Class 9 NSTSE 5-Year Analysis: Know Which Topics Get More Weightage And Why

If you are looking for a scholarship examination that gives you an edge over others and enhances your learning and thinking ability, then you can start preparing for the National Level Science Talent Search Examination, or NSTSE. The Unified Council organises the NSTSE with the main goal of identifying and nurturing the brightest minds in sciences in the nation. The exam is organised for the students of Class 2 to 12. There will be prizes for winners and certificates of participation in the NSTSE. One of the best features of NSTSE is that it is affordable and accessible to all students, either through schools or individually. It is not about just checking the rote learning of the students from the syllabus but also testing how well they learned the SKILLS and CONCEPTS underlying the school syllabus.

Reading this article will help you understand the syllabus, exam pattern, eligibility criteria, go through previous years’ analysis of each subject, and come to know a few resources to make the preparation easy. The best thing is you will also get some tips for scoring well in NSTSE for Class 9.

Details Of NSTSE Exam

The NSTSE exam is conducted for students studying in Classes 2 to 12. The students can apply individually through online registration by using - Individual registration - or can apply via their school.

Eligibility Criteria

All students studying in Class 2 to 12 are eligible to apply for the NSTSE examination. So, all the students of class 9 are eligible for NSTSE.

Exam Pattern For Class 9

Each class has a separate question paper. The question paper for Class 9 carries 60 marks and consists of 60 questions. The question paper is divided into five sections: Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and Critical Thinking. The Mathematics segment has 25 questions; however, the Chemistry, Physics and Biology sections each have only ten questions, and the Critical Thinking section has five questions, with each question worth one mark.

Question Pattern for Class 9

The questions will be objective, and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers. The duration of the examination will be 60 minutes.

Syllabus Of NSTSE For Class 9

The syllabus for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Critical thinking is mentioned below. To score well in the examination, students must comprehend the fundamentals and check the syllabus thoroughly. The questions in the NSTSE test paper are somewhat similar to questions in the Olympiad exam.

The complete syllabus for Physics, Chemistry and Biology is given below:

Class 9 Syllabus

The complete syllabus for Mathematics

The Critical Thinking area combines abilities such as conscious application in real life, logical and inductive reasoning, tactics and strategies in decision making, and higher-level thinking.

NSTSE For Class 9: Subject-wise Analysis

The five-year analysis has been done on the basis of the official solutions provided by the UCO (Unified Council Olympiad) for the respective subjects. Have a look at the analysis and structure your preparation according to this. Let us start with Mathematics.

Mathematics: This subject plays a vital role in scoring well in the NSTSE as it carries 41.67 % weightage of the whole question paper. The chapters that are part of the syllabus of Mathematics are given below:

Mathematics

From the above analysis we can see that more than 70% of the questions in Mathematics comes from 50% of the syllabus only. And that 50% of the syllabus consists of Lines And Angles, Polynomials, Number Systems, Areas Of Parallelograms And Triangles, Co-ordinate Geometry, Surface Areas And Volume. So please check the weightage of the chapters before starting your preparation.

Physics: This has always been the most interesting part for the students. It connects with real-life situations. However, as per NSTSE, its weightage is less than Mathematics though it also plays a crucial part in the selection. Let us check its analysis:

Physics

From the analysis, we can see that Work Energy & Power, Motion, Force And Laws Of Motion carries more than 75% weightage of the Physics paper. So, the student should pay more attention to these chapters first while preparing for NSTSE.

Chemistry: We can see that the syllabus of Chemistry is the shortest as compared to all other subjects but the weightage of the subject is the same as that of Physics and Biology. So, students can finish this faster and get the same scores.

Chemistry

From the analysis we can see that the two chapters – Atoms And Molecules, Is Matter Around Us Pure – carries 70% of the questions from the entire Chemistry paper. So, why not work smarter and get more marks?

Biology: It is the most theoretical subject as compared to the other subjects of NSTSE. So, students should read and revise Biology multiple times to get good marks.

Biology

From the analysis we can see that 70% of the entire Biology exam paper comes from just 44% of the syllabus. These 44 % syllabus consists of: Why Do We Fall Ill?, The Fundamental Unit Of Life, Tissues, Improvement In Food Resources. So, students should focus more on these chapters and gain knowledge of these chapters in depth.

Critical Reasoning: In NSTSE, questions in this section come from Blood Relation, Word Problem, Coding and Decoding, Cubes, Seating arrangement, Clocks, Calendars and Directions which have been asked frequently in the last 5 years. Students can focus more on these topics while preparing for NSTSE Class 9.

Subject-wise Preparation Of Exam

Science: The syllabus of Science for NSTSE is the same as that of Class 9 CBSE syllabus and your preparation can be based on the textbooks prescribed by the CBSE of class 9. Students of state boards or any other boards can also refer to the NCERT books for better understanding of the Science subject.

Science as a subject is very interesting and can be studied easily. If you study Science topics thoroughly, it will be helpful for you in the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams too. There are three subjects in Science – Physics, Chemistry and Biology – and students can study the syllabus from their textbook, for example - books of NCERT. You can download the NCERT books for clearing the basics.

Mathematics: As we all know that this subject is all about practice and the more you practise the more it will be clear to you and also you will find multiple approaches to solve a single problem. You can refer to the basic school textbooks like NCERT books for subject knowledge and then start practising the questions of NSTSE.

Critical Thinking: In Critical thinking, you need to practise questions relating to higher-order thinking skills. You can refer to Reasoning Trainer Plus for Class -9-Combi (Text Book+Sol Book) to practise questions. This book contains several interesting and investigative problems with explanations and also examples that have been worked out. This book also covers Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning from almost all the topics asked by NSTSE in the last 5 years. Critical thinking is like mathematics, the more one practises, the more confident he becomes.

Students can also refer to the previous year's question bank of NSTSE by purchasing ebook from - Ebook for NSTSE or can purchase the hardcopy from the nearby stores or from Book shop list. Students can also refer to For Class 9: Success Wizard - Success Series book. Unified Council provides free of cost, a book from the ‘Success Series’ to every student enrolling for the NSTSE/SLSTSE, for honing his/her problem-solving skills in preparing for the exam. Students will get 2 Past/Model Question Paper, Student's performance report (SPR) and Success Series Book after registration which will help them to prepare and also analyse after the exam.

Preparations For NSTSE

• Firstly, understand the syllabus of each subject and prioritise the topics that need more attention. Students can check the weightage of the chapters and subjects mentioned above in the tabular form. Students can study according to the weightage given to each subject. Ideally students should complete the syllabus in detail to tackle any type of questions.

• Secondly, you need to prepare a proper daily schedule according to the topics. At the end of each week, evaluate your progress. Students can either do a few topics from all subjects in a week or dedicate the entire week to one subject.

• Study the basics from textbooks prescribed by the boards or school books. After that, the students can refer to the books/resources mentioned above for NSTSE.

• After practising questions from the above books or resources, students can give mock tests of NSTSE from any reputed organisation. Record the marks and see if they scale up. Mock tests teach you time management effectively. Analyse each and every step of examination after completion.

• Revise as much as possible before the main exam. For rapid revision, you can use flashcards and memory maps. Increase the number of hours you spend on studying and study intensely and maintain your cool before the exam. You can refer to a free resource via- Learning Leads thro’ Charts. It will help you to increase your mental strength and analytical ability.

For more information you can visit - About NSTSE

Extra Tips

Achieving excellent results is possible when you start studying at the earliest, by studying consistently and solving MCQs every day. Keeping your mind calm during preparation will help you to face tougher exams in the future. Stay focused and come out in flying colours. All the best!