Eligible students are required to appear in a two stage examination: First Stage: Examination is conducted by the State Govts/UT Administration. The number of selected students is generally ten times the number of scholarship to be offered.

Second-stage-The final examination is conducted at the National level by NCERT. The local unit set up in the State Institutes of Education in consultation with the national level unit in the NCERT, prepare the test papers and organise the examination throughout the States/UTs. The test consists of two papers of 1 1/2 hours each for testing the innate abilities of students. It is common to the entire State/UT. The final selection is made with the Community Development Block as the Unit and top students in each block are awarded scholarships.