NMMS Scholarship

The National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme is a Central government-sponsored scheme. This is aimed at providing financial assistance to meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections to arrest their dropout at class 8 and encourage them to continue studies at the secondary stage.

The scholarship amount of Rs. 12000/- per annum is provided so that they could continue their secondary education.

Benefits under NMMS

Following are the benefits under NMMS.

• Under this scheme, it is proposed to award 100,000 scholarships to the gifted or meritorious students whose parental income is not more than 3,50,000/- per annum from all sources at the time of selection of awardees for scholarship. Each state/ UT has a fixed quota of scholarship for the concerned age group of class vII and vIII. The scheme will provide reservation to different categories of students as per the state/ UT norms: as different States/ UTs have their own norms of reservation. 

• This scholarship will be provided on yearly basis to the students studying as regular students and entering in class IX in a Government, Government-aided, local body schools. Thus the scholarship will be for a maximum period of four years. The students studying in "Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, are not entitled to get scholarships under this scheme. Similarly, those students studying in Residential Schools run by the centre/ State Government Institutions, where facilities like boarding, lodging and education are provided and students studying in private schools are also not eligible for the scholarship under the scheme.

• The amount of scholarship is Rs.12000 per annum @ Rs 1000 per month.

• The reimbursement cost for conducting the NMMSS (SAT and MAT) exam will be Rs. 100 -per student for the number of students appearing in the examination.

Procedure for Selection under NMMS

• Each state/UT will conduct its own test at the stage of class vIII for selection of students for the award of the National Means-cum-Merit scholarship. The state Level Examination may consist of the following two tests: 

1. Mental Ability Test (MAT) 
2. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

• The students shall have a minimum of 55 % of marks or equivalent grade in class VII examination for appearing in the selection test conducted during class VIII for award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students). The student should be studying as regular student in a Government, Government-aided and local body schools

• Mental Ability Test shall consist of 90 multiple-choice questions testing verbal non-verbal meta-cognitive abilities like reasoning and critical thinking. The questions in the test may be on analogy, classification, numerical series, pattern perception, hidden figure etc.

• Scholastic Aptitude Test shall consist of 90 multiple-choice questions covering subjects namely, science, social studies and mathematics as taught in classes VII and VIII.

• Each test will be of 90 minutes duration. Children with disabilities will be given extra time, as applicable.

Eligibility Criteria for NMMS

Following are the eligibility criteria for NMMS

• Students belonging to any community studying in Government, Government-aided or local body schools and fulfilling the Scheme guidelines are eligible to apply for the scholarship

• Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs. 3,50,000/- per annum are eligible to avail the scholarship. 

• An awardee is eligible for the scholarship provided he/she: 

• takes up studies in approved courses. 

• maintains good conduct as certified by the Head of the college/Institution and continues higher studies as a regular student in a Government/government aided./ Local Body school. 

• does not absent himself/ herself without proper leave. 

• takes up studies on a whole time basis

• No scholarship shall be available for studies abroad for any course

• No claim for scholarship arrears will be entertained after the expiry of 12 months of the academic session for which one has applied for the claim.

• In case any awardee leaves his/her course of study within one month of registration/admission, no scholarship shall be paid to him/her

• In case a student is not able to appear at the annual examination due to serious illness, he/she should send the medical certificate though the Head of the Institution within three months of his/her falling ill. The duration of illness should be clearly certified by a specialist, who is a Registered Medical Practitioner. The facility will be available to the student to continue the same course in which one is studying provided the principal or the head of the institution certifies that the overall performance of the student during the year has been very good.

• The student must join the next class/desired course within 3 months of the declaration of the result of the previous class/course.

• Scholarship shall be deemed to be discontinued if any gap of one academic session arises in studies at any time due to any reason. 

• Scholarship once discontinued on the basis of the rules of disbursement of scholarship cannot be revived under any circumstances.

• All rules are subject to change from time to time, as and when required, which will be binding on all awardees.

Eligibility and Other Conditions for Starting and Continuation of Scholarship at Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage

Following are the eligibility criteria and other conditions for starting and continuation of scholarship at secondary and higher secondary stage.

• The awardees should get clear promotion from class VIII to Class IX for being eligible for starting the scholarship, as indicated above.

• The scholarship at the Secondary and Higher Secondary stage or equivalent classes IX to XII is payable for a maximum period of four years for studies in India only

• No scholarship at this stage is payable for studying diploma./certificate level courses

• For continuing the scholarship in class X and XII, the awardees should get clear promotion from class IX to class X and from class XI to class XII in the first attempt

• The awardees must obtain a minimum of 60 per cent marks in Class X examination (relaxable by 5%o for SC/ST students) or equivalent examination for continuation of the scholarship at higher secondary stage.

• In case an institution/school does not conduct an examination at the end of class IX and / or class XI, the scholarship for the second year will be continued on the submission of a certificate to this effect from the Head of the Institution/school.

Documents Required for NMMS

The list of documents to be submitted by the applicant for Fresh Scholarship, under NMMSS, for verification of her/his online application by the Institute/School/College is as under: 

• Income Certificate of Parent/Guardian issued by the Competent Authority in the State/UT. 
• Caste Certificate 

How to Register in National Scholarship Portal to Apply for NMMS Scholarship?

For applying for NMMS Scholarship, you have to register in National Scholarship Portal. Follow the below steps to register in National Scholarship Portal.

• Visit National Scholarship Portal

• Click on the “New Registration” on top of the page

• After reading the important notes, tick on the checkbox at bottom of the page

• Click on the “Continue” button

• After clicking the “Continue” button, you will land on the “Fresh Registration page”

• Fill out the form by adding the necessary details including the “State of Domicile”, “Scholarship Category”, “Scheme Type” and more

Note:

• While entering the ”Name of the Student” make sure to enter your name as in your Aadhaar card/Bank account

• Scholarship Category - Pre Matric for Class 1-10 and Post Matric / Top Class / MCM Option for Other Class / Course

• Apply separately for each scheme type

• For Pre Matric Scholarship, a Bank account can be in the name of student/father/mother/joint and For Post Matric/MCM/Top Class scholarships Bank account should be in the name of the student.

• Verify your mobile number before registering

• After filling out the form, tick on the checkbox and click on the “Register” button

• You will get a pop-up, “Student Registered Successfully” with an Application ID

How to Login to National Scholarship Portal to Apply for NMMS Scholarship?

 Follow the below steps to log in to National Scholarship Portal for applying for NMMS Scholarship.

• Visit National Scholarship Portal

• Click on the “Login” on top of the page

• Enter application id as “Username” and your DOB as the password for logging in

• Reenter the “Captcha” and click on “Login”

• After clicking the “Login” button, you will get an OTP on your registered mobile number

• Confirm the OTP and change the password

• After submitting the password, you will land on the student dashboard and here you can fill in the required details for applying for the scholarship.

• Fill out the “Application form” by entering the required details including the “General information”, “Academic information” and “Other details”, “Contact details”, “Scheme details”, “Upload documents”

Note: Scholarship amount less than Rs.50000, no need to upload any documents. Submit a copy of the documents in school/college/institute.

• Click on the “Final Submit”

References

While crafting this guide, we have consulted reliable and authoritative sources, including official government directives, user manuals, and pertinent content sourced from government websites.

• NMMS Guidelines

• NMMS FAQs