National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) 2019 Notification Released

The National Talent Search Examination for students studying in Class X is meant to identify the nurture talent. The examination is conducted every year at two levels: Stage-I (State Level) and Stage-Il (National Level).

Scholarships: About one thousand scholarships are awarded for different stages of education as follows:

(a) Scholarship of Rs.1250/- per month for Class-XI to XII.

(b) Scholarship ofRs.2000/- per month for Undergraduates and Post-graduates.

Reservation: At the national level for Stage-Il Examination 15% for students belonging to the SC category. 7.5% for students belonging to the ST category and 27% for students belonging to OBC category (Non-creamy layer) as per central list available on www.ncbe.nic.in/user panel/centralliststateview.aspx and 4% for Physically Challenged Group of Students, with benchmark disabilities of which, one per cent each shall be reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (a), (b) and (c) and one per cent for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (d) and (e) namely:

(a) blindness and low vision; (BLV)

(b) deaf and hard of hearing; (DH)

(c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (LD)

(d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; (AID)

(e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf blindness in the posts identified for each disabilities’ (MD)

Selection: Stage-I, selection will be done by States/ UTs and those who are selected/ recommended from Stage-I examination, will be eligible to appear for Stage-Il examination, conducted by NCERT.

Qualifying Marks: Qualifying marks for candidates from SC/ ST/ PH category is 32% in each paper and for others (General/ OBC) categories it is 40% in each paper.

Important Dates: Dates for submission of application form and conduct of examination, are given below:

Stage	Area	Tentative Dates
Stage – I (State)	Last date for submission of Application form	To be notified by the respective state and it may vary from state to state
	Examination in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands	03^rd November, 2018 (Saturday)
	Examination in All other States and Union Territories expect West Bengal	04^th November, 2018 (Sunday)
	West Bengal	18^th November, 2018 (Sunday)
Stage – II (National)	Examination in All States and Union Territories	12^th May, 2019 (Sunday)

Eligibility: All students of Class X studying in recognized schools are eligible to appear for the Stage-I examination, conducted by the States/UTs, in which the schools are located. There will be no domicile restriction.

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 1 st July of the particular year), the student is not employed and s/he is appearing in class X examination for the first time.

Examination: The pattern of written examination will be as follows:

Stage-I & II: examination at the State/UT level will comprise of two papers i.e.

Paper	Test	No. of Questions	No. of Marks	Duration (in minutes)
Paper – I	Mental Ability Test (MAT)	100	100	120
Paper – II	Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)	100	100	120

There will be no negative marking in Stage-Il examination.

Application Form: You may contact the State/ UT Liaison officer for procuring application form.

The completed application form should be signed by the Principal of the school much before the last date of submission. The candidate as well as the Principal of the school must adhere to the last date for submission of the Application Form. Different states may have different last dates for submission. Please confirm from the Liaison Officer of your state, the address at which the completed forms are to be submitted. The address and contact number of the Liaison Officer of the States/UTs are available (State-wise) in the NCERT website www.ncert.nic.in. All queries related to application form should be directed to the State Liaison Officers (LOS). No application should be sent to NCERT.

Fees: States and Union Territories may notify the fee required which will be paid for the Stage-I examination. Therefore, before submitting the application form, you may find out the fees charged for Stage-I Examination and also the mode of payment from the respective State Liaison Officers (LOS). However, NCERT does not charge any fee for Stage-Il examination.

Indian Students Studying Abroad in Class X can appear directly for Stage Il NTS Examination under conditions prescribed in the NTS brochure which is available on the NCERT website. Candidates may fill up the Application Form, available on the NCERT website and send to the undersigned along with a photocopy of the mark sheet of previous examination, latest by December 31 st 2018. Application Form for students studying abroad will be uploaded on NCERT website in the month of October, 2018. Announcement for students of Indian nationality studying abroad will be announced separately.