The Maharashtra government has approved changes to the state scholarship examination structure, under which the pre-upper primary and pre-secondary exams will now be conducted for Classes 4 and 7.
According to an official release, the revised structure will be implemented from the 2025-26 academic year, and during this transition, the final Class 5 and 8 scholarship exams will be conducted in February 2026, while the new Class 4 and Class 7 exams will be held in April or May 2026.
The exams will be conducted regularly for Classes 4 and 7 from the 2026-27 academic year, it stated.
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, the release stated.
As many as 16,693 scholarships will be awarded at the primary level (Class 4) and 16,588 at the upper-primary level (Class 7).
Introduced in 1954-55, the scholarship scheme aims to encourage meritorious and economically disadvantaged students in both rural and urban areas.
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 CBSE, ICSE and other recognised boards will also be allowed to participate, subject to certain conditions.
The maximum age limit for the Class 4 exam is 10 years (14 years for students with disabilities), and 13 years (17 years for students with disabilities) for the Class 7 exam, as of June 1 of the examination year.
The examination fee would be Rs 200 for general category students, and Rs 125 for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Nomadic Tribe, Denotified Tribe and disabled students. Each participating school will also have to pay a Rs 200 annual registration fee to the Examination Council.
The government has clarified that the primary scholarship exam (Class 4) will continue to be conducted jointly with the entrance tests for government, tribal and denotified and nomadic tribe Vidyaniketans, and each scholarship will be awarded for a period of three years.