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National Entrance Screening Test 2020
Overview
The National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is a Computer-Based Test for admission to the 5-year Integrated MSc programme in basic sciences – Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics – at NISER, Bhubaneswar and UM-DAE CEBS, Mumbai.
| Exam Name | National Entrance Screening Test |
| Also Known As | NEST |
| Exam Category | Undergraduate |
| Exam Level | National |
| Exam Mode | Online (Computer based test) |
| Conducted by | NISER, UM-DAE CEBS |
NOTE: You can Subscribe to exam updates to receive all updates on your mobile for free.
Candidates are suggested to go through the rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
About
Pattern
- It is a Computer Based Test (CBT) of 3 hours 30 minutes duration.
- There will be 5 sections of objective (MCQ) type questions.
- Section 1 is the general section and is of 30 marks. There will be no negative marking in this section.
- Sections 2 to Section 5 will contain subject-specific questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics and are of 50 marks each. Candidates are permitted to attempt as many subject-sections as they wish.
- Only the best 3 subject scores along with the score in the general section will be counted for evaluation and merit list preparation. Check rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
- In the subject sections, there will be negative marking for incorrect answers for certain questions.
- The medium of the question paper will be English only.
Schedule
Date
To be Announced; Expected: June 2020
Slots
- Session 1: 09:00 am to 12:30 pm
- Session 2: 02:30 pm to 06:00 pm
Note
The exam will be conducted in two sessions on the same day. The candidates will be allotted the examination session at random and no requests for a choice of a session would be entertained.
The allotted examination session will be mentioned in the candidate’s Admit Card.
Eligibility
For NEST exam
There is no restriction on appearing for NEST.
For admission in NISER/CEBS
- Basic: Candidate should be from regular science stream and preferably should have any combination of three subjects among Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics in classes XI and XII.
- Exam: Candidate must secure a rank in the NEST merit list.
- Age: Candidate should be born on or after August 01, 2000 (relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST/PD candidates).
- Qualifying Examination: Candidate should have passed Class XII qualifying examination either in 2018 or 2019. Candidates appearing in 2020 are also eligible.
- Marks in Qualifying Examination: Candidate must obtain a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate in Class XII (or equivalent) examination from any recognized Board in India (for SC/ST/PD, the minimum requirement is 55%).
Syllabus
Mock Test
- Practice sessions for the computer-based test will be available for all applicants on the application portal after online registration and complete submission of online application.
- The mock test is for practice purpose only.
Past Question Papers
See previous year Question Papers and Answers here.
Fees
NEST 2020 Application Fee is yet to be announced. Application fee for last year was ₹1200 (₹600 for SC/ST/PD categories and female candidates).
Registration
- The registrations for NEST 2020 examination are expected to begin from January 2020.
- The last date to apply is expected to be in March 2020.
Application Procedure
- Candidates must fill-up the online application form through NEST website.
- Register and log in to fill the personal details and educational qualifications.
- Upload passport-sized image and signature.
- Pay the application fee through Online Payment.
- Save application summary page for future reference.
Note: Candidates need not to send any document to the NEST office in the entire application process.
Test Centres
Test Cities
Test Centres
Test Centres
| Code | State | City |
| 1 | AP | Guntur |
| 2 | AP | Kurnool |
| 3 | AP | Rajahmundry |
| 4 | AP | Tirupathi |
| 5 | AP | Vijayawada |
| 6 | AP | Visakhapatnam |
| 7 | AP | Vizianagaram |
| 8 | AS | Guwahati |
| 9 | BR | Patna |
| 10 | CH | Chandigarh |
| 11 | CG | Bhilai Nagar |
| 12 | CG | Raipur |
| 13 | DL | New Delhi |
| 14 | GJ | Ahmedabad |
| 15 | HP | Hamirpur |
| 16 | HP | Shimla |
| 17 | JK | Jammu |
| 18 | JK | Srinagar |
| 19 | JH | Bokaro Steel City |
| 20 | JH | Dhanbad |
| 21 | JH | Jamshedpur |
| 22 | JH | Ranchi |
| 23 | KA | Bengaluru |
| 24 | KA | Hubballi (Hubli) |
| 25 | KA | Mangaluru (Mangalore) |
| 26 | KA | Mysuru (Mysore) |
| 27 | KL | Alappuzha |
| 28 | KL | Ernakulam |
| 29 | KL | Idukki |
| 30 | KL | Kannur |
| 31 | KL | Kasaragod |
| 32 | KL | Kollam |
| 33 | KL | Kottayam |
| 34 | KL | Kozhikode |
| 35 | KL | Malappuram |
| 36 | KL | Palakkad |
| 37 | KL | Pathanamthitta |
| 38 | KL | Thiruvananthapuram |
| 39 | KL | Thrissur |
| 40 | MP | Bhopal |
| 41 | MP | Gwalior |
| 42 | MP | Indore |
| 43 | MP | Jabalpur |
| 44 | MH | Mumbai |
| 45 | MH | Nagpur |
| 46 | MH | Pune |
| 47 | MN | Imphal |
| 48 | ML | Shillong |
| 49 | OD | Angul |
| 50 | OD | Balasore |
| 51 | OD | Bargarh |
| 52 | OD | Baripada |
