AIIMS Nursing Entrance Exam 2026: Syllabus Guide

The AIIMS Nursing Entrance Exam syllabus is not a published document. AIIMS New Delhi states in its 2026 prospectuses that no syllabus is prescribed for the B.Sc. or M.Sc. entrance tests. For the undergraduate tests it sets the standard at Class 12 (10+2), and for the Post-Basic test it names the nursing subjects the paper covers. Everything else has to be worked out from the paper structure and from the subjects you have already studied.

This page turns that into a working checklist for each test in the group: B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing, B.Sc. Nursing (Post-Basic), M.Sc. Nursing and the B.Sc. Allied and Health Care courses that share the undergraduate prospectus. Use the topic lists as a study plan, not as an official list. They are built from the prospectus and from the standard Class 12 and nursing curricula the questions are drawn from.

Syllabus Structure

Key Points Before You Start

• No official topic list: pages that show a "prescribed" AIIMS nursing syllabus with marks per chapter are guesses. The only official subject split is the 30-30-30-10 marks pattern for B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing.

• General Knowledge is real: 10 of the 100 questions in the B.Sc. (Hons.) paper are GK. That is 10% of the paper and is often left to chance.

• Biology settles ties: when two B.Sc. (Hons.) candidates have equal marks, higher Biology marks decide the rank first, then Chemistry, then Physics. Biology deserves the deepest preparation.

• M.Sc. subject splits online are unofficial: AIIMS publishes only the total (90 questions). Plan from the whole B.Sc. Nursing curriculum rather than a borrowed chapter split.

B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing Syllabus

Questions come at the level of NCERT Class 11 and 12 science. Most are direct concept or fact checks, with a smaller share of short numericals in Physics and Chemistry.

Human physiology and human health and disease link directly to what nursing students study in year one, so questions from them are common and conceptual. In Chemistry, biomolecules and everyday-life chemistry (drugs, antiseptics, food additives) give quick marks. Physics is usually the lowest-scoring section for this group, so aim for steady accuracy there rather than full coverage.

General Knowledge: how to narrow it

GK is the section with no fixed boundary. Keep it practical:

• Health and nursing awareness: national health missions, immunisation schedule basics, WHO and Indian health bodies, and well-known health days.

• Static GK: constitution basics, rivers, capitals, important national symbols and first-in-India facts.

• Current events: roughly the twelve months before the exam, with priority on science, health, awards and sports.

B.Sc. Allied and Health Care Syllabus

The Allied test uses the same Class 12 standard. Physics and Chemistry follow the lists above. Candidates then answer either the Biology part or the Mathematics part, not both.

Choose the part that matches your Class 12 stream and the course you want. Some Allied courses accept Maths, but several require Biology in Class 12, so check the course rules first.

B.Sc. Nursing (Post-Basic) Syllabus

The prospectus names the subject areas but not the number of questions from each. Plan around your GNM curriculum.

Medical Surgical Nursing carries anatomy, physiology and pharmacology inside it, so it is the widest area. Spend the most time there.

M.Sc. Nursing Syllabus

The M.Sc. Nursing paper has 90 questions from the B.Sc. Nursing curriculum. AIIMS does not publish a subject split, so cover the degree as a whole.

Core clinical subjects

• Medical Surgical Nursing: system-wise disorders, critical care, oncology, cardiac and neuro nursing.

• Obstetrical and Gynaecological Nursing: high-risk pregnancy, labour complications, gynaecological disorders.

• Child Health Nursing: neonatal and paediatric emergencies, growth and development.

• Mental Health Nursing: disorders, therapies, psychopharmacology.

• Community Health Nursing: epidemiology, demography, national programmes.

Supporting subjects

• Basic sciences: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology and pathology.

• Nursing research and statistics: research designs, sampling, tools, measures of central tendency and tests of significance.

• Management and education: nursing administration, staffing, teaching methods and evaluation.

The speciality you want (for example Critical Care or Psychiatric Nursing) does not change the paper, but it does change which seats you can choose. Strength in your target speciality helps you later as a student, not in the test itself.

Overlap Between the Tests

Common Syllabus Mistakes

• Studying only Biology for B.Sc. (Hons.): Biology is 30 of 100 marks. Physics and Chemistry together are 60, so a weak science base caps your rank even with strong Biology.

• Skipping Class 11: many candidates revise only Class 12 because of board exams. Class 11 chapters such as cell biology, plant physiology, chemical bonding and laws of motion are just as likely to be tested.

• Reading GNM notes without numbers: Post-Basic questions often test exact values, such as normal ranges, drug doses, immunisation ages and stages of labour. Make a separate sheet of numbers and revise it weekly.

• Ignoring research and statistics for M.Sc.: these are short, predictable topics that clinical nurses often skip. A week of focused work here usually yields several marks.

• Treating GK as current affairs only: static facts and health awareness questions appear as often as news events. Keep both in your daily slot.

How deep should you go?

For the undergraduate tests, NCERT depth is enough for most questions. Add one reference book only for the topics where your test scores stay low. For Post-Basic and M.Sc. Nursing, the standard nursing textbooks you used in your course are the right depth. Spend extra time on clinical application, because many questions describe a patient and ask for the first nursing action.

Is There an Interview Syllabus?

Only the Post-Basic test has a second stage, a personal assessment out of 30 marks. There is no syllabus for it. The selection committee considers your Class 12 marks, your nursing examination marks and your performance as a staff nurse, so prepare clear answers about your clinical postings and the procedures you handle confidently.

How to Cover the Syllabus

1. Weeks 1 to 6, concepts: finish Biology (or your core nursing subject) first, then Chemistry, then Physics. Start a 20-minute daily GK slot from week 2.

2. Weeks 7 to 10, topic tests: take short chapter-wise tests and keep an error log of every wrong or slow question.

3. Weeks 11 to 14, sectional tests: time each section separately so you know your pace subject by subject.

4. Final four weeks, full papers: one full-length paper every two to three days in the exact format, with same-day analysis and error-log revision.

Check the current prospectus on the AIIMS Examination Section portal before you finalise your plan, as course rules can change between cycles.