National Talent Search Examination (NTSE)
National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a national-level scholarship program to identify and recognize students with high intellect and academic talent. It is one of the most prestigious exams in India. Close to 500,000 students appear in this scholarship exam every year, and 1000 scholarships are awarded. 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 (state quota) of candidates for the national level examination to be conducted for about 5000 candidates by the NCERT.
The scheme is open to students of Indian nationality. All students studying in Class X in any Government or Private school are eligible to appear in Stage-I National Talent Search Examination from their respective state. State/UT can put any additional eligibility criteria to appear in Stage-I which is conducted at state/UT level. For stage-II, there is a quota for each State and Union Territory. Students with Indian Nationality studying abroad need to secure 60% marks in previous examination to apply for National Talent Search Examination. Students, if selected in the First stage, need to appear for Stage-II conducted by NCERT.
NTSE is not a school level or district level competition or a competitive exam taken by any private organization, it is a reward exam of Government of India. If a student clears NTSE, he or she is declared a national talent by Government of India and their education is funded by Government of India. Being declared a National talent or asset is matter of pride not only for the student but for their family also. The confidence they get out of it will definitely help them to excel in whatever field they choose as career. There are some national and foreign universities also which give extra weightage to NTSE scholars.
The present structure of NTSE scholarship is as mentioned below
- 1250/ per Month for class XI and XII.
- 2000/ per month for Under Graduates and Post Graduates.
- Amount of scholarship for PhD in accordance with the UGC norms.
The structure of NTSE Pattern is as mentioned below
- Mental Ability Test (MAT): 100 Questions of 100 marks in 120 minutes.
- Scholastic Ability Test (SAT): 100 Questions (40 SST, 40 Science, 20 Mathematics) of 100 marks in 120 minutes.
Questions are in the form of multiple choices with no negative marking. Qualifying marks for candidates from SC / ST / PH category is 32 % and for Others (OBC / General) categories it is 40 % in each paper.
One misconception about NTSE is that it is for those only who are good in Mathematics and Science; It should be clear that NTSE checks student’s aptitude not only in Mathematics and Science but also give good weightage to Social Studies and Mental Ability. Even if a student is not planning Engineering and Medical as career in future, they should prepare for NTSE as it gives them momentum and they develop habit to command the basic concepts which is required for any field student is planning as career in future. Even if the student is not the school topper, he or she can clear NTSE if they are having thorough study of NCERT and their logical ability is good. Most of the questions asked in NTSE are NCERT based and involve concepts but speed and time management is required, which is very important feature of any competitive exam. Speed and Time management can be learnt through regular practice and Mock tests.
One more difference students need to understand between school examinations and any competitive examinations that a school exam involves syllabus of that class only in which they are studying but competitive exams check their aptitude and knowledge till that class in which they are studying. It means students should learn to carry concepts done in previous classes. NTSE also takes questions from Class IX in Science, Social Studies and Mathematics. The aim is to check student’s alertness and their habit of carrying concepts of previous classes. If students have got habit of carrying concepts of previous classes, it will reduce pressure and stress and they will excel in any competitive exam. It should be in student’s mind that NTSE Stage –I is conducted in the month of December / January and in schools, syllabus will not be over by that time, which means students need to put extra effort to cover Class X syllabus in advance
NTSE (Mathematics)
Mathematics is a part of NTSE SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) section. Out of 100 questions in SAT, 20 questions are asked from Mathematics. Questions are mostly from class X syllabus but it is advisable to cover some of the topics of Class IX (Number system, Polynomial and Geometry) and Class VIII (Comparing Quantities) as well. In Geometry portion students will find questions involving multiple concepts. Other than these topics one more topic Logarithm should also be covered. Basic questions from this topic has been asked in the previous years. In the first stage of NTSE student must see the Mathematics syllabus of their respective state board as there is a trend to ask questions from topics which may not be in NCERT but it is there in the state board syllabus. It has been observed that in the first stage the level of Mathematics questions in Haryana, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is higher than that of other states. We are aware that Mathematics is time consuming, so we should try to save time in other sections to give additional time to Mathematics portion. After observing previous year papers it can be said that about 70% questions in the Mathematics paper are either easy or popular which students frequently see in their text books and assignments. One should try to do these questions as soon as possible because rest 30% questions will be multi conceptual or difficult in nature so we need to give some extra time to these questions. Time factor is very important in Mathematics and it can be improved by regular practice and by taking Mock Tests.
