CSIR-NCL MTS 2026 Syllabus: 150 Questions, +3 / −1, No Chapter List
NCL/01-2026/MTS is a Class 10 written exam of 150 questions, 450 marks, 2 hours. +3 for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong one. The advertisement prints no indicative chapter list.
Advertisement NCL/01-2026/MTS for 24 Multi-Tasking Staff posts at CSIR-NCL, Pune, selects only on a competitive written examination. There is no interview. Dates, posts and the fee are on the recruitment page.
What the advertisement prints
The paper is OMR or computer-based, Class 10th standard, 150 questions, 2 hours. Correct +3, wrong −1. Total 450 marks.
| Subject | Questions | Marks | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Intelligence | 25 | 75 | −1 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 75 | −1 |
| General Awareness | 50 | 150 | −1 |
| English Language | 50 | 150 | −1 |
The advertisement does not print a chapter list. Treat that as a fact, not as a gap you fill from a coaching PDF. What follows is the Class 10 ground those four headings have meant in CSIR multi-tasking and SSC-style 10th papers. It is not an official NCL syllabus annexure.
How to use the two hours
150 questions in 120 minutes is 48 seconds a question if you move evenly. English and General Awareness are 100 of the 150 questions. A plan that burns the first hour on 25 arithmetic items is spending 60 minutes on 75 marks and leaving 60 minutes for 375 marks.
A workable split: 20 minutes General Intelligence, 25 minutes Quantitative Aptitude, 35 minutes General Awareness, 35 minutes English, 5 minutes to mark the OMR if it is an OMR paper. Skip a Quant item at 40 seconds. The −1 penalty makes a 50-50 guess expensive: expected value of a two-option toss-up is +1, of a four-option blind guess is 0. Do not leave a question blank if you can drop one option.
Class 10 topics that actually appear
General Intelligence (25). Analogies, classification, series (number, letter, mixed), coding-decoding, blood relations, direction, ranking, calendar and clock, Venn diagrams, paper folding, mirror and water images, embedded figures, and simple syllogism. The 10th-level paper does not need permutation puzzles. It does need speed on series.
Quantitative Aptitude (25). Number system, HCF and LCM, fractions, percentages, ratio, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time and distance, mensuration of rectangle, square, triangle, circle, cube and cuboid, and reading a bar or pie chart. Keep the formulae for area and volume on one sheet. Compound interest is usually one year or two, not a banker's 365-day product.
General Awareness (50). This is half the paper in questions. Static: Indian Constitution (Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles, the President, Parliament), geography of India (rivers, soils, monsoon), history (1857, independence, the Constitution's coming into force on 26 January 1950), everyday science (photosynthesis, vitamins, SI units, acids and bases), and current affairs of the last 12 months. CSIR is a scientific organisation: a question on the laboratory's parent (CSIR under DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology) is fair. Do not memorise vacancy trivia for this paper.
English Language (50). Spotting errors, fill in the blanks, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, one-word substitution, reading comprehension, jumbled sentences, active and passive, direct and indirect speech, and tense. The English paper is not bilingual. Prepare it in English.
Tie-break and the key
If two scores are equal, the advertisement prefers: fewer negative marks, then older date of birth, then earlier essential qualification, then first name alphabetically. A candidate who guesses wildly can tie on raw marks and still lose on negatives.
There is no re-evaluation. Multi-shift scores are normalised by the CSIR formula in Annexure-XIII of the advertisement. The tentative answer key is published on recruit.ncl.res.in with a representation window. Document verification of originals is after the merit list, before the offer.
A timed practice set with the same +3 / −1 rule is on the practice page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Advertisement NCL/01-2026/MTS prints the four papers, the marks and the Class 10th standard. It does not print an indicative topic list.
Each correct answer is 3 marks. Each wrong answer is minus 1. That is a one-third penalty. Unattempted questions are not described as penalised.
It is bilingual except the English Language paper.
Keshav founded StudentUpdate.in and edits every recruitment notice, syllabus page and practice set the site publishes. Each notice is read from the issuing body's PDF or portal before it goes live; dates, fees, vacancy tables and eligibility rules are copied from that document, not from other websites.