College Pravesh Your personal guide in the World of Engineering 
National Entrance Screening Test 2021
Applications Closing Soon
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 |
NEW: NEST 2021 will not have a separate “General” section. There will be only 4 sections of 50 marks each.
UPDATE (May 2, 2021): NEST 2021 last date has been extended, read more here.
UPDATE (Feb 24, 2021): NEST 2021 Applications are open now, check NEST 2021 Application Procedure.
NEST 2021: Check Eligibility | Check Syllabus
Candidates are suggested to go through the rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
NEW: Applications for B.Tech Admissions at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham are open. Ranked 4th best University by NIRF 2020. Click here to apply.
NEW: NIIT University B.Tech. Early Admission round closing soon, click here to apply.
NOTE: You can Subscribe to exam updates to receive all updates on your mobile for free.
Applications Open
About
Pattern
- It is a Computer Based Test (CBT) of 3 hours 30 minutes duration.
- There will be 4 sections of objective (MCQ) type questions.
- Each section is of 50 marks each and will contain subject-specific questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. Candidates are permitted to attempt as many sections as they wish.
- Only the best 3 section scores will be counted for evaluation and merit list preparation. Check rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
- In each section, there will be negative marking for incorrect answers for certain questions.
- The medium of the question paper will be English only.
- NEW: NEST 2021 question paper will not have a separate “General” section.
Applications Open
Schedule
Date
June 14, 2021
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, 2001 (relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST/PD candidates).
- Qualifying Examination: Candidate should have passed Class XII qualifying examination either in 2019 or 2020. Candidates appearing in 2021 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%).
Applications Open
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 2021 Application Fee is ₹1200 (₹600 for SC/ST/PD categories and female candidates).
Registration
- The registrations for NEST 2021 examination will begin from February 24, 2021.
- The last date to apply is
April 30, 2021May 10, 2021. - NEW: Check detailed steps for filling Application Form here.
Application Procedure
NEW: Check detailed steps for filling Application Form here.
- 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
| State | City | Code |
| AP | Guntur | 1 |
| AP | Kurnool | 2 |
| AP | Rajahmundry | 3 |
| AP | Tirupathi | 4 |
| AP | Vijayawada | 5 |
| AP | Visakhapatnam | 6 |
| AP | Vizianagaram | 7 |
| AS | Guwahati | 8 |
| BR | Patna | 9 |
| CG | Bhilai Nagar | 11 |
| CG | Raipur | 12 |
| CH | Chandigarh | 10 |
| DL | New Delhi | 13 |
| GJ | Ahmedabad | 14 |
| HP | Hamirpur | 15 |
| HP | Shimla | 16 |
| JH | Bokaro Steel City | 19 |
| JH | Dhanbad | 20 |
| JH | Jamshedpur | 21 |
| JH | Ranchi | 22 |
| JK | Jammu | 17 |
| JK | Srinagar | 18 |
| KA | Bengaluru | 23 |
| KA | Hubballi (Hubli) | 24 |
| KA | Mangaluru (Mangalore) | 25 |
| KA | Mysuru (Mysore) | 26 |
| KL | Alappuzha | 27 |
| KL | Ernakulam | 28 |
| KL | Idukki | 29 |
| KL | Kannur | 30 |
| KL | Kasaragod | 31 |
| KL | Kollam | 32 |
| KL | Kottayam | 33 |
| KL | Kozhikode | 34 |
| KL | Malappuram | 35 |
| KL | Palakkad | 36 |
| KL | Pathanamthitta | 37 |
| KL | Thiruvananthapuram | 38 |
| KL | Thrissur | 39 |
| MH | Mumbai | 44 |
| MH | Nagpur | 45 |
| MH | Pune | 46 |
| ML | Shillong | 48 |
| MN | Imphal | 47 |
| MP | Bhopal | 40 |
| MP | Gwalior | 41 |
| MP | Indore | 42 |
| MP | Jabalpur | 43 |
| OD | Angul | 49 |
| OD | Balasore | 50 |
| OD | Bargarh | 51 |
| OD | Baripada | 52 |
| OD | Berhampur-Ganjam | 53 |
| OD | Bhubaneswar | 54 |
| OD | Cuttack | 55 |
| OD | Dhenkanal | 56 |
| OD | Jharsuguda | 57 |
| OD | Khurda | 58 |
| OD | Rayagada | 59 |
| OD | Rourkela | 60 |
| OD | Sambalpur | 61 |
| PB | Bhatinda | 62 |
| PB | Jalandhar | 63 |
| PB | Mohali | 64 |
| RJ | Jaipur | 65 |
| RJ | Jodhpur | 66 |
| RJ | Kota | 92 |
| RJ | Udaipur | 67 |
| TN | Chennai | 68 |
| TN | Coimbatore | 69 |
| TN | Madurai | 70 |
| TN | Salem | 71 |
| TN | Tiruchirappalli | 72 |
| TN | Tirunelveli | 73 |
| TR | Agartala | 77 |
| TS | Hyderabad | 74 |
| TS | Karimnagar | 75 |
| TS | Warangal | 76 |
| UK | Dehradun | 83 |
| UK | Haldwani | 84 |
| UK | Roorkee | 85 |
| UP | Allahabad | 78 |
| UP | Kanpur | 79 |
| UP | Lucknow | 80 |
| UP | Noida | 81 |
| UP | Varanasi | 82 |
| WB | Asansol | 86 |
| WB | Burdwan | 87 |
| WB | Durgapur | 88 |
| WB | Hooghly | 89 |
| WB | Kolkata | 90 |
| WB | Siliguri | 91 |
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 May 20, 2021.
- 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 of three best scores from the four 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).
- 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 2021 is 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 all four subject sections for inclusion in NISER merit list, only the three best scores from subject sections will be considered for the merit rank.
Result
- The result for NEST 2021 will be announced on June 30, 2021.
- 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.
- Candidates must reach the test venue at least 90 minutes before the examination commences.
- 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 | February 24, 2021 |
| Closing of Online application | |
| Download of Admit Card begins | May 20, 2021 |
| NEST examination | June 14, 2021 |
| Announcement of results | June 30, 2021 |
Contact Information
Candidates can contact NEST authorities through written communication, phone or email.
| NISER Contact Information | |
| Address | Chief Coordinator, NEST 2021, NISER Bhubaneswar, Jatni, Khurda – 400098, Odisha (India) |
| Phone | 022-61728110, 022-61728210 |
| [email protected], [email protected] | |
Apply Now
