CTEVT Entrance & Scholarship Quota Guide: Classified, Merit, Special

The Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), established under the CTEVT Act 2045 BS (1988 AD) and headquartered in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, is Nepal's apex body for technical and vocational education. It affiliates constituent, community and private institutes, sets curricula, and runs the shared entrance and admission system for its programmes. Its examination wing operates through the online ITMS portal (itms.ctevt.org.np) and the examinations site ctevtexam.org.np.

CTEVT admissions run every year, with the main cycle peaking during Ashadh and Shrawan (roughly June to August). The cycle covers three levels: Pre-Diploma / Technical School Leaving Certificate (TSLC), the Diploma level, and the Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL, chiefly in health streams such as PCL Nursing). Programmes span engineering, agriculture, forestry, health, hospitality and other trades.

There are two parallel ways to get a seat. The first is full-fee-paying admission, where students compete in an entrance examination and pay the programme fee. The second is scholarship (quota) admission, where eligible students compete for free or subsidised seats. This guide merges both the entrance candidate and the scholarship applicant, because most students engage with the two processes in the same season.

Eligibility depends on the level and stream. For Diploma and PCL programmes, the general rule after Nepal moved to letter grading is a minimum aggregate GPA on the 4.0 scale, but the threshold differs between health and non-health programmes. Health programmes (such as PCL Nursing and Diploma in Pharmacy) require a higher bar than technical or non-health programmes.

For Pre-Diploma / TSLC, entry is based on School Education Examination (SEE) results. In recent cycles applicants needed at least a minimum grade (an 'E' grade or equivalent) in each subject, and even candidates with Non-Graded (NG) results have been eligible in some notices. Pre-Diploma classified scholarships have often been ranked directly from SEE GPA rather than a separate written test.

Exact thresholds are set each year in the published notice, so applicants should confirm against the current CTEVT circular. Candidates who completed a related CTEVT-run TSLC/Pre-Diploma can also qualify for the next level using a specified minimum percentage instead of a GPA.

For Diploma, PCL and Pre-Diploma seats that use a written test (mainly full-fee-paying and classified-scholarship categories at Diploma/PCL level), CTEVT sets a multiple-choice entrance based on the SEE / Technical SLC syllabus. Answers are recorded on OMR sheets and machine-read, and the merit list is built from the combined score.

In recent cycles the written objective test carried 70 marks (commonly English 20, Mathematics 25 and Science 25 questions), and up to 30 further marks were awarded from the candidate's SEE/SLC/TSLC academic record, for a combined total of 100. Notices have set a minimum qualifying total (recent circulars cited about 35 marks) to be eligible for the merit list. Figures such as the exact subject split, duration and pass mark are set annually, so treat them as indicative and confirm the current notice.

Fees are modest but change yearly. Recent cycles listed an application form fee in the range of Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 depending on level and category, and an examination fee (recent notices cited around Rs 500 for constituent-school students and Rs 1,000 for others). Payments are made online through gateways such as Connect IPS or Khalti via the ITMS portal.

The Classified scholarship is CTEVT's core free-seat programme, often searched as the 'CTEVT free seat' or 'CTEVT classified scholarship'. It targets hard-up students, including those from community/government schools, women, Dalit, indigenous (Janajati) communities, Madhesi and Muslim communities, families of martyrs and conflict victims, former Kamaiya/Haliya, and other disadvantaged groups. Each approved programme reserves a fixed number of classified seats based on its intake quota.

The reserved-seat count scales with programme size: programmes with a 30-student intake reserve 2 classified seats, those with 40 reserve 3, and those with 48 reserve 4. Across all programmes and provinces this adds up to a few thousand free seats a year. For 2081/082, for example, CTEVT advertised about 3,763 diploma/certificate-level classified scholarships and roughly 1,647 pre-diploma scholarships; the 2083 Diploma/PCL notice advertised in the range of 3,400 seats across seven provinces and dozens of programmes. Yearly totals shift with programme approvals.

Selection for classified seats at Diploma/PCL level is by the entrance merit list within each category and province. Applicants typically may apply for a limited number of programmes (recent notices restricted classified applicants to a single programme choice), so choosing the right programme and province matters.

Within each programme's classified scholarship allocation, seats are divided into two equal halves: 50% General group and 50% Targeted (reserved) group. The General half is open to all eligible classified applicants on merit. The Targeted half is subdivided into cluster sub-quotas so that historically excluded communities are represented.

The reserved-half sub-quota shares published in a recent Diploma/PCL classified notice were: Women 25%, Indigenous nationalities (Janajati/Adibasi) 15%, Khas Arya 17%, Dalit 9%, Madhesi 9%, persons from backward/remote regions 4%, Tharu 4%, Dalit women 3%, Madhesi Dalit 3%, Muslim 2%, Muslim women 2%, persons with disabilities 2%, and families of martyrs / disappeared / injured fighters / conflict victims 2%. These percentages are of the reserved half and are set by the annual notice; older summaries list slightly different figures, so treat the split as indicative and confirm the current circular.

A separate rule applies to some female-dominated health programmes to promote gender balance. In PCL Nursing, for instance, recent notices reserved about 15% of the General-group seats for male applicants, effectively leaving the remainder of that group open to female candidates. The Karnali and remote-region seats are also handled partly through province-wise allocation, so backward-region candidates should check both the reserved sub-quota and their province's programme table.

The Merit scholarship is distinct from the classified quota. Under it, the single best-performing student in each programme's entrance examination, chosen from among candidates who applied as full-fee payers in that institute, receives a merit scholarship. It rewards top performance rather than category, and continuation in later years usually depends on maintaining strong annual or semester results.

The Special programme is CTEVT's fully residential, deep-inclusion track. Each year around 500 students are selected through a separate entrance process from Dalit, Muslim, marginalised and remote-area communities and placed at designated institutes. For selected students the programme waives total fees and also provides hostel and food (residential) support, making it the most comprehensive package CTEVT offers.

Because Merit and Special operate on different rules from the classified quota, an ambitious applicant can effectively pursue more than one path: competing for a full-fee seat (and the merit award), while separately applying for classified free seats or, where eligible, the Special programme. Read each notice carefully, as application windows and eligibility differ.

The cycle is seasonal. Classified-scholarship and entrance notices typically open around late Baisakh to Ashadh and close in Shrawan, with entrance exams and results following soon after; exact dates change every year. For example, a Diploma/PCL classified notice opened applications from around Ashadh 23 with a Shrawan deadline in one cycle, while a full-fee entrance notice in another cycle ran from Baisakh 29 to Jestha 13. Always work from the current year's published dates.

Applications and payments are handled online through CTEVT's ITMS portal, with notices posted on ctevt.org.np and ctevtexam.org.np. Keep your SEE/SLC/TSLC mark sheet, citizenship or birth certificate, and any category-supporting documents (for example, disability, Dalit, Janajati or conflict-victim certification) ready, because reserved-quota claims must be documented.

The broad sequence below reflects a typical Diploma/PCL cycle. Pre-Diploma classified selection is sometimes marksheet-ranked rather than test-based, so confirm whether a written entrance applies to your level and category before you plan.