National Entrance Screening Test
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The National Entrance Screening Test (popularly known as NEST) is an annual college entrance examination in India, conducted for admission into the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Jatani and the Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS), Mumbai. These two institutes use NEST as a sole criterion for admission to their undergraduate programs.
2017 was the year in which NISER received highest applicants ( 68,544 ) and students appeared ( approx. 47000 ) for NEST exam. Afterwards it's starts declining in 2018 - 44060 students appeared then in 2019 - 37510 ; 2020 - 21275 ; 2021 - 24328 students appeared for NEST exam ( official annual reports published by NISER on its official website ) . For about approx. 100 Unreserved seats out of 202 in NISER, one can get admission upto 400-700 general rank ( cutoff vary year on year ) in NEST Exam till last round. This is due to the fact many candidates choose to prefer other career option like Engineering, Medical, Natural Science at IISc or IISERs, etc.
Students were admitted through the NEST examination only at ISERC, Visva-Bharati, which was an Institution of National Importance. Starting in 2023, students who take the NEST Exam will not be accepted into their Five-Year Integrated M.Sc. Programme.
Pattern of the test
Before 2024, the question paper pattern of NEST was different. From 2024 onwards, the paper consists of four sections: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology. Each section contains 20 MCQs with a single correct answer, making a total of 80 questions (20 × 4).
Each correct answer carries +3 marks, each incorrect answer carries −1 mark, and unanswered questions receive 0 marks. The total marks for the paper are 240 (80 × 3). However, the merit list is prepared out of 180 marks based on the best three sections. This means you can choose to skip one section based on your preference.
The difficulty level of NEST is often compared to JEE Main, but this comparison is not entirely accurate. It is also nowhere close to the level of JEE Advanced, despite claims made by some NEST coaching institutes.
The cutoff varies each year, but aiming for 90–100 marks out of 180 is generally considered a safe target for selection.
Seats and intake
The number of students taking the examination has been increasing since it was first conducted in 2007. In 2020 200+2 seats were for NISER and 45+2 seats for UM-DAE CBS. About 21,275 students appeared in the exam. The exam was conducted in two sittings. 9hrs to 12:30hrs and 14hrs to 17:30hrs.
The availability of seats in recent years is as given in table below:
| Institute | Intake (2007) | Intake (2008) | Intake (2009) | Intake (2010) | Intake (2011) | Intake (2012) | Intake (2013) | Intake (2014) | Intake (2020) | Intake (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) | 40 | 40 | 52 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 100 | 202 | 202 |
| Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CBS) | 20 | 12 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 59 | 59 |