NEST syllabus and exam pattern explained

Who writes NEST and what it leads to

NEST fills about 200 seats at NISER and 57 at CEBS, per the latest brochure, plus a few supernumerary seats for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Both programmes are residential and carry a stipend, and you pick your major subject after you join.

To appear, you must have studied at least three of the four sciences in classes 11 and 12 and passed class 12 in one of the two previous years, or be appearing this year. The aggregate needed is 60 percent, or 55 percent where the applicant is SC, ST or Divyangjan, and the brochure puts no cap on age.

NEST exam pattern and marking

Every question has four options with exactly one correct. A correct pick adds 3, an error costs 1, and a skipped item scores nothing. Time allowed is 3 hours, and Divyangjan candidates get compensatory time. You cannot bring log tables or a calculator, but the test screen has a basic calculator built in.

Earlier cycles had a separate general section and some multiple correct questions, and the paper ran longer. The current brochure has dropped both, so ignore advice built on the old format.

Section cut offs, best three and percentile

This is the part most students misread. Each section has a minimum admissible score (SMAS). For unreserved candidates it is 20 percent of the average of the top 100 scores in that section, with lower fractions for OBC NCL, SC, ST and Divyangjan candidates. You must cross SMAS in at least three sections.

Your total is then the sum of your best three section scores that cleared SMAS. That total is turned into a percentile within your category, and you also need to cross a minimum admissible percentile (MAP) announced with the result. Ties are broken by your two best sections, then your single best section.

NEST syllabus for physics and mathematics

Physics

• Significant figures, projectiles, friction, the work energy theorem and collisions
• Rotational motion, gravitation, properties of matter, fluids and surface tension
• Calorimetry, Carnot engine, rms speed of gases, SHM, standing waves and beats
• Coulomb and Gauss, Kirchhoff's rules, Biot Savart and Ampere, induction and LCR circuits
• Displacement current, prisms, optical fibres and double slit interference
• The photoelectric effect, Bohr model, nuclei, and semiconductor diodes

Mathematics

• Sets, types of functions, trigonometric identities and equations
• Induction, complex numbers, quadratics, inequalities, permutations, binomial theorem, sequences
• Lines, circle, parabola, ellipse, hyperbola and points in space
• Limits, derivatives, continuity, applications, integration, area and differential equations
• Matrices and determinants up to 3 by 3, vector products, skew lines in space, linear programming
• Statistics, probability, conditional probability and Bayes theorem

Chemistry and biology topics

Chemistry

• Mole concept, atomic structure, periodicity and chemical bonding including MO theory
• Thermodynamics, gases, equilibrium, pH, buffers and redox
• Colligative properties, Nernst equation, rate laws and Arrhenius equation
• Dichromate and permanganate, lanthanides, isomerism of complexes, crystal field ideas
• Organic basics, hydrocarbons, haloalkanes, alcohols, carbonyl compounds, amines and biomolecules

Biology

• Diversity of living organisms, plant and animal classification
• Plant and animal structure, cell biology, biomolecules and cell division
• Plant physiology: photosynthesis, respiration, growth hormones
• Human physiology from breathing to the endocrine system
• Reproduction in plants and humans, Mendelian genetics, DNA to protein, origin and evolution of life
• Pathogens, vaccines, microbes that help people, gene cloning tools, energy flow and hotspots

The lists track NCERT class 11 and 12 chapters closely. Questions, however, lean towards concept and reasoning rather than recall.

Choosing your best three

Because one section can be dropped, decide early which three you will treat as core. A student taking PCM in school would usually build on physics, chemistry and maths, but still attempt the easy biology questions for a safety margin if one core section goes badly. A PCB student often does the reverse.

With a one mark penalty, a guess between two leftover options is fair, while a guess among four is a losing bet.

A study plan around class 12

1. Through the school year: finish NCERT chapters for your three core subjects, then solve exemplar style problems for each chapter.
2. After boards: about eight weeks remain in most years. Spend the first four on class 11 topics, which boards neglect but NEST tests heavily.
3. Final month: past NEST papers from the official site under exam conditions, with a log of wrong answers by chapter.

Planning to sit the IISER test too? Compare chapters on the IAT syllabus page. Many NEST aspirants also sit JEE Main or NEET, and our entrance exams hub groups other science tests for you.