What it is
The National Standard Examination in Junior Science (NSEJS) is the first stage of India’s Junior Science Olympiad, the official route to the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO). It is a single paper covering physics, chemistry and biology at roughly Class 10 level, written at exam centres across India.
The Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) runs every stage of the junior science olympiad, from NSEJS to the selection of the Indian team. This is different from the senior science olympiads, where IAPT runs only the first stage and the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) runs the rest. For the junior route, all queries go to IAPT.
The first stage is still called NSEJS in the 2026–27 cycle, and IAPT’s pages are the place to confirm the name and rules each year.
Who can take it
NSEJS is for younger students. In plain words, for the 2026–27 cycle a student needed to:
- be in Class 8, 9 or 10 on IAPT’s cut-off date, and be born within a narrow birth-date window;
- be eligible to hold an Indian passport;
- have been living and studying in India, or studying in an Indian school system, since a cut-off date;
- not have finished Class 10 board exams before a cut-off date;
- not be writing any of the senior exams (NSEP, NSEC, NSEB or NSEA) in the same year.
The birth-date window is narrow, so a Class 10 student who is older than most of the class can fall outside it even though the class is right. Check the official eligibility rules for this year on IAPT’s site before enrolling. The student is responsible for meeting them.
The last rule above matters for Class 10 students, who can usually choose between NSEJS and the senior exams but not both. IAPT sets the senior papers at Class 12 level and NSEJS at Class 10 level, which is worth weighing. See our pages on NSEP, NSEC and NSEB for the other side.
The paper
In the 2026–27 cycle, NSEJS was a two-hour paper in two parts. Part A had 48 multiple-choice questions with one correct option, with marks deducted for a wrong answer. Part B had 12 questions that can have more than one correct option, where credit is given only when every correct option, and no wrong one, is marked. The paper was offered in English, Hindi and several other Indian languages.
HBCSE describes the syllabus as broadly Class 10 CBSE level in science and mathematics, and IAPT says the three sciences carry equal weight. Topics from lower classes are included too.
The stages
| Stage | Who | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| NSEJS | Eligible students in Classes 8–10 | Two-hour multiple-choice paper in physics, chemistry and biology |
| INJSO | A few hundred top NSEJS scorers | The Indian National Junior Science Olympiad, a harder written exam |
| OCSC | Top INJSO scorers | An orientation-cum-selection camp where the team is chosen |
| Pre-departure training | The selected team | Final preparation |
| IJSO | India’s team | The international olympiad in physics, chemistry and biology |
NSEJS is also the first step towards a separate junior astronomy olympiad (IOAA Junior). The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) runs that team’s later selection and training; its own pages explain how.
When it happens
Schools that want to host the exam usually register as centres in August. Students then enrol through their school, if it is a registered centre, or directly on IAPT’s website, usually from late August into September. NSEJS is usually written in November. INJSO usually follows around late January or early February, with the camp after that. The IJSO itself comes after the camp and the team’s training, well after NSEJS. Check IAPT’s junior science site for this year’s dates.
How to prepare
NSEJS questions are built on the school syllabus but ask for more thinking than a school test. A good approach:
- Make the NCERT science books for Classes 8 to 10 solid, including the parts usually skimmed. Understanding why matters more than remembering what.
- Use the maths. Many physics and chemistry questions need confident algebra, ratios and graphs.
- Practise with past papers and answer keys from IAPT, and INJSO papers once NSEJS feels comfortable.
- Be careful with negative marking. In Part A, a guess costs marks when wrong, and Part B needs every correct option marked.
- Do simple experiments where you can. Later stages can include practical tasks, and comfort with real apparatus helps.
These exams are hard for most students, and that is fine. A Class 8 or 9 student who writes NSEJS gains experience for later years, including the senior olympiads.
Where daily practice fits
Junior science olympiads reward broad, well-connected knowledge, and a short daily quiz can help keep that breadth fresh. Ado is a free daily quiz of 8 questions, including a 60-second sprint, across maths, science, English, GK and reasoning, ranked only against students the same age, with an Ado Rank that builds from a student’s top three subjects and never resets. It builds a habit and some speed, but NSEJS and INJSO also need longer, deeper problem solving on top.