SEB Exam 2026: Gujarat State Examination Board Guide

What Is the SEB Exam and Who Conducts It?

People searching for the SEB exam are usually looking for one of the scholarship tests run by the State Examination Board, Gujarat State, Sector-21, Gandhinagar. The board sits under the Gujarat Education Department and describes its own role as conducting examinations fairly and transparently, upgrading the technology behind them, and keeping the whole process free of human error.

Because the board handles both school scholarships and teacher recruitment eligibility, the name SEB turns up in very different contexts. A Class 6 student writing a scholarship paper and a graduate writing the Teachers Eligibility Test both apply on the same portal.

• Full name: State Examination Board, Gujarat State, Sector-21, Gandhinagar
• Parent body: Education Department, Government of Gujarat
• Official portal for all applications, hall tickets and results: sebexam.org
• Scope: about 28 examinations across scholarships, admissions, eligibility tests and diplomas

Which Exams Does the State Examination Board Conduct in 2026?

The table below covers the school-facing exams, which are the ones most readers mean by the SEB exam. Dates are the ones published in the official notifications for the current cycle.

One name is missing from that list on purpose. The National Talent Search Examination used to be the headline SEB exam, and it no longer appears on the board notice board at all.

What Are the PSE and SSE Scholarship Exams?

The Primary Education Scholarship and Secondary Education Scholarship examinations are the board's oldest school scholarships. The 2025-26 notification, issued on 24 September 2025, opened applications from 1 to 15 October 2025 and set the written paper for 29 November 2025.

• PSE eligibility: studying in Class 6 in a government, local body, granted or non-granted primary school, with at least 50 percent marks or the equivalent grade in Class 5
• SSE eligibility: studying in Class 9 in a government, local body, granted or non-granted secondary school, with at least 50 percent marks or the equivalent grade in Class 8
• Syllabus: Class 6 content for PSE and Class 9 content for SSE, up to October of the exam year
• Medium: Gujarati only
• Income limit: none, unlike NMMS

Scholarships go to 1,000 students on the primary merit list and 2,900 on the secondary merit list, the latter split into 1,500 rural, 1,000 urban and 400 tribal places. Every candidate who sits the paper gets a marksheet, and the scholarship itself is paid by the Commissioner of Higher Education, Gandhinagar.

How Does the NMMS Exam Work in Gujarat?

The National Means cum Merit Scholarship exists to stop able students from dropping out after Class 8. Gujarat's quota under the scheme is 5,087 students. The 2025-26 notification was issued on 7 November 2025, applications ran from 10 to 22 November 2025, and the paper was set for 3 January 2026.

• Marks needed in Class 7: at least 55 percent for general and OBC candidates, at least 50 percent for SC and ST candidates
• Income ceiling: parental annual income not above Rs 3,50,000
• Not eligible: private and self-financed schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and residential schools that provide free board and lodging
• Qualifying marks: 40 percent aggregate across both sections for general and OBC, 32 percent for SC and ST
• Payment: the scholarship is claimed on the National Scholarship Portal, so an Aadhaar-matched name is compulsory

A common misreading is that a candidate must clear 40 percent separately in MAT and SAT. The official notification asks for 40 percent of the combined total of both sections, which is a lower bar than clearing each paper individually.

What Is the Gyan Sadhana Merit Scholarship Exam?

Gyan Sadhana is the newest of the SEB scholarships, introduced by an Education Department resolution dated 7 June 2023. It is aimed at students who have studied Classes 1 to 8 continuously in government or grant-aided primary schools, and at students admitted to self-financed schools under the 25 percent quota of Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 2009.

• Registration for the 2026 exam ran from 5 to 16 February 2026, with no fee at any stage
• Paper: 120 multiple-choice questions for 120 marks in 150 minutes, in Gujarati or English
• Split: MAT 40 marks and SAT 80 marks, the SAT covering Class 8 Maths 20, Science 20, Social Science 15, English 10, Gujarati 10 and Hindi 5
• Thirty percent of the questions are competency-based under NEP 2020
• At least 50 percent of the beneficiaries in every category must be girls

What Is the Common Entrance Test for Class 6 Admission?

CET has run since the 2023-24 academic session. Students who finish Classes 1 to 5 in government or grant-aided schools can compete for both the residential school seats and the Gyansetu scholarship, which then supports them from Class 6 through Class 12. Students from self-financed schools can use CET only for the 25 percent of Rakshashakti school seats reserved for them.

How Do You Apply for the RIMC Entrance Exam Through SEB?

The Rashtriya Indian Military College was inaugurated on 13 March 1922 and works under the Ministry of Defence as a Category A establishment alongside the National Defence Academy. It takes admissions only in Class 8, twice a year, and the Gujarat notification is circulated through the State Examination Board.

1. Check the RIMC notification on the SEB notice board; the June 2026 written exam feeds the January 2027 term
2. Confirm eligibility: studying in or having passed Class 7, and aged 11.5 to 13 years on the date of admission
3. Buy the prospectus-cum-application form from rimc.edu.in by online payment or demand draft, Rs 600 general or Rs 555 SC and ST
4. Attach the birth certificate, domicile certificate, caste certificate where applicable, a principal's certificate, an Aadhaar photocopy and two photographs
5. Send the completed form in duplicate to the state government, not to the college; the 2026 cut-off was 5 April 2026
6. Clear the written papers, then attend the viva-voce, which tests intelligence, personality and communication

Is the NTSE Still Conducted by SEB?

Older guides to the SEB exam devote most of their space to NTSE, describing a Stage 1 screening run by the state and a Stage 2 national round run by NCERT. That structure was real, but the last completed cycle was 2020-21. NCERT stalled the 2021-22 examination and has not restarted it.

The Union Ministry of Education has said it is working on a relaunch in a wider format, but no notification has been issued. Until one appears on the NCERT site, Gujarat students should treat Gyan Sadhana, CET, PSE, SSE and NMMS as the live scholarship routes.

How Do You Apply, Get the Hall Ticket and Check Results?

1. Open sebexam.org and click Apply Online on the menu bar
2. Click Apply Now against the exam you want, for example Primary Scholarship Exam Class 6 or Secondary Scholarship Exam Class 9
3. Fill the form in English; entering the U-DISE number pulls the student and school details automatically
4. Read and tick the declaration, then submit and save the confirmation number generated on screen
5. Click Print Application or Fee Challan, then Online Payment, and pay by credit card, debit card, net banking or UPI
6. Check that the e-receipt says the transaction succeeded; a Transaction Unsuccessful receipt means the fee has not been paid

For the hall ticket, choose Print Hall Ticket on the menu bar, select the exam, and enter the confirmation number with the date of birth. Results follow the same path under the Result menu, and merit lists are published as separate PDFs on the notice board, split into rural, urban and tribal lists for SSE.

If the fee leaves the bank account but no e-receipt is generated within 24 hours, the notifications ask candidates to email the State Examination Board immediately rather than pay again.