NEST 2023 Exam – Application, Dates, Eligibility, Fees, Syllabus

National Entrance Screening Test 2023

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Overview
About
Schedule
Eligibility
Syllabus
Mock Test
Past Question Papers
Fees
Registration
Application Procedure
Test Centres
Admit Card
Answer Keys
Merit List
Score/Result
Admission/Counselling
Important Dates

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 2023 will not have a separate “General” section. There will be only 4 sections of 50 marks each.

UPDATE (Feb 27, 2023): NEST 2023 Applications are open now, check NEST 2023 Application Procedure.

UPDATE (Feb 24, 2023): NEST 2023 Applications will open from February 27, 2023. Subscribe to receive all updates on your mobile for free.

UPDATE (Feb 24, 2023): NEST 2023 exam date has been announced, read NEST 2023 Exam Date.

NEST 2023: Check Eligibility | Check Syllabus

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 4 subject sections of 50 marks each containing subject-specific questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics.
Each subject section has 17 questions, out of which 12 questions are single correct answer MCQs, and 5 questions are multiple correct answer MCQs.
For Single correct answer MCQs, each correct answer fetches 2.5 marks, while each incorrect answer has a penalty of 1 mark (-1 mark).
For Multiple correct answer MCQs, each correct answer fetches 4 marks, and there’s no negative marking.
Only the best 3 section scores will be counted for evaluation and merit list preparation. Check rules for inclusion in Merit List here.
The medium of the question paper will be English only.
NEW: NEST 2023 question paper will not have a separate “General” section.

Schedule

Date

June 24, 2023

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 1, 2003 (relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST/PD candidates).
Qualifying Examination: Candidate should have passed Class XII qualifying examination either in 2021 or 2022. Candidates appearing in 2023 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 2023 Application Fee is ₹1200 (₹600 for SC/ST/PD categories and female candidates).

Registration

The registrations for NEST examination will begin from February 27, 2023.
The last date to apply is May 17, 2023.
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
AN	Port Blair
AP	Guntur
AP	Kurnool
AP	Rajahmundry
AP	Tirupathi
AP	Vijayawada
AP	Visakhapatnam
AP	Vizianagaram
AR	Naharlagun-Itanagar
AS	Dibrugarh
AS	Guwahati
AS	Tezpur
BR	Bhagalpur
BR	Patna
CG	Bhilai Nagar
CG	Raipur
DL	New Delhi
GA	Panaji
GJ	Ahmedabad
GJ	Bhuj
GJ	Rajkot
GJ	Surat
HP	Bilaspur
HP	Hamirpur
HP	Mandi
HR	Ambal
HR	Hisar
JH	Bokaro Steel City
JH	Dhanbad
JH	Jamshedpur
JH	Ranchi
JK	Jammu
JK	Srinagar
KA	Bengaluru
KA	Hubballi (Hubli)
KA	Mangaluru (Mangalore)
KA	Mysuru (Mysore)
KL	Alappuzha
KL	Ernakulam
KL	Idukki
KL	Kannur
KL	Kasaragod
KL	Kollam
KL	Kottayam
KL	Kozhikode
KL	Malappuram
KL	Palakkad
KL	Pathanamthitta
KL	Thiruvananthapuram
KL	Thrissur
LA	Leh
MH	Aurangabad
MH	Jalgaon
MH	Kolhapur
MH	Mumbai
MH	Nagpur
MH	Nanded
MH	Pune
MH	Ratnagiri
MH	Solapur
ML	Shillong
MN	Imphal
MP	Bhopal
MP	Gwalior
MP	Indore
MP	Jabalpur
MZ	Aizawl
NL	Dimapur
NL	Kohima
OD	Angul
OD	Balangir
OD	Balasore
OD	Bargarh
OD	Baripada
OD	Berhampur-Ganjam
OD	Bhawanipatna
OD	Bhubaneswar
OD	Cuttack
OD	Dhenkanal
OD	Jharsuguda
OD	Rayagada
OD	Rourkela
OD	Sambalpur
PB	Bhatinda
PB	Jalandhar
PB	Mohali
PY	Puducherry
RJ	Bikaner
RJ	Jaipur
RJ	Jodhpur
RJ	Kota
RJ	Udaipur
SK	Gangtok
TN	Chennai
TN	Coimbatore
TN	Madurai
TN	Salem
TN	Tiruchirappalli
TN	Tirunelveli
TR	Agartala
TS	Hyderabad
TS	Karimnagar
TS	Warangal
UK	Dehradun
UK	Haldwani
UK	Roorkee
UP	Agra
UP	Aligarh
UP	Gorakhpur
UP	Kanpur
UP	Lucknow
UP	Noida
UP	Prayagraj (Allahabad)
UP	Varanasi
WB	Asansol
WB	Berhampur
WB	Burdwan
WB	Durgapur
WB	Hooghly
WB	Kalyani
WB	Kolkata
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 of three best scores from the four sections.
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 any three subject sections for inclusion in the 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.
Overall Cutoff (MAP) for NEST 2023 is 95 percentile for General category, 90 percentile for OBC category and 75 percentile for SC/ST/PwD category.

Result

The result for NEST 2023 will be announced as per schedule.
Candidates will be allotted a General Rank and a Category Rank based on their performance in NEST exam.
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 27, 2023
Closing of Online application	May 17, 2023
Download of Admit Card begins	June 12, 2023
NEST examination	June 24, 2023
Announcement of results	July 10, 2023

Contact Information

Candidates can contact NEST authorities through written communication, phone or email.

NISER Contact Information
Address	Chief Coordinator, NEST 2023, National Institute of Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar, P.O. Jatni, Khurda – 752050, Odisha (India)
Helpline	+91-7996065888, 0674-2494360
Email	[email protected], [email protected]