NTSE Exam Date – Important Dates, General Instructions and Cut-offs

NTSE exam date plays a crucial role for the students in preparations. In order to avoid any last-minute rush and prepare well before the examination, you must keep the NTSE exam date in mind. The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) exam dates usually remain the same every year with minor fluctuations. For state-level examination, the dates may differ from state to state. However, for national level examination, the exam dates for students across the nation remain the same. The examination is held in the month of November every year exclusively for Indian students. 
When can a student apply for the NTSE? What not to miss before the examination? When to access the admit card? What is the examination pattern? What is the cut-off for previous years? Get detailed answers to all these questions in this article. It covers information related to NTSE exam date, its syllabus, examination pattern, general guidelines and much more.

NTSE Exam Date- Important Dates

The stage 1 NTSE exam date has already been conducted between December 2020 and February 2021. The stage 2 NTSE exam date is scheduled to be held on 13th June 2021 (tentative) for the academic year 2020-21. Other important dates related to NTSE for the academic year 2020-21 have been mentioned in the table below. The candidates should go through the official NCERT website for further information.

List of Important Exam Dates of NTS Examination 2020-21

Events	Dates
NTSE Application Form Release for Stage 1	1st October 2020
Last Date for Submission of Application Form	November 2020
NTSE Stage 1 Admit Card Release	3rd December 2020
NTSE Stage 1 Exam Date	12th December 2020 – for Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands 13th December 2020 – for all states/UTs 27th December 2020 – for Jammu & Kashmir (2021) 24th January 2021 – for Bihar Kerala, & Karnataka 21st February 2021 – HP and Telangana
NTSE Stage 1 Result	Between February and May 2021*
NTSE Stage 2 Admit Card Release	May 2021*
NTSE Stage 2 Exam Date	13th June 2021 (tentative)
NTSE Stage 2 Result	April 2021*
Final NTSE Result	October 2021*

*Exact dates to be announced soon

NTSE Exam Date- General Instructions Before the Examination

Before heading on to the examination centre on NTSE exam date 2021, you need to keep in mind certain important instructions provided by the NCERT. These general instructions include –

• The e-admit card of the candidates for second level examination will be made available on the official website before 21 days of examination.
• The candidates are required to paste an attested copy of their photograph in the E-admit card and submit it to the Centre Superintendent on the day of national level examination.
• The candidate should make sure to reach the examination centre at least half an hour before the commencement of the examination and identify the seat that bears the same roll-number and occupy it.
• The candidate should make sure to carry his/her admit card along with a valid identification card to the examination centre.
• Calculators of any kind, mathematical tables, and physical tables or any other kind of assisting material are not allowed in the examination hall.
• The examination is to be conducted in two different sessions on the same day.

The examination will be allocated into two different parts:

1. Part 1: Mental Ability Test (MAT)
2. Part 2: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

• Each question carries one mark.
• There is no negative marking in both the stages of the examination.
• The answers are to be recorded using a blue or black ball-point pen only.
• The examination is based on the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) formats. Four plausible options are provided for each question out of which only one is correct. The candidate has to identify the right answer and mark it in the answer sheet.
• Time provided to the students for completing each session of the examination is 120 minutes.
• The question books will be circulated to the candidates by the invigilator, it has five different colours having questions in shuffled order in each.
• Write the roll number, as mentioned in the admit card, on the answer sheet and the cover page of the question book.
• An attendance sheet will be passed during the exam to the candidate. The candidate should make sure to mark his/ her presence by signing in the sheet.
• Follow the instructions of the invigilator strictly in the examination hall.
• The candidate should make sure to hand over the question book and admission card to the invigilator before leaving the examination hall.

