NVS TGT Social Studies selection structure
| Component | Social studies content | Weight in merit | Shortlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier-1 screening | None; GK is general | Nil | 1:10 by category |
| Tier-2 objective, 60 questions | Full subject | Part of the 85 per cent | Minus 0.25 per wrong |
| Tier-2 descriptive, 10 questions | Full subject, 40 marks | Part of the 85 per cent | 4 marks each |
| Interview with demo lesson | Teaching demonstration | 15 per cent | 1:3 from Tier-2 |
The subject only appears in Tier-2, a 2.5-hour bilingual paper of 100 marks set at graduation standard. The General Knowledge part of Tier-1 carries 60 marks but is general awareness, not history, geography, civics or economics as an academic discipline, and no Tier-1 mark counts towards the final ranking.
Dates and windows
| What | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Notification 01/2025 published | 13 November 2025 | Closed |
| Online application window as notified (Notification 01/2025) | 14 November 2025, 10:00 to 4 December 2025, 23:50 | Closed |
| Last date extended, then portal reopened | Extended to 11 December 2025, 23:59 by the CBSE notice of 5 December; reopened by the CBSE notice of 13 December until 15 December 2025, 23:59 for candidates blocked by the KVS/NVS qualification mismatch | Closed |
| Tier-1 OMR screening | 10 and 11 January 2026 | Closed |
| Tier-1 result and shortlist | 28 February 2026 | Closed |
| Tier-2 TGT paper | 28 March 2026, morning shift | Closed |
| Tier-2 result phases | 17 August 2026 onward, into September 2026 | Confirmed |
| Interview and demonstration lesson | Notified through candidate login per phase | Tentative |
This is the recruitment-wide calendar of CBSE Notification 01/2025 and is identical for every NVS and KVS post in the cycle, so Social Studies candidates sat the same days as every other TGT subject. The 27 to 31 March Tier-2 window was divided by post, with Trained Graduate Teacher allotted the 28 March morning slot. The application window closed in three stages: 4 December 2025 as notified, extended to 11 December 2025 by the CBSE notice of 5 December, and reopened until 15 December 2025 by the CBSE notice of 13 December for candidates whom the KVS/NVS qualification mismatch had blocked, after Corrigendum-2 aligned the two sets of qualifications.
What this means for your preparation
Social Studies is the TGT subject where candidates most reliably prepare two disciplines and get examined on four. The notification only demands two of History, Geography, Economics and Political Science at graduation, one of them History or Geography. The post, however, is the school social science teacher, and the Tier-2 paper is written for that job. The gap between the entry rule and the examined scope is the defining feature of this paper and almost nobody plans for it in advance.
Two subjects in, four subjects out
A candidate admitted on History plus Political Science has no formal grounding in physical geography, map interpretation, or the economics of national income, money and banking. A candidate admitted on Geography plus Economics has no formal grounding in the constitution, the organs of government, or medieval and modern Indian history. Both are eligible and both will face a paper covering the whole spread. Audit your own degree against the four disciplines before anything else, and give the missing two more time than the two you already hold, not less. The comfortable discipline is where marginal revision has the least return; the absent discipline is where the marks actually are.
Descriptive answers reward structure, not length
Forty of the 100 Tier-2 marks come from 10 descriptive questions of four marks each, and in a social science paper these are the questions where a narrative habit costs marks. Four marks does not buy an essay. It buys a defined claim, two or three substantiating points with a date, a figure, a place or a constitutional article attached, and a closing line. Geography answers should carry a sketch map or diagram where the topic allows; economics answers should carry the actual figure or the curve; history answers should carry dates rather than decades. The notification states plainly that there is no re-evaluation of the descriptive part, so the first attempt is the only attempt.
157 posts is the smallest academic TGT pool
NVS notified 157 TGT Social Studies posts, made up of 66 UR, 15 EWS, 42 OBC, 23 SC and 11 ST. That is markedly smaller than English at 281, Mathematics at 279, Hindi at 251 and Science at 208, and a fraction of Computer Science at 653. Social Studies also draws from one of the largest graduate populations in the country, since BA History, Geography, Economics and Political Science degrees are produced at scale. A small vacancy count against a very large eligible pool is the combination that pushes cut-offs up, and the 1:3 Tier-2 shortlist for interview means only around 471 candidates nationally reach the interview stage on the NVS side.
