NMMS - National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme 2024: Syllabus & Exam Pattern

National means-cum-merit scholarship (NMMS) is a centrally sponsored scholarship scheme focused on providing financial assistance to students coming from financially disadvantaged backgrounds entering their class 9th to ensure their further education beyond the elementary level. NMMS was enrolled in 2010 under the charge of the Department of School Education & Literacy, a part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. 

Benefits Under NMMS:

1. The government aims to extend an annual scholarship of Rs. 12000 P.A. to the selected students for a maximum period of 4 years.

2. The scope of the scheme is to select 1,00,000 deserving students from across the nation through an eligibility test to benefit under the scheme. 

3. The NMMS scholarship scheme extends for 4 years, i.e., from 9th to 12th standard. 

Eligibility of the NMMS scheme:

The award offers an opportunity to students enrolled in 8th standard of all government-aided local body schools. The applying candidates must fulfill the following conditions:

1. The overall family income of the student must not exceed a sum of Rs. 3.5 Lakhs.

2. The student must score at least 55% or equivalent in the class VII or VIII finals. The required percentage has been given a 5% exemption for students from SC and OBC sections of the society. 

Also Read: Free Coaching Schemes by Central Government for SC & OBC Students 

Who is not eligible for the scheme?

Even though it is mentioned that students studying in government-backed schools are eligible, one must make it a note that students of ‘Kendriya Vidyalayas’ and ‘Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas’ are not eligible for the NMMS scholarship scheme.  

Application and Selection Procedure:

The candidature in the scheme is confirmed through an eligibility test, applications for which are available both online and offline. The documents required for the application are - Class 7th mark sheet, Caste Certificate, Parents’ Income Certificate, Disability Certificate and Domicile. (Note: Applications for NMMS 2024 are now closed, tentative dates for NMMS 2025 are July-August 2025) 

Examination Pattern & Syllabus For NMMS Exam:

The National Means-cum-Merit (NMMS) Scholarship Scheme Examination is conducted in two phases. State-Level and National-level. Respective state bodies are made responsible for administering the scholarship test to select candidates for the second round of the examination, which is conducted by NCERT. The selected candidates then have to take the central dual-section examination, i.e., MAT (Mental Ability Test) and SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) both of the duration of 90 minutes each. The purpose of MAT is to test students’ critical thinking and reasoning abilities, while the SAT focuses on testing students’ arithmetic, Social Science, and Physics knowledge. 

The NMMS (Scholarship) exam is a fully objective MCQ-based test conducted in an offline i.e., OMR Sheet-based mode.  

Format of Mental Ability Test (MAT)

Format of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

For a more elaborate understanding of the topics that candidates can prepare for the SAT part of the NMMS exam are majorly from the 8th class NCERT and some sections of 7th class as well. Some relevant science topics are Cell structure & its functionalities; Types of substances; Phenomena of combustion; Effects of electric current on chemicals; Crop Cultivation; Force; Friction; Types of materials; Micro-organisms; Human development, etc.

Some topics from social science that students can prepare are the industries; Land, soil, and water; the conservation of natural vegetation and wildlife; fundamentals of constitutions; the justice system; types of freedom struggles; the rebellion of 1857; caste reforms in India, etc. 

Similarly, for Maths students can focus on Algebraic Expressions; Comparative Quantities; concepts of Cubes; Data Analysis techniques; Mensuration; Practical Geometry, and so on. 

To sum up, the NMMS Scholarship is a great opportunity for students from economically weaker sections to ensure a chance to have a better higher education. For more information and detailed updates regarding the NMMS exam/scheme check out the link: https://scholarships.gov.in/