Tips & Tricks for NTSE Stage-I 2020-21
The National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) Stage-I as announced by the NCERT is scheduled for December 12 and 13, 2020. However, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, a few states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have already announced a change in the date of NTSE 2021 varying between December end to February 2021. Whether NCERT announces a later date or not, if you are an NTSE aspirant, you should make the best use of the remaining days before the exam as nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute. Here are some tips & tricks for NTSE Stage-I 2020-21 by Vivek Bhatt, National Academic Director (Foundation) at Aakash Educational Services Limited.

How to make optimal utilization of the remaining days
NTSE Stage-I exam is based on the State Board syllabus. Hence, you should focus on your respective State Board syllabus for any changes or new additions done in the recent times.
Though every subject is important, pay attention to the preparation of Mental Ability and Social Science as they play a crucial role in your selection.
Solve 3-5 NTSE question papers 2021 of your state in a time-bound manner. Even if you have already solved these papers, solving them again will improve your recollection and stimulate your memory.
Attempt at least two Mock Paper each of SAT & MAT every week during this period to familiarize yourself with the paper pattern and difficulty level.
Every question is important, therefore attempt all the questions in the stipulated time frame.
NTSE stage 1 exam tips and tricks
Below are some of the important NTSE exam preparation tips for MAT and SAT, which students should implement during their preparations.
NTSE MAT tricks
Questions based on water image, mirror image, folding of paper, Venn diagrams, Syllogism are relatively easy. Solving them at the very beginning can keep you in good stead.
After that you should target questions based on blood relation, direction test, ranking test.
Now, carefully move on to the questions based on number series, Analogy based on numbers and Classification. There can be a mix of easy, moderate and difficult questions on these topics. So, if you are able to understand the patterns in one go, solve immediately otherwise leave them for the end as it can be time-consuming and may cause unnecessary pressure. However, also note that 70-80% questions of these types can easily be attempted.
The paragraph-based questions should be dealt with towards the end. It’s quite likely that you may have to read the paragraph twice or thrice to solve all the questions based on it. This may take a while. Hence, keep your pace from the very beginning and save sufficient time to solve these types of questions.
NTSE SAT tricks
It’s highly recommended to start with the Social Science or Biology section in order to save time and avoid pressure. Maintaining a good speed and accuracy in these sections will help you save time for calculation based questions of Mathematics.
Try to complete theoretical questions of Social Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and direct questions of Mathematics in 60-70 minutes. This way you will get sufficient time for difficult questions of Mathematics or lengthy calculation-based questions from Physics or Chemistry, if any (around 20-30 in number). Attempt these lengthy and trickier questions towards the end.
Points to Remember:
Sometimes, in both MAT & SAT, use of 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-I, do not leave any question 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.
Having said that, good speed and accuracy play an important role when it comes to competitive examinations. Solving more and more mock papers will help you enhance your speed and accuracy and also build your confidence for the exam. Apart from that, study well, follow a proper schedule and plan efficiently. All the Best!
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Questions related to NTSE
pls answer my question what is the difference between MTG ntse book and MTG foundation book for class 10
Hello candidate,
The mtg foundation books provides you a death analysis of the basics of the chapter, and then gradually moves towards the deeper analysis and high level questions at a stretch of different exams.
The MTG NTSE Foundation book mini focuses on the problems asked in previous year NTSE examinations, and provides the details of the important topics and chapters generally asked in the NTSE paper.
Hope it helps!!
ntse uttar pradesh question paper
Hello Aspirant,
NTSE stage 1 exam for UP has been conducted on December 13th 2020 and also the answer key has been published on December 16th on the official website, so now only results are awaited, you can get all live updates from the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-uttar-pradesh
Now if you want to download the question papers of previous years for NTSE UP then you can download them from the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-up-question-papers
I hope this information helps you.
Good Luck!!
can i give NTSE exam witout any school contact ?
Hello Aspirant,
Yes of course you can give if you don't have any affiliated school and pursuing your class 10th from open school because as per the eligibility criteria of NTSE 2021 :-
- The candidate must have qualified class 9th exams with minimum marks as imposed by the state-level exam conducting authority.
- The candidate must be studying in class 10th in a school affiliated with a recognized state/central board.
- Open school candidates studying in Class 10th are also eligible to submit the NTSE form provided that their age is below 18 years and they are not employed.
For complete details about NTSE eligibility criteria kindly check out the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-eligibility-criteria
I hope this information helps you.
Good Luck!!
can i give NTSE exam witout any school contact ?
Hello Aspirant,
Yes of course you can give if you don't have any affiliated school and pursuing your class 10th from open school because as per the eligibility criteria of NTSE 2021 :-
- The candidate must have qualified class 9th exams with minimum marks as imposed by the state-level exam conducting authority.
- The candidate must be studying in class 10th in a school affiliated with a recognized state/central board.
- Open school candidates studying in Class 10th are also eligible to submit the NTSE form provided that their age is below 18 years and they are not employed.
For complete details about NTSE eligibility criteria kindly check out the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-eligibility-criteria
I hope this information helps you.
Good Luck!!
Form fill up date of NTSE in uttar Pradesh
Hello Aspirant,
If you are seeking for NTSE 2021 then unfortunately you are quite late because for NTSE 2021 forms have been closed in month of November 2020 even the NTSE stage 1 exam for UP has also been conducted on December 13th 2020 and also the answer key has been published on December 16th on the official website, so now only results are awaited but if you are seeking for NTSE 2022 then any exact dates are not out yet for NTSE 2022 but you can get all live updates from the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-uttar-pradesh
Now those aspirant who will clear the NTSE 2021 shortlisting cut-off will be eligible to sit for NTSE stage 2 and you can get idea of the shortlisting cut-offs from NTSE 2020 stage 2 shortlisting cut-off are mentioned below :-
Category |
Overall cutoff marks |
General |
169 |
OBC |
148 |
SC |
138 |
ST |
69 |
PH 1 |
65 |
PH 2 |
84 |
PH 3 |
81 |
EWS |
93 |
You can also check out complete details about the cut-offs for NTSE UP from the link given below :-
https://school.careers360.com/articles/ntse-uttar-pradesh-cutoff
I hope this information helps you.
Good Luck!!