Dear Mayank,

Firstly, the NTSE eligibility criteria must be completely understood before applying for the NTSE exam. You  must be know that the eligibility criteria for both stage 1 and stage 2 are different. The NTSE eligibility criteria in details for both the stages are as follows:

Stage 1:

1. The NTSE exam requires candidates to be registered with the State/UT exam conducting body. Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply.
2. The candidates who are in class X can also apply for the test.
3. The candidates who wish to give NTSE exam in class X must have cleared class IX examination from a recognized board. The candidate must have completed the class IX examination with a minimum of 60% marks.
4. The candidates must have obtained degree recognized by the board.
5. The students who have completed/appearing for class 10thexamination and are registered under Open Distance Learning (ODL) can appear for the NTSE exam. The candidate must be below 18 years of age.

Stage 2:

1. Students who have secured 80% marks in state board are eligible for stage 2 of the NTSE exam.
2. Every year around 4000 candidates appears for the stage 2 of the NTSE exam.  The candidates who clear the NTSE stage 2 with the minimum marks defined are eligible for scholarships.

Also, NCERT will be conducting national level examination (stage 2) on a june 16,2019 now.

Hope this helps! All the best!