NTSE (Science)
Science which includes Physics, Chemistry and Biology is a part of NTSE SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) section. Out of 100 questions in SAT, 40 questions are asked from Science section. The weightage of Physics, Chemistry and Biology is not defined and it varies from 12 to 14 questions. Questions are mostly conceptual and are from NCERT. Thorough study of Class IX and Class X NCERT can help to get almost 100 % questions. It is advisable to give equal importance to Class IX and Class X Science portion. It is better to give equal importance to all the topics as questions are asked from all the topics and number of questions topic wise also varies. For example, generally there used to be two questions from Atoms and Molecules chapter in chemistry but in NTSE -2016 Stage –I there were six questions from this topic. In Physics and Chemistry very few numerical based questions are asked and mostly these questions are simple formula based. Graph based questions are also asked in Physics. In Biology portion; questions are mostly factual and straight from NCERT. It is a misconception that to get 100 % questions in Science we need to cover topics of Class XI also. Rather than wasting time on any additional topic the better strategy is to command Class IX and Class X NCERT Science book and get exposure of previous year papers.
NTSE (Social Studies)
Social Studies which includes History, Civics, Geography and Economics is a part of NTSE SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) section. Out of 100 questions in SAT; 40 questions are asked from Social Studies section. The weightage of subjects mentioned above is not defined and it varies every year. Since First Stage NTSE is conducted at state level, students should also cover facts related to History, Civics, Geography and Economics of their respective states. Most of the questions are from NCERT and thorough study of Class IX and Class X NCERT is required for both Stage –I and Stage-II. It is advisable to give equal importance to Class IX and Class X Social Studies portion. In some of the states the weightage of class IX is more than Class X. Map based questions are also frequently asked in the geography portion. Current economic policies and developments should also be covered to get good score in Economics. For current affairs portion it is advisable to follow one monthly magazine or “Manorama Year Book”. Since no calculation is required in solving questions of Social Studies; students should try to do it fast and save time for other sections of SAT where calculations and numerical are involved.
NTSE (Mental Ability)
Mental Ability is very important section for NTSE which checks student’s Logical ability. This test is given to the candidates to judge their power of reasoning, ability to think, ability to judge, evaluate or discriminate, ability to visualize in the space, spatial orientation, etc. A variety of questions, for example: analogies, classification, series, pattern perception, hidden figures, coding decoding, block assembly, problem solving etc. are used for this purpose. There are 100 questions in this section involving different topics and students get 120 minutes to solve these questions. Questions will be of both Verbal and Non Verbal in nature. There is no defined syllabus for Mental Ability but by observing the previous year papers, it can be said that following topics should be covered to get good score in this section-
Verbal Reasoning: Classification, Analogy, Coding-Decoding, Direction sense test, Series completion test, Direction Sense, Mathematical operations, Tests, Logical Venn diagrams, Blood relations, Puzzle test, Logical sequence of words, Problems on clocks and Analytical Reasoning. Non- Verbal Reasoning: Classification, Series, Analogy, Incomplete Figures, Transparent paper folding, Embedded figure, Dot fixing situation, Folding and Paper cutting, Water and Mirror Images, Problems on cubes and dice.
Note:
In some of states including DELHI questions from Mathematics Topics like Percentage, Profit and Loss, Number system, Time and work, Time and Distance, Algebraic Identities are also asked but these are the topics which a class X students have already done in the lower classes.
Mental Ability
Mental Ability is the only section in NTSE which is not in the school curriculum that’s why the topics mentioned in the Verbal and Non Verbal section may not sound familiar to students but by little bit effort, exposure and practice a student can get full marks in this section. Effort should be to get familiar with the topics and solve topic wise questions followed by Mock tests which involves questions from all the topics. One thing should be strictly maintained while taking the Mock Tests that Time should not be taken as infinite, it should be done in given time only. Initially score can be low but gradually it will improve. The questions asked in NTSE from Mental Ability section are very basic in nature which can be solved by simple logic and Intelligence if students are having good practice and are good in time management.
