The Examination
The NEST 2016 will be conducted at 56 major towns and cities all over India on May 28, 2016 (Saturday), 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Based on the performance in NEST 2016, a common Merit List of the candidates will be prepared and posted on NEST 2016 website on June 17, 2016. The successful candidates will be asked to participate in an admission/counselling process and the admission will strictly be according to the Merit List until all the seats are filled.
Examination centres: A list of NEST examination centres is given. Candidates must choose 2 (two) centres in order of their preference while filling up of application form. It is allowed to select two centers from the same city, such as Delhi-East and Delhi-North. Every effort will be made to allot the centre of first preference. Please note that ultimately the allotment of an examination centre by the Chief Coordinator has to be regarded as final and request for change of centre will, in general, not be entertained. The centre (venue) address will be mentioned on the NEST admit card.
Examination rules: Candidates must reach the test centre at least half an hour before the start of the examination. The examination is of 3 hrs duration and will start at 10:00 am. Candidates will not be allowed to enter the examination hall after 10:30 am. The earliest a candidate can leave the examination hall is 11:30 am, unless it becomes necessary to leave before on medical grounds. The earliest one can carry the question paper out is 12.00 noon. Use of log tables and calculators in the examination hall is not allowed. Candidates must bring their own pen, pencils (HB), eraser and sharpener. Exchange/sharing of these items with other candidates is strictly prohibited. Candidates MUST bring their Admit Card and their school photo Identity Card or any photo ID issued by Government agencies to the examination hall. Any candidate found adopting unfair means will be expelled from the examination hall without warning. Mobile phone and other similar electronic gadgets are strictly not allowed inside examination hall.
Question type: The question paper will consist of 5 (five) sections of objective (MCQ) type questions carrying 50 marks in each section. Section 1 is the general section and is compulsory for all candidates. There will be no negative marking in general section. Sections 2 through 5 will contain subject specific questions from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Candidates are permitted to attempt as many subject-sections as they wish. However, only the best three subject scores along with the score in the general section will be counted for evaluation and merit list preparation. The questions are designed to test candidates' subject comprehension and analytic ability. In the subject sections, there will be negative marking for incorrect answers. Some questions may have one or more correct answers for which marks can only be earned by marking all correct answers and no wrong answer. For NEST question papers of last few years, refer to the NEST 2016 website.
Language of the question paper will be English only.
Answering questions: The answers to each question are to be marked on an OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) sheet. Details of how to answer on OMR sheet will be given in question paper and OMR sheet.
Syllabus: The syllabus for NEST 2016 primarily follows the NCERT/ CBSE science syllabus of class XI-XII. The detailed syllabus for NEST examination is provided at the end of this document. The syllabus can also be downloaded on the www.nestexam.in website under the ‘Syllabus’ tab. There is, however, no specific syllabus for the general section. This section tests candidate's familiarity with, but not detailed understanding of, major historical milestones in subjects like astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, computer science and environmental science. Questions will be designed to test analytic abilities and comprehension of scientific passages. Some of the questions in this section may require knowledge of class X mathematics.
Note: Previous NEST question papers (2007 to 2015) are available on NEST website.