Note: The answer sheet is a computer sensitive paper; it is advised not to fold it. The candidate is supposed to fill in (shade) the correct answer. If the candidate shades the answer in a clumsy or wrong way, they won’t receive a mark for the answer as it is marked by a computer.
The correct way of marking an answer in the examination has been specified below:

Also Read: NTSE REGISTRATION – APPLICATION FORM, PROCEDURE AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

NTSE Exam Date – Exam Pattern

Knowing the NTSE exam date does not guarantee your selection. In order to perform well in the examination, you must be aware of the examination pattern. The NTS Examination is divided into three parts namely the Mental Ability Test (MAT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Thus, the students have to take up the examination in two parts. Both the examinations are held on the same day in two different time slots and in two different sessions. The time duration for each slot is 120 minutes which is relaxable by 30 minutes for specially-abled children. Find below a detailed description of the exam pattern for your reference.

Detailed NTS Examination Pattern

S.No.	Test Name	Maximum Marks	No. of Questions	Duration of Exam	Time of Exam
1.	Mental Ability Test (MAT)	100	100	120 min.	9:30 AM to 11:30 AM
2.	Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)	100	100	120 min.	13:30 PM to 15:30 PM

Also Read: NTSE ADMIT CARD – KEY DATES, SYLLABUS AND EXAMINATION PATTERN

NTSE Exam Date – Previous Years’ Cutoff 

Once you are aware of the NTSE exam date, you must be further willing to know the cut-offs for the examination. The NCERT releases the cutoff for their NTS Examination each year. The cutoff is different every year and is varied according to the category of the candidate. There are 10 categories in total and the cutoffs for the same for the academic year 2018-19 are mentioned in the table below. Knowing these cut-offs will surely help you prepare well for the examination.

NTSE Cutoff 2020

States/UTs	General	OBC	SC	ST
Andhra Pradesh	167	158	146	143
Assam	159	135	132	140
Haryana	156	148	129	–
Chhattisgarh	160	139	129	140
Odisha	155	120	120	110
Telangana	175	163	149	156
Rajasthan	180	162	142	149
Delhi	181	152	136	128
Karnataka	151	129	117	113

NTSE Cutoff 2019 – Stage 1

State/UT	General	OBC	SC	ST
Delhi	181	152	136	128
Maharashtra	170.03	159.76	144.28	131.34
West Bengal	158	121	140	105
Rajasthan	174	151	140	148
Odisha	152	118	113	108
Haryana	161	49	128	–
Karnataka	143	119	101	101
Kerala	146	128	103	84
Tamil Nadu	160	146	125	126
Himachal Pradesh	127	89	101	99

NTSE Cutoff 2019 (Category-wise)

Category		NTSE Cut off
General	Normal	134
	PH1	69
	PH2	69
	PH3	88
	PH4	95
Scheduled Caste (SC)	Normal	105
	PH1	87
	PH2	0
	PH3	68
Scheduled Tribes (ST)	Normal	113
	PH3	90
OBC	Normal	116
	PH1	90
	PH2	69
	PH3	91
	PH4	70

NTSE Exam Date – Scholarship Details

The NTS Examination is specifically fabricated to identify and nurture talent. Every year, approximately one thousand scholarships are allocated to the deserving candidates amongst the lakhs of candidates participating to take the examination. These scholarships are fairly disbursed among talented and meritorious students. The details about the scholarships disbursed through NTSE by NCERT has been provided elaborately below:

• Scholarships of INR 1,250 per month for students of class 11^th to 12^th.
• Scholarships of INR 2,000 per month for students pursuing Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses.
• Amount of scholarship for PhD is fixed in accordance with the UGC norms.

The seats for the reserved categories have been fixed in the following way:

• 15% seats are reserved for students belonging to the SC category.
• 5% seats are reserved for students belonging to the ST category.
• 3% seats are reserved for students belonging to the Physically Challenged group.

The qualifying marks for candidates from the general category is 40% in each paper and for candidates from SC/ST/PH category is 32% in each paper.

Also Read: NTSE – NATIONAL TALENT SEARCH EXAMINATION