Frequently Asked Questions

No, you should register only for the class that corresponds to the session in which the exam is being conducted.

Registering and participating in exam for the class other than your designated class will lead to the cancellation of your exam participation. This means you will not receive any certificate, medal, or reward associated with the exam.

Please Note:The fee paid by you will be forfeited if you do not attend the viva/interview. We regret to inform you that we will not issue any refunds in this scenario.

Yes. If you are studying or following the Indian syllabus and want to appear in ISTSE Online exam, you can do that. If your school is not registered with us, please register as an individual/direct student by visiting https://istse.org/register

NOTE: We currently ship certificates, medals, shields, and books only to addresses within India. To ensure a smooth shipping process, we require a complete Indian address, including a valid Indian mobile number. Also, if you earn a scholarship, the scholarship amount can only be transferred to the student’s or parent’s Indian bank account.

• Account Name: A2 Software Management & Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd.
• Account No: 33682218042
• Bank Name: State Bank of India
• Brach: ITPL Complex Industrial Zone, Bangalore
• IFSC: SBIN0011291

You can also make the payment using wallet / UPI application.

Note: Please mention your mobile number in the transaction details.
After transfer please send transaction details via email to info@istse.org or on WhatsApp +91-9319026611, along with your name, mobile number, student's name and student's class.

Your exam registration will be deemed invalid if you fall under any of the following cases:

• Registering multiple times for the same exam: This is considered misleading information and may result in the rejection of your exam registration.
• Registering for more than one class simultaneously: A student cannot register for more than one class simultaneously. If we find that you have done so, your exam registration will be nullified.
• Incorrect Class Appearance: If you are qualified to appear in Class 3 but instead take the exam for any other class for example Class 2 or Class 4, your registration will be nullified.
• Your registration will stand cancelled if you cannot provide a valid ID and study proof. We require the student's government-issued ID proof, like Aadhaar Card or Passport, to validate the registration. To prove the student is registering for the appropriate class, we require school issued ID card, fee receipt or letter from the school with the student's name, session, and class mentioned.

Please ensure you adhere to the registration guidelines and provide accurate information to avoid any inconvenience.

Please Note: The fee paid by you will be forfeited if you do not attend the viva/interview. We regret to inform you that we will not issue any refunds in this scenario.

We understand that negative marking in exams might seem unconventional, especially at the primary and middle school levels. However, we believe it's a crucial element in preparing your children for future academic and professional success, and in fostering critical thinking skills.

Below is the reasoning behind introducing negative marking in our Indian School Talent Search Exam (ISTSE). We understand that this might raise some concerns, so we want to provide a clear and thoughtful explanation.

We have introduced negative marking in our IS exam for several important reasons:

• Promoting Critical Thinking and Informed Decision-Making: In today's world, students encounter an overwhelming amount of information, some of which may be inaccurate. Negative marking encourages them to think critically about their knowledge, distinguish between what they know and what they are unsure of, and make informed decisions before answering. It helps them develop the valuable skill of discerning reliable information from unreliable sources.
• Encouraging In-Depth Learning: Negative marking motivates students to delve deeper into subjects and gain a thorough understanding, rather than relying on superficial knowledge or guesswork. It fosters a culture of academic rigor and excellence.
• Preparing for Future Competitive Exams: Most competitive exams incorporate negative marking to ensure fairness and accuracy. By familiarizing students with this format early on, we equip them with the skills and strategies needed to succeed in these exams, giving them a significant advantage in their academic and professional journeys.
• Promoting Fair Assessment: Negative marking reduces the chances of students scoring well through random guessing, ensuring a more accurate reflection of their knowledge and abilities. It rewards those who have truly mastered the subject matter.
• Reflecting Real-World Consequences: In many aspects of life, making uninformed decisions can have negative consequences. Negative marking teaches students to weigh their options carefully, consider potential risks, and make responsible choices – a valuable life skill that goes beyond academics.

We understand that negative marking may be a new concept for some for school level exams, but we believe it plays a crucial role in nurturing critical thinking, in-depth learning, and sound decision-making among students, preparing them for success in academics and beyond.

OlympiadHelper.com is our official partner. You can visit Olympiad Helper for ISTSE preparatory material.

To participate in the ISTSE-online exam, it is compulsory for you to have access to a computer(laptop or desktop) / tablet with a web camera and internet(speed > 512kbps) connection. Click HERE to check if your computer/tablet can be used to appear in ISTSE Online Exam. Please run this test on the computer/tablet you are planning to use for giving the ISTSE Online exam.

No. For taking the exam, you should have a computer/tablet, a web-camera and internet connection. If you do not have a web camera, you can rent it from your nearest cyber cafe for a day.

Yes, you can take the ISTSE exam through a smartphone with a Google Chrome browser. However, although you can take the exam on a smartphone, we prefer it should be taken through a desktop or laptop or tablet with a web camera and good internet connection.

Our first preference will be that you should appear for the exam from your home. If however, you plan on taking the exam from a cyber cafe, you must first make sure that the computer is eligible for taking up the exam. To check if you can appear in the exam through the machine, please click on the Check Your System from the cybercafe computer. Internet(speed > 512kbps) is required to appear in the exam. Register yourself only after getting the confirmation.

