Eligible meritorious students can submit their applications through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship 2026: The Ministry of Education has extended the application deadline for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for 2026-27 to September 30. As of August 31, 79,398 fresh and 1,87,208 renewal applications had been submitted.
The scheme is applicable only to students studying in state government, government-aided, and local body schools. The National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Union Ministry of Education, awards scholarships to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to prevent them from dropping out after the elementary level, or Class 8, and encourage them to complete their school education up to the higher secondary level, or Class 12. The scheme provides 1 lakh fresh scholarships every year to Class 9 students who qualify in the scholarship selection examination conducted by the respective State or Union Territory governments. The scholarship is continued through renewal from Classes 10 to 12, subject to the student’s academic performance. The scholarship amount is Rs 12,000 per annum per student. The eligibility criteria for the scholarship include an annual parental income of not more than Rs 3.50 lakh and a minimum of 55% marks, or an equivalent grade, in the Class 7 examination for appearing in the selection test for the award of the scholarship. The minimum marks requirement is relaxable by 5% for students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories.
