NEST 2026 registration begins for MSc programmes; apply by April 6
Sundararajan | January 5, 2026 | 03:15 PM IST | 2 mins read
NEST Application Form 2026: The computer-based entrance exam will be held on June 6 in a single shift from 2 to 5 pm.
Candidates can download NEST Question/Sample Papers from here.
Download NowThe National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) 2026 registration begins today, January 5. Eligible candidates can submit the NEST 2026 application form on the official website, nestexam.in by April 6, 2026. The MSc admission test is scheduled to be conducted on June 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm across 140 exam centres in India.
As per the NEST 2026 schedule, the last date to pay the application fee is April 12, 2026, up to 11:30 pm, and the admit card will be released on May 15, 2026.
To complete the NEST registration, candidates from the Unreserved (UR) and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) categories will have to pay an application fee of Rs 1,400. Candidates belonging to the Unreserved-EWS (UR-EWS), SC, ST, Divyangjan categories, as well as female candidates, are required to pay Rs 700.
Also read Teachers’ deployment for non-teaching work flagged by Orissa HC; affidavit sought from Odisha govt
NEST Exam 2026: Eligibility criteria
Candidates who passed the Class 12 or equivalent examination in 2024 or 2025 with at least 60% marks (55% for SC/ ST candidates), as well as those appearing for the Class 12 or equivalent examination in 2026, are eligible to apply.
The NEST entrance exam will be conducted for admission to the five-year integrated MSc programmes in physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics at the NISER and UM-CEBS.
A total of 261 seats are available for MSc admission , including 202 at the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) and 59 at the University of Mumbai – Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-CEBS).
How to apply for NEST 2026?
Candidates can follow the instructions given below to fill out the NEST 2026 application form.
- Go to the official website, nextexam.in
- Click on the “NEST Registration 2026” link.
- Fill the application form with the required details.
- Upload the essential documents in a prescribed format and size.
- Pay the NEST application fee and submit the form.
- Download the confirmation page and take a printout of it for your reference.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Quick Watch
]Next Story
]SRMIST, Techvantage AI join forces building agent-driven artificial intelligence training research ecosystem
The agreement covers curriculum design, lab-based instruction, faculty upskilling, student projects, internships, and joint research initiatives, with scope for industry-linked implementation and academic collaboration.
Vikas Kumar Pandit | 2 mins readFeatured News
]- West Bengal forms panel to decide fate of 933 schools with no students, may hand buildings to other depts
- ‘Not individual failure’: IIT Bombay students protest suicide, want director to quit, action against professor
- West Bengal crackdown on 252 ‘unrecognised’ madrassas leave parents scrambling for alternatives
- NEET PG Counselling: NMC frames branch-specific guidelines for MD, MS admissions of disabled candidates
- IIT Ropar: Faculty ‘harassment’, forced resignation, a self-argued case – how a scholar won her PhD seat back
- NCAHP: Allied healthcare professionals must now register, retrain every year for renewal
- UGC control, scholar attacks, sackings: India’s academic freedom ‘severely restricted’ in 2026, says SAR
- ‘Leak in education’: Delhi Govt drops land rule, helps 2,000 unrecognised pvt schools get legal sanction
- India added 196 public universities in 15 years, but most barely functional; private ones outnumber them
- ‘SVGU Ahmedabad equipping students to fill industry gaps, look beyond basic qualifications’: Provost