National Talent Search Examination (NTSE)

NTSE organized by National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), is a national level scholarship program in India to identify and nurture talented students. The scheme is open to students of Indian nationality. Only students studying in Class VIII and Class X are eligible to appear for the examination. NTSE was started as National Science Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) in the year 1963. During the first year of the implementation of the scheme, it was confined to the Union Territory of Delhi wherein only 10 scholarships were awarded to the Class XI students. In the year 1964 the scheme was extended to all the states and the union territories in the country with 350 scholarships for the students of Class XI. These scholarships were awarded on the basis of a written examination, a project report and an interview. These scholarships were awarded for pursuing education only in basic sciences up to doctoral level. With the introduction of 10+2+3 pattern of education, the NSTS scheme also underwent a change in the year 1976. It was no longer confined to only basic sciences but was extended to Social Sciences, Engineering and medicine as well. It was renamed as National Talent Search Scheme (NTSS). Since the education system in India was undergoing a change, the scheme was made open to the students of Classes X, XI and XII and separate examinations were conducted for each class. The number of scholarships was raised to 500. The selection procedure was also changed. Now the candidates were subjected to two objective type written tests namely the Mental Ability Test (MAT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). A stipulated number of candidates qualifying these two tests were subjected to a face-to-face interview. The final awards were made on the basis of composite scores obtained in the MAT, the SAT and the interview.

The number of scholarships was again enhanced from 500 to 550 in the year 1981. These additional 50 scholarships were exclusively meant for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates. The number of scholarships was once again escalated to 750 in the year 1983 with a provision of 70 scholarships especially for SC/ST candidates. This arrangement continued until the scheme was decentralized in the year 1985. Yet another change in the scheme was effected from the year 2000 wherein the number of scholarships was raised from 750 to 1000 with the provision of reservation for SC and ST candidates based on the national norms of 15% and 7.5% respectively.

The scheme was partially decentralized in 1985 and was confined to only class X. Under the new arrangement, the selection of candidates for the awards became a two-tier process. 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 recommended a stipulated number (state quota) of candidates for the national level examination to be conducted for about 3000 candidates by the NCERT. The states got complete autonomy to design and conduct their written examinations. However, they were advised to follow the national pattern, which comprised MAT and SAT. The scheme was further modified in the year 1995 when the provision of choice in the SAT was abolished and all the subjects were made compulsory. These subjects were Science, Social Science and Mathematics with 40, 40 and 20 questions respectively. The scholarships under the present scheme are awarded to the candidates for pursuing courses in sciences and social sciences up to doctoral level and in professional courses like medicine and engineering up to second-degree level subject to the fulfillment of the conditions laid down by the NCERT.

Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY)