the application form in the school or send it to the State Liaison officer’s office.
NTSE Application Fees
The fees for NTSE application varies from state to state. Some states does not charge any fees on the NTSE Application form. But some states charge a minimal fees which varies between Rs.30-50 for the application form. The students can get this information on the official state education department’s website.
Stage 2 Application Form
There is no separate application process for stage 2 of the NTSE. Those students who have qualified the stage 1 of the exam are directly eligible for the stage 2. The stage 2 is conducted by the NCERT and the date of the exam is also declared by them.
Recommended books for NTSE 2020
The preparation of NTSE requires a very good basics and knowledge. The books are the best way to learn for a exam like NTSE. We have prepared a list of books which will be very useful for the preparation. The student should try to cover both theory and questions from the books mentioned to get a complete preparation for the examination. The books are-
- NCERT Books of class 9th and 10th for Social Science and Science.
- Mathematics by RD Sharma ( the book contains a lot of questions but the main focus should be HOTS questions ).
- Arhiant’s- A complete study package for NTSE
- Tata McGraw Hill’s Study Package for NTSE
- Apart from all the books the students should also solve as many previous year papers as possible to get a clear picture about the paper pattern and the level of questions asked in the paper.
NTSE Preparation Tips
Being a NTSE scholar is not a very tough thing to achieve but without a proper study plan you can’t acheive this feat. To crack the exam you should be well determined and should know how to use your time wisely in the preparation stage.
You should keep in mind that time is most important thing in the preparation stage. You can keep in mind the tips given by the toppers about the NTSE exam given below-
- Make a proper study schedule and make sure you follow it wisely.
- Don’t make your study time based. Means you should not note the number of hours you have studied you should keep in mind the number of topics you have studied in the given period time.
- Check to know about the paper pattern and level of questions.
- Go with more important topics in the initial stage of your preparation so that you can give them extra time.
- Practice as many previous is papers as possible and try to do it and time basis to improve your accuracy and time management.
- Only study from standard books and don’t change your study material frequently as it can distrib your preparation.
NTSE Admit Card 2020
The Admit Card for the NTSE exam is released by the respective SCERT for stage 1 exam and by NCERT for stage 2 exam. Some states release the admit card in online mode which can be downloaded from the official website by the student. Other states release them in offline mode. The admit cards can be collected from the school office of the candidate.
The NTSE 2020 Admit Card contains essential information like name of the candidate, roll number, exam date, timing of exam and exam center details. A candidate is not allowed to sit for the NTSE exam if he does not have a valid admit card.
Steps to get Admit Card
- The ntse admit cards for level 1 Examination will be released in the month of October 2019. The candidate can get it downloaded if available in online mode or can get it from their school office.
- If a candidate does not get his Admit Card he can approach to state Liaison Office to get his Admit Card.
- The admit cards for the stage 2 exam will be released by NCERT in online mode before 21 days of the exam date.
NTSE Answer key
The answer key for the stage 1 of the NTSE exam will be issued by the SCERT website because each state have different papers for stage 1. The answer key will be helpful for students who want to check their answers and calculate their probable score in the stage 1 exam.
The Ntse stage 2 answer keys are also released for all sets of the paper by the NCERT itself. The answer key cam be seen on the official website of NCERT. It is not necessary to check answer keys but they can be helpful to get approximate score of a candidate.
NTSE Results 2020
The results for stage 1 will be released by the SCERT’s. The results will contain details like candidate name, roll number and score. The results will be released somewhere around January and February 2020. The results will released in tge form of merit lists.
The candidates whose names are present in the merit list will only be eligible to take part in stage 2 of the examination. The stage 2 results will be announced by the NCERT in the online mode on their official website. The results for stage 2 would be released around September 2020. The student can also check category wise cutoff with the stage 2 results.
Steps to check NTSE results
- Stage 1 results can be checked in the official SCERT website. And for Stage 2 the candidate must visit the NCERT website.
- Click on NTSE Results section on the website
- A PDF file will be downloaded if your name is not available in the merit list then you must have not been qualified for the next stage of the NTSE.
Rechecking of NTSE results
Students should keep in mind that there is no provision for rechecking of the results. You can a copy of your own OMR sheet and can get it matched with the official answer key to calculate your score by yourself.