National Talent Search Examination (NTSE):

It is a national-level scholarship program for students studying in Class X to identify and recognize the nurture talent. It is one of the most prestigious exams in India conducted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The exam is conducted every year at two levels: Stage-I (State Level) and Stage- II (National Level). Scholarships: The scholarships 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. Close to 5,00,000 students appear in this scholarship exam every year, and 1,000 scholarships are awarded for different stages of education as follows:

 • Scholarship of Rs. 1250/- per month for Class-XI to XII
 • Scholarship of Rs. 2000/- per month for undergraduates and Post-graduates.
• Amount of Scholarship for Ph. D. is fixed in accordance with the UGC norms.

Eligibility Criteria

• All the students of Class X are eligible to appear for the Stage-I exam.
• Students from both government and private schools are eligible to register.
• Students registered under Open Distance Learning (ODL) will also be eligible for scholarship, provided the student is below the age of 18 years (as on 1st July of the particular year), the student should not be employed and s/he should be appearing in class X examination for the first time.
• The scheme is open to students of Indian nationality & can be from any state of the country.
• Qualifying marks for candidates from General category is 40% in each paper a n d for candidates from SC, ST and PH 3 2 % in each paper.

Selection:
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. Each state and union territory selects and recommends a stipulated number of candidates for the National level examination to be conducted for about 4000 candidates by the NCERT. Those who qualify Stage-I, will be eligible to appear for Stage-II, conducted by NCERT. A stipulated number of candidates who qualified at the National level examination are called for face-to-face interviews. 

The award of scholarships are finally determined on the basis of the candidates’ scores obtained in all three components namely the MAT, the SAT and the Interview.  **Indian students studying abroad are exempted to take Stage-I Exam. For updates see www.ncert.nic.in/programmes/talent_exam