Admissions

AMPLIFYING INSTRUCTIONS ADMISSION COUNSELLING PROCEDURE

AT SAINIK SCHOOLS & NEW SAINIK SCHOOLS

REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES

1. Registration on the All-India Sainik Schools Admission Counselling (AISSAC) portal shall be undertaken by candidates as a one-time mandatory activity. This requirement applies to all candidates who have registered for All-India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE)-2026.

1.1 The portal for registration of candidates for AISSAC-2026 is https://pesa.ncog.gov.in/sainikschoolecounselling.

1.2 Action by candidates for registration:

• 1.2.1 AISSEE-2026 Application Number is to be entered on the portal. Hence, AISSEE-2026 candidates are advised to keep their admit card handy, before the start of the registration process.
• 1.2.2 One Time Password (OTP) will be sent on the mobile number/email ID registered during AISSEE-2026 registration on the NTA portal.
• 1.2.3 After entering OTP, Candidates will also be required to set their password. Thereafter, candidates need to log in with their application number as their User ID and enter the password set by them.
• 1.2.4 Upon successful login, the candidate's details will automatically be fetched from the database of AISSEE-2026 registration.
• 1.2.5 Candidates will be asked to re-confirm the details. Only after confirmation of details, the candidates' registration will be considered successful.
• 1.2.6 Candidates not registering on AISSAC-2026 portal, will not be considered for the allocation of seats in any of the schools.
• 1.2.7 Registration on the online portal is free of cost, i.e., candidates are NOT required to pay any fee.

VERIFICATION OF DETAILS & CORRECTION WINDOW

2. A correction window was provided during the registration process for AISSEE-2026 to allow candidates to amend certain details by NTA.

2.1 Candidates are advised to carefully verify their personal details while completing their registration on the AISSAC-2026 portal.

2.2 During registration on the AISSAC-2026 portal, candidates will be provided with a one-time opportunity to correct specific information such as domicile state, gender, and category.

2.3 Once a candidate has corrected their details, such corrections shall be final and irrevocable. No request for any further change shall be entertained at any stage under any circumstances.

2.4 However, personal details including the candidate's name, father's, mother's or guardian's name, and date of birth cannot be altered during the correction window on AISSAC-2026 portal.

CONDUCT OF MEDICALS

3. Subsequent to the declaration of AISSEE-2026 results by NTA, candidates up to three times the number of available vacancies (class-wise, category-wise & gender-wise) in Class VI and Class IX at Sainik Schools, shortlisted strictly on the basis of the All-India Rank (AIR) secured in AISSEE-2026, shall be considered for appearing in medical examinations at nominated Sainik School hospitals during the prescribed timelines.

3.1 The shortlisted candidates shall be referred to the Govt. hospitals earmarked by the respective Sainik Schools for the conduct of medical examinations, based on the domicile registered by the candidate.

3.2 The concerned Sainik Schools shall update the medical examination status of the candidates on the AISSAC-26 portal in real-time basis.

3.3 A one-month window is being allocated for conducting medicals, accommodating candidates' end-year examinations, facilitating large-scale medicals at hospitals, and reviewing unfit cases, with schools required to update medical status on the portal within prescribed timelines.

3.4 Medicals are being conducted at the initial stage to assess candidates' fitness and expedite the subsequent stage of the counselling process. However, the allotment of school to the candidate is subject to availability of vacancy at a school & merit of a candidate during counselling process.

3.5 It is imperative that the candidate completes the prescribed medical examination at the earliest after being allotted the designated medical centre by the school and reporting to the nominated school.

3.6 A candidate who is declared medically unfit or who remains absent for the medical examination shall not be eligible for counselling or admission to Sainik Schools.

3.7 In the event that a seat is allotted by AISSAC portal, to a candidate whose name does not appear in the initial list of three times the number of candidates called for medical examination, and whose medical status is not recorded on the portal, the respective schools shall conduct the medical examination of such candidate strictly in accordance with the extant rules, elaborated in respective R&R at Para 1 (1.1 & 1.3) ibid.

3.7.1 No exceptions to the procedure of conduct of medicals of candidate shall be permitted, in any case.

3.8 Medicals for candidates shortlisted in a 3x ratio must be conducted strictly in accordance with the "Manual On Medical Examination And Medical Standards for entries into Army, Trg Academies and Mil. Schools" promulgated by DGMS(Army)/ IHQ of MoD (Army) vide their letter No. 76054/Policy/DGMS-5A dated 16 Jul 2019. Mentor Schools are required to ensure that their mentee schools follow these instructions accordingly.

