National Standard Examination in Junior Science (NSEJS)

National Standard Examination in Junior Science (NSEJS) is a science Olympiad started from the year 1987. It is considered one of the toughest scientific examinations conducted by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). The Examination is also conducted in collaboration with Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBSCE).

Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for the examination are as follows:

• Students who have cleared 10th or are expected to clear 10th in the year of appearing for the examination.
• The students are expected to verify and check their eligibility. If they are discovered to be guilty of any unethical behaviour, they are instantly excluded from the examination.
• In such cases, even if the student clears the first level of examination, he/she will be disqualified. Date of birth between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008, both days inclusive.
• The examination is only open to Indian residents.
• The students have not applied for other examination as NSEA, NSEB, NSEC and NSEP in the same year.

Stages of Examination

The examination is conducted in two stages:

Stage 1: Every year more than 80000 students from the country appear for NSEJS. Out of these, only 300 students are selected based on their merit scores. In case of a tie, all students are qualified to appear for stage 2.

Stage 2 The students qualified for the second stage must meet a cut of 50% of the minimum admissible score (MAS). After this, the top 35 candidates are invited to the Indian National Junior Science Olympiad (NJSO) for a two-week program. Once the two-week program is over, a team of 6 students are selected to represent India in the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO).

Examination Pattern

The time duration for NSEJS is of two hours with 80 multiple choice questions (MCQs) and a total score of 240. The total MCQs are segregated into different subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. For every right answer, the students get a 1 and a 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. The syllabus of the examination is similar to the CBSE 10th grade.