National Talent Search Examination [NTSE] Syllabus 2024

National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) is a scholarship/fellowship exam organized by NCERT. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released the NTSE syllabus, and there are two parts to an NTSE exam. They are Mental ability tests (MAT) and Scholastic ability tests (SAT).

The exam has two stages, stage 1 and 2, where the difficulty level for the stage 2 exam is high. However, the NTSE stage 2 syllabus is the same as the NTSE stage 1 exam.

Table of Contents

NTSE Syllabus Highlights

NTSE syllabus 2024 is framed as per the syllabus of the current school curriculum. The best resource for the NTSE preparation will be their class 10 books. NTSE question papers comprise multiple-choice questions, i.e., MCQ types taken from the current 10th class portions. NTSE MAT section would consist of verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Whereas the SAT section would consist of mathematics, social sciences, and science subjects.

The table below shows the highlights of the NTSE exam syllabus for class 10.

Particulars	About
Name of the exam	NTSE
Conducting body	NCERT
Type of questions	MCQ
Number of stages	2
Number of sections in each stage	2
Total number of questions in each stage	200
Total marks for each stage	200
Exam duration	3 hours
Penalty for wrong answers	In NTSE stage 1, no negative marking In NTSE stage 2, 1/3 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer
Language of exam	Hindi and English

NTSE Exam Pattern

The national level and state level examinations follow the same pattern. The timings, the number of questions, the qualifying percentage for different categories, and the exam pattern are the same for both the state and national level exams.

The NTSE exam is divided into two papers. It includes the below-mentioned papers.

Mental Ability Test (MAT)

MAT consists of 120 questions related to analytical and logical ability for 120 marks.
Each correct answer will be awarded one mark.

No negative marks will be awarded for wrong answers in the NTSE stage 1 exam.
1/3 marks will be deducted for wrong answers in the NTSE stage 2 exam.

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

The SAT consists of 100 questions from math, science, and social science for 100 marks.
NTSE exam subject-wise marks include

Science - 40 marks
Mathematics - 20 marks
Social Science - 40 marks.

Note: For visually challenged candidates, 30 minutes of extra time will be awarded for each section to complete the exam.

NTSE Syllabus for MAT

The Mental Ability Test, MAT section assesses the student's reasoning ability, ability to judge, think, and evaluate a given situation. It will also test your observation skills, i.e., the ability to visualize space and spatial orientation.

The section-wise syllabus is as follows:

Verbal Reasoning	Non-Verbal Reasoning
Alphabet test	Analogy
Analogy	Analytical reasoning
Analytical reasoning	Classification
Arithmetical reasoning test	Dot fixing situation
Blood relations	Embedded figure
Classification	Folding paper cutting
Coding-decoding	Incomplete figures
Direction sense test	Mirror images
Inserting a missing character	Problems on cubes and dice
The logical sequence of words	Series
Venn diagram	Transparent paper folding
Mathematical operations	Water images
Clocks	Puzzle test
Series completion test	Tests
Verification of truth of the statement	-

NTSE Syllabus for SAT

NTSE SAT, the Scholastic Ability Tests, assess students in mathematics, science, and social science.

The detailed NTSE exam subjects and the detailed syllabus is mentioned below.

NTSE Syllabus for Mathematics

The mathematics syllabus covers topics from algebra, geometry, percentages, probability, and equations.

Given below is the completed Mathematics syllabus for NTSE stage 1 and 2 exams.

Algebraic expressions	Rational numbers
Arithmetic	Quadratic equation
Arithmetic progressions	Probability
Basic geometry	Playing with numbers
Circles	Percentage & its application
Coordinate geometry	Number system
Direct & inverse variation	Mensuration
Exponent	Linear equation
Simple interest & compound interest	Square root & cube root
Statistics	Surface areas and volumes
Triangle	Trigonometry

NTSE Syllabus for Science

The science part covers questions from Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology.

Given below is the syllabus covered in the science subjects.

Acid, base, and salt	Magnetism & electricity at work
Air	Measurements
Carbon and its compounds	Metals and non-metals
Cellular level of organisation	Light
Diversity in living organisms	Life process
Fibres and plastics	The human body
Food production & management	Heredity and evolution
Microorganisms	Our environment
Periodic classification of elements	Physical and chemical changes
Plant and animal nutrition	Reproduction
Soil	Some common diseases
Sound	Source of energy
Structure of the atom	The Universe
Water	Work and energy

NTSE Syllabus for Social Science

The social science part of the NTSE covers topics from History, Geography, Civics, and Economics.

Given below are the topics covered in the social science subject.

History

Below is the important topics covered in history.

Culture, science, and literature
Early medieval period
Indus valley civilization
Introduction and sources of ancient Indian history
Jainism, Buddhism, and conquerors from distant lands
Medieval architecture and culture
National movement
New empires and kingdoms
Popular movements and social reforms
Revolt of 1857
Maurya's

Civics

Below are the important topics covered in Civics.

Democracy
Diversity and livelihood
The economic presence of the government
India and its neighbours
Indian constitution
State government
The judiciary
UN and international agencies
Union government

Geography

Below are the important topics covered in Geography.

Agriculture
Atmosphere
Industries
The internal structure of the earth and rocks
Major domains and landforms
Maps and globe
The motion of the earth
Natural vegetation
Our country-India
Our environment
Resources and development
Solar system

NTSE Preparation

NTSE is a scholarship test conducted by NCERT. NTSE scholarship is awarded to students who clear state-level examinations, national-level examinations, and interviews. The last-minute NTSE preparation always matters whether we have studied well or not; last-minute preparations can do magic to your results.

Here are some points you can check out to prepare well before the exam.

Make sure to go through at least 3-5 previous year question papers.
Try solving NTSE sample papers for SAT and MAT to get familiar with the paper pattern and difficulty level.

General Things to Remember in NTSE Exam Hall

Sometimes, in both MAT and SAT, the elimination method comes quite handy to get the correct answer. Apply it wherever necessary.

Keep filling the OMR at regular intervals instead of keeping it for the last.
Since there is no negative marking in NTSE stage 1, do not leave any questions unanswered.
However, before guessing the answer to any of the questions, ensure the same as per the marking scheme, as sometimes certain states may change the marking scheme.

NTSE Syllabus 2024