Where the Tier-1 general knowledge trap sits
General Knowledge in Tier-1 is worth 60 of 300 marks and Social Studies candidates routinely assume it is their home ground. It is not the same thing. Tier-1 GK is general awareness across current affairs, science, sport, polity and economy at a screening level, and it sits beside General Reasoning, Numeric Ability and Basic Computer Literacy at 60 marks each. Each Tier-1 question carries three marks with one mark deducted for a wrong answer, and the whole tier is discarded once the 1:10 shortlist is drawn. Time spent over-preparing GK because it feels adjacent to the subject is time taken from the paper that actually ranks you.
A rural residential posting, anywhere in India
NVS and KVS recruit through one notification but offer different working lives. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are fully residential schools serving rural districts, and the notification requires teachers to live on the Vidyalaya campus, with rent-free accommodation provided where available. The duties listed go well past the classroom: house mastership, remedial and supervisory studies, co-curricular organisation, escorting students on migration, and student welfare generally. A 10 per cent special allowance is paid for those residential duties. Initial posting may be anywhere in India, and the notification says requests to change station or region will not be entertained under any circumstances.
Common questions
Can I apply for NVS TGT Social Studies with a BA in Economics and Political Science?
No. The notification requires any two subjects out of History, Geography, Economics and Political Science at graduation, but specifies that one of the two must be either History or Geography, each studied for at least three years or six semesters. Economics with Political Science does not satisfy that condition. Alongside the subject combination, candidates need a B.Ed. with at least 50 per cent marks and a pass in CTET Paper-II conducted by CBSE. The upper age limit is 35 years, with the usual category relaxations.
How many NVS TGT Social Studies vacancies were advertised?
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti notified 157 TGT Social Studies posts in CBSE Recruitment Notification 01/2025, comprising 66 unreserved, 15 EWS, 42 OBC, 23 SC and 11 ST. This is the NVS column only; Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan figures appear separately in the same notification. It is the smallest of the mainstream academic TGT subjects on the NVS side, against English 281, Mathematics 279, Hindi 251, Science 208, Special Educator 495 and Computer Science 653. NVS advertised 5,841 posts overall out of 15,762 across both bodies.
Does the NVS TGT Social Studies paper include pedagogy and NEP 2020?
The notification itself does not print a topic list, stating that the detailed syllabus is published under the recruitment heading on the KVS and NVS websites. Coaching summaries of the Tier-2 pattern report a teaching aptitude and pedagogy component covering child development, inclusive education, competency-based education, NEP 2020, NCF-SE 2023 and the RTE Act 2009, and that is a reported description rather than an official one. Candidates should work from the syllabus PDF on the NVS website rather than from secondary summaries for the definitive scope.
Is the NVS TGT Social Studies exam at graduation or post-graduation level?
Graduation level. The notification states that the expected knowledge of candidates for TGT posts is of graduation standard for both tiers. Tier-2 is a 2.5-hour paper of 100 marks combining 60 objective questions worth one mark each with 0.25 deducted for a wrong answer, and 10 descriptive questions worth four marks each. It is a combination of pen-and-paper and OMR formats and is set bilingually in English and one of the twelve other Indian languages, chosen at the application stage and not changeable afterwards.
What is the cut-off likely to be for NVS TGT Social Studies?
No official subject-wise cut-off for this cycle has been published in the sources available, so any specific number would be guesswork. What is confirmed is the structure that drives it: Tier-1 shortlists at 1:10 within each category and Tier-2 shortlists at 1:3 against notified vacancies for the interview. With 157 NVS posts, roughly 471 candidates reach interview on the NVS side. A small vacancy pool drawn from a very large arts-graduate population tends to produce a demanding cut-off relative to subjects with more posts.
What does an NVS Social Studies teacher do outside the classroom?
The notification sets out duties attached to the residential system of schooling: house mastership, remedial and supervisory studies, organisation of co-curricular activities, escorting students during the migration scheme and looking after student welfare generally. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are fully residential, and teachers are required to stay on the Vidyalaya campus, for which rent-free accommodation is provided where available. NVS pays a 10 per cent special allowance for these residential duties on top of Level-7 pay of Rs 44,900 to Rs 1,42,400.