| 53 | OD | Berhampur-Ganjam |
| 54 | OD | Bhubaneswar |
| 55 | OD | Cuttack |
| 56 | OD | Dhenkanal |
| 57 | OD | Jharsuguda |
| 58 | OD | Khurda |
| 59 | OD | Rayagada |
| 60 | OD | Rourkela |
| 61 | OD | Sambalpur |
| 62 | PB | Bhatinda |
| 63 | PB | Jalandhar |
| 64 | PB | Mohali |
| 65 | RJ | Jaipur |
| 66 | RJ | Jodhpur |
| 67 | RJ | Udaipur |
| 68 | TN | Chennai |
| 69 | TN | Coimbatore |
| 70 | TN | Madurai |
| 71 | TN | Salem |
| 72 | TN | Tiruchirappalli |
| 73 | TN | Tirunelveli |
| 74 | TS | Hyderabad |
| 75 | TS | Karimnagar |
| 76 | TS | Warangal |
| 77 | TR | Agartala |
| 78 | UP | Allahabad |
| 79 | UP | Kanpur |
| 80 | UP | Lucknow |
| 81 | UP | Noida |
| 82 | UP | Varanasi |
| 83 | UK | Dehradun |
| 84 | UK | Haldwani |
| 85 | UK | Roorkee |
| 86 | WB | Asansol |
| 87 | WB | Burdwan |
| 88 | WB | Durgapur |
| 89 | WB | Hooghly |
| 90 | WB | Kolkata |
| 91 | WB | Siliguri |
Note
- Candidates must choose 5 centres in order of their preference while filling-up the application form.
- Every effort will be made to allot the candidate’s first preference.
- The address of the test venue allotted to the applicant will be mentioned on the NEST admit card.
Admit Card
- Admit Card can be downloaded from NEST website after it’s notified.
- Candidates are required to produce the Admit Card along with an Identity Card at the test centre.
- Address of the NEST test centre allotted to an applicant will be printed in the admit card.
- Admit Card should be kept safely as the successful candidates have to produce it in original during admission.
Answer Keys
- The answer keys of Computer-based examination will be made available on the NEST website.
- If a candidate is unsatisfied with an answer, he/she can challenge the answer keys.
Merit List
Overview
- A merit list will be prepared based on the total marks secured in the general section along with three best scores from the remaining subject sections.
- Also, note that Merit lists for NISER and CEBS will be prepared separately.
- For normalization of the two sessions of the exam, percentile scores will be considered. It will be calculated on the basis of the relative performance of all the candidates in the respective session. The highest score in each session will be 100 percentile.
Section-wise Cutoff
- For each section, 20% of the average of the best 100 scores in that section will be considered as Section–wise Minimum Admissible Score (SMAS).
- Candidates must clear the cutoff (SMAS) in the general section for entering the merit list of NISER and CEBS.
- A candidate must clear the cutoff (SMAS) in all the four subject sections for inclusion in the NISER merit list.
- A candidate must clear the cutoff (SMAS) in any three subject sections for inclusion in the CEBS merit list.
- SMAS for OBC students would be 90% of the respective SMAS of General category students.
- SMAS for SC/ST/PwD students would be 50% of the respective SMAS of General category students.
Overall Cutoff
- In addition to Subject-wise cutoff, a candidate is required to score equal to or above a total Minimum Admissible Percentile (MAP) in order to be included in the merit list of NISER and CEBS.
- Overall Cutoff (MAP) for NEST 2020 is yet to be announced. Cutoff for NEST 2019 was 95 percentile for General category, 90 percentile for OBC category and 75 percentile for SC/ST/PwD category.
Note
- Even though a candidate must score equal to or more than the respective SMAS in the general section as well as in all four subject sections for inclusion in NISER merit list, only the score of the general section and three best scores from the remaining subject sections will be considered for the merit rank.
Result
- The result for NEST 2020 is expected to be announced in June 2020.
- Candidates will be allotted a General Rank and a Category Rank based on their performance in NEST exam.
- Also, note that Merit lists for NISER and CEBS will be prepared separately.
- Check the rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
Counselling
- Admissions to 5-year Integrated MSc programme in basic sciences – Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics – at NISER, Bhubaneswar and UM-DAE CEBS, Mumbai will be done on the basis of NEST Merit rank.
Important Information
- Candidates must provide a correct e-mail address in the online application as the NEST office communicates with candidates through this e-mail id.
- Use of log tables and calculators in the examination hall is not allowed.
- Candidates must bring their Admit Card and a photo Identity Card to the examination hall.
Important Dates
| Start of Online application | TBA; Expected: January 2020 |
| Closing of Online application | TBA; Expected: March 2020 |
| Download of Admit Card begins | TBA; Expected: April 2020 |
| NEST examination | TBA; Expected: June 2020 |
| Announcement of results | TBA; Expected: June 2020 |
Contact Information
Candidates can contact NEST authorities through written communication, phone or email.
| NISER Contact Information | |
| Address | The Chief Coordinator, NEST 2019, NISER Bhubaneswar, P.O. Jatni, Khurda – 752050, Odisha (India) |
| Phone | 022-61728110, 022-61728210 |
| [email protected] [email protected] | |
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