NEST 2020 Eligibility Criteria: Age Limit, Qualification, Seat Intake & Reservation

Check out the eligibility criteria for NEST 2020 exam to know whether you are eligible to appear for the entrance test or not. NEST is a gateway for admission to 5-year Integrated MSc program for students of Science stream.

National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar and Mumbai University- Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS) jointly conduct NEST once a year in online mode. Candidates who wish to apply for the 5-year Integrated MSc program in either of the Universities mentioned above need to meet the NEST eligibility criteria before applying online.

NEST, abbreviated as National Entrance Screening Test, is the qualifying exam for admission to the five-year integrated MSc program in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. Meeting the eligibility criteria for NEST 2020 is necessary as the organizing duo reserves the right to cancel the candidature of ineligible applicants at any stage of the admission process.

Next, the question arises on how you come to know that you are eligible to appear for NEST 2020 or not. As you scroll down, you will explore all the necessary conditions of eligibility, including Educational Qualification, Age Limit, Reservation Criteria, Seat Intake, etc.

NEST 2020: Eligibility Criteria

The organizing bodies have set the eligibility criteria for General and Reserved categories as per the norms of government. There lies a common eligibility condition for both the categories, which states that candidates must have cleared Class 12^th Board examination in Science stream from a recognized Board.

Below are the required eligibility conditions to get considered for admission to your desired course.

 Eligibility Criteria for General/ OBC Category

Under this section, you will explore the eligibility conditions set by Government of India for candidates falling under General and OBC Non-Creamy layer category.

Educational Qualification

• You must have cleared Class 12^th Board examination or equivalent in the Science stream from any recognized Board in India in 2018 or later.
• Those appearing for Class 12^th examination for the session 2019-20, are also eligible to apply for NEST 2020.
• A minimum aggregate of 60% marks or equivalent grade in the Class 12^th Board examination is mandatory to be considered for admission.

Age Limit

• You must possess a valid identity proof (preferably Aadhar Card/PAN Card/ Voter ID/ Driving License) indicating your Date of Birth, which needs to be on or after August 01, 2000.

Eligibility Criteria for SC/ST/ Divyangjan Category

Under this section, you can go through the eligibility conditions for candidates falling under the SC, ST, and Divyangjan categories.

Educational Qualification

• You must have completed your Class 12^th education or equivalent in regular Science stream from a recognized Board in India in 2018 or later.
• Those candidates who are going to appear in Class 12^th Board examination for the session 2019-20, can also appear for the NEST 2020 examination.
• You will be entitled to a relaxation of 5% in aggregate i.e., you require 55% marks to be eligible.

Note: In case you only possess a letter grade, you will be required to submit a certificate issued by the concerned Board specifying the equivalent percentage of marks.

Age Limit

• Likewise, the age limit has also been relaxed by 5 years. You must possess an identity proof that indicates your Date of Birth on or after August 01, 1995.

How to Apply for NEST 2020?

Only the eligible candidates should proceed with NEST online application process. Candidates who are found to be ineligible at any stage of the admission process, shall not be considered for further shortlisting irrespective of clearing the entrance exam.

Go through the steps mentioned below when you apply for the NEST 2020 Online Application.

• Initially, you need to register by entering prescribed personal details such as Your Name, Date of Birth, Class 10^th Roll Number, Mobile Number, Gender, Email ID, and Captcha Code.
• After submitting the details, you will receive Login ID and Password through Email and SMS.
• Next, login using the mentioned details to proceed with filling the online application form.
• Enter personal information and qualification details correctly.
• Upload the documents as per the specification indicated.
• Pay the NEST application fee to complete the entire process.
• You will receive the confirmation of application on your registered Email ID and Mobile Number.

NEST 2020: Reservation of Seats

For the session 2020-25, the NISER and Mumbai University- CEBS are offering 200 and 57 seats, respectively. Seats shall be offered to candidates of reserved categories based on the following reservation criteria.

Categories	Seat Reservation
OBC-NCL	Under this section, the Universities will offer 27% of seats to OBC-NCL. Candidates who belong to this category must possess a valid certificate on the day of admission.   Note: Candidates in the Creamy layer of OBC fall under the General category and will not be considered for reservation.
SC/ST	As per the government norms, seats reserved for SC and ST categories are 15% and 7.5% of total seats, respectively. Applicants under reserved category will be required to submit relevant documents to claim seats under the same.   Note: The University will only accept a certificate written in either English or Hindi. Ensure that you bring a translated copy of the certificate if it is written in any other language.
Divyangjan	Candidates belonging to the Divyangjan category are entitled to 5% reservation. People with disabilities from General, OBC-NCL, SC, and ST categories are eligible to apply for admission under this bracket.   Note: Those candidates who are applying under this category will need to produce all original certificates claiming their disability at the time of admission.

NEST 2020: Seat Intake

We have tabulated the break-up of seats offered by NISER and CEBS below.

Category (5% seats are reserved for Divyangjan in each category)	NISER	CEBS
General	101	23
General-EWS	0	06
OBC-NCL	54	15
SC	30	09
ST	15	04
Total	200	57
Total proposed intake	200	57

Note: If a candidate belonging to the reserved category happens to be the topper of the exam, he/she would be admitted against the General rank. In such a case, all the seats in that particular category will remain available, irrespective of his/her admission.