NTSE Exam Pattern: Stages, Papers, Marks and Timing

The NTSE exam pattern is simple to understand: two stages, and two papers in each. Stage 1 is held by the state or union territory, and Stage 2 is held nationally by NCERT. Each paper is the Mental Ability Test (MAT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Knowing the pattern helps you plan how to spend your two hours in each paper.

Please note that no new NTSE cycle is announced at present. NCERT's official page shows the 2021 cycle, with Stage II on 24 October 2021, as the latest. The pattern below is as reported for the last cycles and should be checked against any new official brochure.

Table of Contents

NTSE pattern at a glance

Key points to know

• Two papers, two skills: One paper tests reasoning and the other tests school subjects.

• Multiple choice format: Stage 2 questions were objective, with four options.

• Same exam day: The two Stage 2 papers were taken as separate sittings of equal length.

• State variation: Stage 1 formats differed across states, so read your state notice.

Stage 1 pattern

Stage 1 is conducted by each state or union territory, so there is no single national Stage 1 paper. Many states followed a structure close to Stage 2, with a reasoning paper and a subject paper, but the number of questions, the language and the marks can differ. Some states may also set their own rules for qualifying.

Because of this, the safest step is to read your own state's circular once the exam is announced. The state also decides how many students it can send to Stage 2. For this reason, a student in one state may need a different score from a student in another state.

Stage 2 pattern

Stage 2 had two papers, as reported for the cycles before the pause.

Break-up of the SAT

The SAT is commonly reported as 40 questions of Science, 40 of Social Science and 20 of Mathematics. This split comes from secondary sources, not an official page we could open, so treat it as indicative. It suggests that Science and Social Science together carry most of the marks, and Mathematics is a smaller but scoring part.

Language of the paper

In earlier cycles, the papers were offered in English, Hindi and several regional languages. Check the official brochure for the languages available in any new cycle.

Marking scheme and negative marking

In the Stage 2 papers, each question carried one mark. Negative marking was not applied in Stage 2, as reported for the 2020 cycle. It means a wrong answer does not reduce your score, so leaving a question blank has no benefit.

Do not assume the same rule for Stage 1, because it is set by the state. Some states may use negative marking, and you must confirm it in your state's notice.

Older pages online may still describe a negative marking rule from the years before it was removed, so follow the official notification.

What the pattern means for you

• Every question is worth one mark: With 100 questions in 120 minutes, you have about 72 seconds for each one.

• Attempt everything: If there is no negative marking, an educated guess is always better than a blank.

• Both papers are equal: The MAT is not a smaller paper. A weak reasoning score can cancel a strong subject score.

• Science and Social Science lead the SAT: They hold most of the questions, so spend your revision time in that proportion.

Qualifying and selection

To be considered for a scholarship, a candidate had to qualify in both papers separately. Minimum qualifying percentages and category-wise relaxations were fixed in the official brochure of each cycle, so we do not state them here as current.

Scholarships were then awarded in order of merit, with reservations as per government rules. The number of scholarships, reported as 2,000 in the 2019-20 cycle, can change with any revised scheme.

Time management and exam-day strategy

For the MAT

• Start with your strongest topics: Solve series, coding and direction questions first for quick marks.

• Do not stay long on figures: Mark a hard figure question and return to it later.

For the SAT

• Take Science and Social Science first: These are direct and faster to answer.

• Keep Maths for the end of the first pass: Calculation questions take longer, so budget time for them.

In both papers

1. Spend the first 90 minutes on a complete first pass.

2. Use the next 20 minutes for the marked questions.

3. Keep the last 10 minutes to check the OMR or answer sheet.

Current status and official source

NCERT's NTSE page does not announce a new cycle, and news reports quoted an NCERT order from October 2022 that the scheme in its present form was stalled until further orders. Until a new notification is released, treat all dates and formats as reference information. Read the overview page for the latest NTSE status, and check the official site at ncert.nic.in for any change.