The Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) has released the schedule for the scholarship examination for the 5th and 8th classes. Accordingly, the scholarship examination will be held on February 8, 2026, and applications can be submitted with regular fees until November 30.
Recently, the Education Department announced changes to the scholarship examination. Accordingly, the scholarship examination will be conducted for classes 4 and 7 instead of classes 5 and 8 as before. This year, as a special case, the scholarship examination will be conducted for all four classes: 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th.
Anuradha Oak, Commissioner, State Council of Examination, released the schedule, application process, and student eligibility details of the scholarship examination for classes 5th and 8th through a notification.
Accordingly, the scholarship examination of classes 5 and 8 will be conducted on February 8, while that of Classes 4 and 7 is yet to be published. Maharashtra State Council of Examinations (MSCE), Pune, conducts the Maharashtra State Scholarship Exam, which assesses students for mathematics, language, science and general knowledge. And students can apply on https://2026.puppssmsce.in/.
Students' applications can be submitted with regular fees till November 30, with late fees from December 1 to 15, with extra late fees from December 16 to 23 and with add-on extra late fees from December 23 to 31. Exam applications are to be submitted online only.
The student’s Aadhaar number is mandatory for filling out the application. It is not mandatory for the student to have a bank account number while filling out the application. However, if the student qualifies for the scholarship, the principal will be responsible for opening the bank account of the concerned student and entering their details in the online scholarship system.
No online or offline applications can be submitted after December 31 under any circumstances. It has been clarified that schools filling student applications from Zilla Parishad and Municipal funds must deposit the fee by December 31.
The earlier change made in 2015 had shifted the exams to Classes 5 and 8, but the number of participating students had declined significantly since then. The government has therefore decided to revert to the earlier class levels to boost participation and academic performance.
Under the revised rules, students from government, aided, unaided, permanently unaided and self-financed schools are eligible to appear for the exams. Students from ICSE, CBSE, and other recognised boards will also be allowed to participate, subject to certain conditions.
The government has also revised the scholarship amount to Rs 5,000 per year for Class 4 students and Rs 7,500 per year for Class 7.
