With IOQM done and NMTC's Stage 1 already behind most students, the natural question is what comes next in the olympiad calendar. For Grade 9 and 10 students specifically, the answer arriving fastest isn't a maths olympiad at all — it's NSEJS, and its enrollment window closes considerably sooner than most families realize.

What NSEJS actually is, and why the timeline matters

The National Standard Examination in Junior Science (NSEJS), run by IAPT, is scheduled for 22 November 2026. Student enrollment, however, opened 21 August and closes 14 September 2026 — meaning the window to register is measured in days now, not months, even though the exam itself is over two months away. Missing the enrollment date means missing the exam entirely, regardless of how much time is left before 22 November.

Why NSEJS is worth the enrollment rush

  • It's a genuine national-level science exam, not a school-level enrichment olympiad, covering Physics, Chemistry, and Biology at a depth comparable to board-level science plus applied reasoning beyond it.
  • It's the entry point to the NSE senior-science pipeline — NSEP, NSEC, NSEB, and NSEA — that Grade 11-12 students use as India's route toward the International Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy Olympiads.
  • Starting the NSE pipeline habit in Grade 9-10 via NSEJS means the format, timing, and question style are already familiar by the time NSEP-level exams matter for a genuine IPhO/IChO/IBO shot in Grade 11-12.

A common mistake: treating this as "just another olympiad" and deferring the decision

Families weighing whether to add one more exam to an already busy olympiad season often delay the decision until they've compared it against everything else — IOQM results, NMTC Stage 2, SOF Olympiad dates. NSEJS doesn't allow that comparison-shopping approach, because its enrollment closes well before any of those other results or decisions land. The practical choice is to enroll now and decide on the depth of preparation once the exam is actually locked in.

What this looks like in practice

BuzzyBrains Academy's Science Olympiad coaching covers NSEJS alongside SOF's science tracks, with the same diagnostic-first approach — a baseline assessment across Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, then targeted preparation for the specific gaps it reveals, running through to the 22 November exam date.

If your child is in Grade 9 or 10 and NSEJS isn't on your radar yet, the enrollment window closes 14 September — the Science Olympiad Coaching program can help you decide quickly whether it fits, but the enrollment step itself can't wait for that conversation to happen at leisure.