We are a talent search examination aimed at promoting 360-degree holistic development among participants. Our primary objective is to cultivate critical thinking skills and facilitate the acquisition of knowledge that goes beyond the limitations of conventional textbooks. As an organisation, we recognise and reward exceptional efforts made by students. Kindly be informed that our talent search examinations differ from regular school unit tests. As a result, certain questions are intentionally crafted to go beyond what you would typically find in your standard syllabus or prescribed textbooks.

Most of the questions asked in the exam take into consideration the syllabus, age group and awareness. However, since it is an international examination, certain questions are intentionally designed to test higher-order thinking skills and test the participants' knowledge as keen observers of the world. These questions serve the dual purpose of identifying high-potential and well-rounded students, as well as these questions play a significant role in determining the ranking of participants.

The ISTSE exam is designed to assess students' knowledge and intellectual skills. It aims to identify exceptional talent and encourage participants to think critically and expand their horizons.

It's important to note that all participants in a specific class receive the same question paper. Thus, regardless of the difficulty level, the standard remains consistent for all students in that class.

To ensure fairness, we offer an "Answer Key Challenge Window". During this period, we publish the provisional answer key along with the results, and participants can challenge any answers they believe to be incorrect. Students are permitted to challenge multiple questions, as long as they provide a logical explanation supporting their answer. Our educational team diligently reviews each challenge and responds accordingly. In the past, we have revised our answer key when a student's reasoning was found to be valid. Unlike many other examinations that either do not offer this option or charge a fee for it, we provide this service completely free of charge.

No. There can be a situation when more than one student can get the same marks. It may result in more than ten students getting top 10 cut-off marks. There can be 10 / 11 / 15 / 18 / 25 students in the top ten marks holders

We will be conducting an interview/viva for all the students who have scored greater than or equal to the top 10 cut-off marks.

The final rank will be decided based on their written + interview marks. For example, if 15 students are there as top 10 marks holder, then, in the most probable cases, these students will get their rank from anything between 1 to 15.

Indian School Talent Search Exam(ISTSE) - online is committed towards the fair conduction of the examination. We are the first and only online talent exams for school kids with AI-enabled anti-cheating tools to prevent any malpractice during the exam. ISTSE exam system is equipped with an advanced AI-based anti-cheating module, advanced software tools and manual monitoring to support fair conduction of the examination.

30 minutes video interview of 100 marks will be conducted for top 10 marks holders to decide the top 10 ranks.

30 minutes video interview of 100 marks will be conducted for top 10 marks holders to decide the top 10 ranks. Apart from general questions, student will be asked 20 academic questions from maths, science, english and reasoning.

• number of questions answered correctly.
• quality of the answer
• ability to interpret the question.
• faster response time for answering each question.
• Note: Every question did not carry the same weightage.

• number of prompts required to answer a question correctly.
• incorrect or shortness or vagueness of answer.
• malpractice or cheating or prompt by other person during the interview

• Marks will not be affected by fluency in English or poor internet.
• Appearing for the interview/viva does not guarantee a top 10 rank. If 20 students qualify as top 10 score holders, they may receive any rank between 1 and 20, depending on the final evaluation. Recordings will be deleted from our servers once the evaluation process is complete. Under no circumstances will the recordings be shared with any student or parent, including the student or parent of the student appearing in the recording.

When evaluating multiple-choice questions (MCQs) that have more than one correct answer, the following rules apply:

• Marks per correct option are calculated as:
  (Total marks for the question) ÷ (Number of correct options).
  This value can vary depending on the number of correct options in the question.
• Penalty rule: If a student selects any incorrect option, they receive 0 marks for that question, regardless of the other correct selections.

Example: Suppose a question is worth 3 marks and has 2 correct options.
Each correct option = 3 ÷ 2 = 1.5 marks.
Scenarios:

• Selected both correct options → 3 marks
• Selected only one correct option → 1.5 marks
• Selected one correct + one incorrect option → 0 marks
• Selected only incorrect option(s) → 0 marks

To evaluate subjective questions, we look for keywords in the answer. The answer to each subjective question should contain these keywords.

For example, if the question is 'What is photosynthesis?" then, keywords will be "sunlight", "carbon dioxide", "chlorophyll", "oxygen".

If the student uses only two keywords, he/she will get marks only for those keywords. Some keywords have more weightage than others based on their importance.

Yes, attendance is indeed compulsory for all selected candidates. Failure to attend the viva/interview will result in the cancellation of your participation in the exam. This cancellation means that you will not be eligible for any certificates, medals, or rewards.

We strongly encourage you to attend the viva/interview as scheduled to avoid any unfavourable consequences.

Please Note:The fee paid by you will be forfeited if you do not attend the viva/interview. We regret to inform you that we will not issue any refunds in this scenario.

• As per our rules, the top ten scorers must undergo a mandatory 30-minute video interview or viva session worth 100 marks.
• This interview aids in finalizing the rankings for the top ten positions.
• We also conduct a thorough document verification to maintain the examination's fairness and integrity.
• A student must score at least 30% in the video viva/interview.

• If a student, even after the interview, is found not to meet our exam criteria, they will be disqualified.
• Typically, if a disqualification is identified, we invite the next highest scorer for the top 10 interview process. However, if the disqualification is discovered at the last minute and we can't conduct additional interviews, that particular rank may remain vacant. This is because all top 10 students must undergo the mandatory interview/viva.
• If a student is among the top mark holders in the written examination but scores less than 30% in the video viva/interview, it will be considered an indication that the student may have used malpractice during the examination. This may lead to disqualification.

We are dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of examination fairness and integrity. Rest assured, the final rankings are always accurate and justified.