NEST Eligibility Criteria 2025: Age, Qualifications, & Reservations

NEST Eligibility Criteria 2025: The NISER and UM-DAE CEBS will release the National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) 2025 eligibility criteria along with the information brochure on the official website. The eligibility criteria will be released with the official brochure of NEST 2025. Aspirants willing to appear for the test must download the brochure to ensure they fulfil each criterion before applying online.

The eligibility criteria will include different requirements that aspirants must conform to, i.e., minimum academic qualification, age limit, and nationality. If any aspirants fail to meet these criteria or the exam-conducting authority later finds out that candidates failed to satisfy the criteria, their candidate will be dismissed. Continue reading the article to know the NEST exam eligibility criteria and other important details.

Latest Updates:
– NEST 2025 Registration started in the last week of March 2025; the last date to fill out the application form will be June, 2025 tentatively.
– NEST 2025 Exam Dates are on the official website. The exam will be held in June 2025 (tentative).
– Candidates can download NEST 2025 Admit Card in June 2025 till the exam date.
– NEST 2025 Results will be announced in July 2025 tentatively.

NEST 2025 Important Dates:

Candidates can refer to the below table to keep track of the upcoming NEST application form dates:

NEST Eligibility Criteria 2025

To apply for NEST 2025, candidates must meet a certain age limit and minimum academic requirements. Read the entire article for details on age, academic qualification and reservation criteria.

Nationality

• Candidates must be citizens of India.
• NRI students or PIO, or OCI candidates are not eligible to apply for the NEST 2025 exam.
• Candidates from J & K, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states have a quota of 15%.

Age Limit

Candidates interested in applying for the NEST 2025 entrance exam must fulfil the age limit eligibility criteria. The candidates who belong to the General or OBC category must be born on or after August 1, 2005. There will be an age relaxation of five years for candidates from the SC/ ST/ PwD category. 

Number of Attempts

There is no restriction on the number of attempts for the NEST 2025 examination.

Academic Qualification

Those willing to apply for the NEST entrance test should have passed the class 12^th examination with a regular science stream. The candidate must have passed the final qualifying exam in 2020 or 2021 or must be appearing for the same in 2025. Candidates in the General/ OBC category must have secured at least 60% aggregate. Candidates belonging to the SC/ ST/ PwD category must have secured 55% in the qualifying exam.

NISER Reservation Criteria 2025

NISER and CEBS offer reservations to the reserved category applicants. NISER and CEBS reserve a certain percentage of seats for candidates of SC/ ST, OBC-NCL, PwD and Supernumerary Quota seats for candidates from Jammu and Kashmir.

OBC-NCL

• In the admissions process, candidates from the OBC-NCL category receive 27% of the total seats. Note that candidates from the OBC category are not eligible for reservation. Such candidates are treated the same as candidates in the General Category. Even candidates from the Socially and Educationally Backward Class must meet the OBC NCL criteria to be considered eligible for the reservation, as stated by the state government.

SC/ ST

• Candidates from the SC category will be given 15% of the total seats, while candidates from the ST category will be given 7.5% of the seats. To be eligible for the reservation, candidates must present the necessary documents, such as a caste certificate, to the admission committee during the admission process.

PwD

• Candidates from the PwD category will be allocated 5% of the total seats. Candidates’ disability certificates must adhere to the most recent guidelines established by the Government of India.

Supernumerary Quota for Students from Jammu and Kashmir

• Candidates from Jammu and Kashmir will be given two extra seats at both NISER Bhubaneswar and UMDAE-CBS. Candidates must have completed their class 12 from the State Board of Jammu and Kashmir or from CBSE-affiliated schools in Jammu and Kashmir to be eligible for the supernumerary quota.

NEST Eligibility Criteria 2025 Seat Intake

The number of seats available in NISER and CBS for admission in the year 2025 can be seen in the following table:

If the required number of seats in the OBC-NCL category remains unfilled, they will be assigned to General category candidates. On the other hand, vacant seats in the SC and ST categories will not be filled by candidates from other categories. Because the seat reservation for PD candidates is horizontal, unfilled seats will be assigned to candidates from the respective categories. For example, unfilled SC (PD) seats will be assigned to candidates from the SC category, and so on.

Required Documents for NET 2025

All selected candidates, irrespective of any category, must get important documents at admission. Despite clearing the NEST 2025, their admission will be denied if they do not provide original documents during the admissions and counselling process.

For General Candidates

• Candidate must bring original documents and sufficient photocopies.
• Documents like Birth Certificate, Class 10^th Mark sheet, Class 12^th Mark sheet, Passport Size photographs, etc.
• When candidates have only letter grades, a board certificate specifying the equivalent percentage of marks must be produced. This is compulsory, or else admission will not be considered.

For Reserved Categories

• It is vital that relevant documents be provided at the time of admission in order to claim seats under the reserved category.
• Candidates from the OBC must have an OBC (NCL) certificate issued on or after June 1, 2021.
• SC/ ST and Jammu and Kashmir candidates must also have the SC/ST certificate (for SC/ ST candidates) and Original Certificates (Jammu and Kashmir candidates) to reserve seats in their category.
• Candidates in the PD category must have a Medical Certificate issued in accordance with the latest Government of India guidelines.
• Candidates will be required to provide documents such as birth certificates, class 10th mark sheets, class 12th mark sheets, and passport-size photographs in addition to the Category Certificates at the time of counselling and admission.

NEST 2025 Mock Tests

Candidates can follow the below-mentioned steps to attempt the NEST mock test at Embibe:

• 1st Step: Visit Embibe’s official website, i.e., embibe.com.
• 2nd Step: Login using your mobile number/ email.
• 3rd Step: Select your ‘Goal’ as ‘NEST’ under Science.
• 4th Step: Click ‘Next’ and select your preferred language.
• 5th Step: Refer to the below-mentioned links to attempt mock tests.

FAQs on NEST Eligibility Criteria 2025

The following are the most frequently asked questions on NEST eligibility criteria:

Also, read:

We hope that this detailed article has helped resolve all your queries.

Stay tuned to Embibe for the latest news and updates on the NEST exam 2025!