Know All about NTSE Mental Ability Questions (MAT)

NTSE or the National Talent Search Exam paper has two papers SAT, and MAT. MAT is the part of NTSE exam that aims to check the candidates’ power of reasoning, ability to think, ability to judge, spatial orientation, ability to visualise in the space, evaluate or discriminate, etc. The Mental ability questions consist of analogies, classification, series, pattern perception, hidden figures, coding-decoding, block assembly, problem solving, etc. The NTSE mental ability test has a total of 20 questions, and 1 mark is awarded for each correct answer.

In this article, we will explore all details about the mental ability topics, and how to efficiently prepare for the mental aptitude section of the NTSE exam paper.

NTSE Mental Ability Test Syllabus

The NTSE exam syllabus is based on NCERT prescribed curriculum for Class X. You should focus on all the topics while preparing for the NTSE Examination. The NTSE exam paper usually consists of Multiple Choice Objective Questions or MCQs. It has two separate sections in both the stages of the exam, namely: Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). 

The Mental ability questions in NTSE exam are asked from following mental ability topics:

• Verbal and Non Verbal Analogy

• Verbal and Non-Verbal Series

• Classification

• Coding-Decoding

• Alphabet and Number Test

• Distance and Direction

• Blood Relations

• Paper Cutting and Folding

• Venn Diagrams

• Mathematical Operations

• Calendar, Time, and Clock

• Missing Characters

• Ranking and Arrangements

• Word Problems

• Embedded Figures

Books to Prepare for NTSE (SAT+MAT)

Here is a list of books that you should refer to in order to ace the NTSE Stage 1 and Stage 2 exams.

• Class 9 and 10 NCERT textbooks

• McGraw Hill Publications’ Study Package for NTSE Class X 

• NTSE Practice Sets by Sonal Chauhan, Diwakar Sharma, Arihant Publication 

• A Complete Study Guide NTSE (MAT + SAT) by Arihant Publication 

• The Pearson Guide to NTSE by Navin C. Joshi, Saurabh Priyadarshi 

• NTSE Explorer MAT + SAT + New English Language Test for Class X (English) by Sonia Lal 

• Access Publishing “A Comprehensive Manual” for NTSE for Class X (English) 

How to Prepare for NTSE Mental Ability Test (MAT)?

The only way to score better in the mental aptitude section is by having sufficient clarity of concepts, and practising as many mock test papers as possible. Moreover, the past years’ question papers should also be solved within the time limit to get a grasp of the exam pattern and question type.

Here are couple of tips to polish your NTSE mental ability test preparation:

• For completing your mental aptitude topics, you should firstly focus on relatively easy topics such as Water and Mirror Images, Venn diagrams, Syllogism, etc. These topics are relatively easy and scoring. 

• Now, you can go ahead to solve blood relation, direction test, ranking test questions.

• Ater covering above mentioned topics, now try to solve Questions based on number series, Analogy based on numbers, and Classification, etc. 

• For better speed and recognising pattern skills, you should solve the MAT paper a minimum of two to three times. This process will help you in understanding the type of questions and difficulty level of the paper.   

• Along with other books, you  must study NCERT books thoroughly.

• For finding more questions to  practise search for mental ability questions, or mental ability questions with answers pdf

In this article, we have discussed the detailed syllabus along with effective preparation tips to help you in acing the mental ability test (MAT). In case of any further doubt and clarity, visit our website and check out other articles on NTSE.