Archive · 23 Sep 2026
CBSE Revises Scholarship Framework for NSP in 2026–27
The government has changed scholarship rules for the 2026–27 academic year.
A student can receive both a welfare scholarship and a merit scholarship if they qualify for both.
Welfare scholarships help students from certain communities or groups who may face financial difficulties.
Merit scholarships reward strong academic performance or examination achievements.
The National Scholarship Portal will save information from a student’s first application.
Students applying for another scheme will usually only need to add scheme-specific details and documents.
Officials checking applications will be able to see the student’s other applications and their statuses.
Problems with scheme-specific information will be recorded separately from problems with general or academic information.
Some applications may receive a Red Flag when general or academic details contain deficiencies.
The revised National Scholarship Portal framework will apply from Academic Year 2026–27.
Eligible students may receive both welfare-based and merit-based scholarships if they qualify for both.
Initial application details will be retained for later applications, which will generally require only scheme-specific information and documents.
L1 and L2 officials will be able to view an applicant’s applications and statuses across scholarship schemes.
The framework introduces separate deficiency categories and a Red Flag process for general or academic issues.
- Who
- The Government of India, the Central Board of Secondary Education, scholarship officials, and scholarship applicants are involved.
- What
- The National Scholarship Portal scholarship framework has been revised, including rules allowing eligible students to receive both welfare-based and merit-based scholarships.
- When
- The revised framework takes effect in Academic Year 2026–27; it followed issues identified during the 2024–25 deduplication process.
- Where
- The changes apply through the National Scholarship Portal in India.
- Why
- The government sought clearer classification, policy harmonisation, and consistent implementation after some beneficiaries were flagged as duplicates across scholarship schemes.
- Effective academic year
- 2026–27
- Relevant portal
- National Scholarship Portal (NSP)
- Core eligibility change
- Eligible students may receive both welfare-based and merit-based scholarships.
- Merit-based examples
- National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships for College and University Students, and Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research.
- Welfare-based examples
- Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship Schemes for SC, ST, OBC, and minority students.
- Application editing
- Applicants may edit scheme-specific details when an application is marked defective; broader changes require withdrawal of all submitted applications.
- Verification changes
- L1 and L2 officials can view an applicant’s applications and statuses across relevant scholarship schemes, while deficiencies are categorised separately.