CHOICE FILLING/PRIORITISATION OF SCHOOLS

4. ELIGIBILITY: Only candidates who have registered and qualified for counselling will be eligible to prioritise their schools, according to the qualification criteria, which differ for Sainik Schools and New Sainik Schools, as elaborated below:

4.1 During the prioritisation window, candidates will be able to individually select and rank their preferred schools from the following two lists, namely:

• 4.1.1 SAINIK SCHOOLS (SS): List of existing Sainik Schools (only for those candidates who have qualified for SS)
• 4.1.2 NEW SAINIK SCHOOLS (NSS): List of approved NSS (only for those candidates who have qualified for NSS)

5. Candidates shall have the facility to view and print their ranked list of preferred schools for personal reference during the prioritisation window, in a pdf format.

5.1 Candidates may amend or update their ranked preferences at their discretion strictly within the prioritisation window.

5.2 Upon closure of the prioritisation window, the finalised list of preferences submitted by each candidate shall be considered binding, locked in the system, and used for all subsequent stages of the e-counselling process, with no further modifications permitted.

5.3 Candidates who do not submit their preferred list of schools shall be considered for allocation based on an alphabetically arranged list of schools, with list of existing Sainik Schools arranged state-wise followed by list of approved New Sainik Schools arranged state-wise.

5.4 Qualified candidates may select any number of schools from the list of schools available, ranging from one school to all schools.

5.5 Qualified candidates are required to submit a clear priority order of their selected schools. Failure to do so will result in the application of Paragraph 5.3.

6. Candidates will be able to view a waitlist number against each school of choice, generated according to All-India Rank (class-wise, category-wise, and gender-wise) at a ratio of ten times the available vacancies per category, to facilitate informed decision-making regarding their preferred schools.

WINDOW FOR CHOICE FILLING/PRIORITISATION OF SCHOOLS

7. A period of ten days will be provided to qualified candidates for completing the process of choice-filling and prioritisation of schools.

7.1 Candidates will be allotted a one-time registration window, as per the timeline available on the AISSAC-2026 portal.

7.2 During this period, each qualified candidate must carefully fill in their school choices. Candidates must include only those schools they are willing to join and must prioritise them in their desired order of preference.

7.3 This choice-filling window will not be extended under any circumstances. Requests for extension will not be entertained.

7.4 It is the responsibility of candidates to carefully prioritise their school choices within the designated window. Only the choices submitted during this period will be considered for seat allocation, and each eligible candidate will be allotted only one seat, based on merit and the vacancies available under their respective category, from among the choices submitted.

7.5 Candidates will not be permitted to edit their choice list after the deadline for choice filling. This includes changing the order of preferences, adding additional schools, or deleting any schools from the submitted list.

7.5.1 Choice filling must be completed strictly within the window provided after the declaration of results by the NTA. The order of choices submitted will be treated as final and cannot be modified at any stage of the counselling or seat allocation process.

7.6 If a candidate is unable to secure a seat in any of the schools listed in their priority choices during the online counselling rounds, they will be placed on the waiting list of their first-priority school, based on the preferences submitted.

7.6.1 The waiting list will be used solely to fill any remaining vacancies during the offline counselling period, post conclusion of online counselling, conducted by the schools.

7.6.2 Therefore, it is imperative that candidates select their most preferred school as their first-priority option during the choice-filling window, as no changes will be permitted thereafter.

7.6.3 In the event that a candidate does not exercise the option to prioritise schools during the choice-filling window, default options will be assigned, and the first school in alphabetical order will be considered the default school for the candidate. (Reference Para 5.3 ibid)

LOCK-IN CHOICES OF SCHOOLS

8. Candidates must "LOCK" their school choices on or before the last day of the choice-filling window.

8.1 If a candidate fails to lock their choices by the deadline, the system will automatically lock the default choices submitted by the candidate.

8.2 During the choice-filling window, candidates may lock their choices at any time. Prior to the closure of the window, candidates may also unlock and re-edit their submitted choices by using the "Edit" option available on the portal.

9. Candidates are strongly discouraged from sharing their login information with others.

10. Candidates are advised to visit the respective school website(s) for fee structure, scholarship and other related information applicable for Individual schools. AISSAC-2026 /SSS shall not be responsible for fee structure, scholarships etc related rules applicable for Individual schools and will not entertain any request or complaint regarding the Fee Structure.

CONDUCT OF ONLINE COUNSELLING

11. After 3x in-merit candidates would have already completed their medical examinations, each online counselling round will last 10 days.

11.1 AISSAC portal buttons have been reduced from three to two; 'Accept' and 'Reject', merging the previous 'Hold & Continue' and 'Reconsider' functions.

EFFECTIVE-FIRST CHOICE CONCEPT

12. The concept of 'effective-first choice' will be implemented during online counselling as follows:

12.1 Candidates who were allotted their first-choice school during e-counselling will not be considered in subsequent counselling rounds.

12.2 Candidates who do were not allotted their first-choice school during e-counselling will be eligible for consideration at higher-priority schools in subsequent online counselling rounds.

12.2.1 These candidates may choose to move to a higher-priority school at their discretion by selecting the 'Accept' option on the portal. They also have the option to 'Reject' the offered school, in which case they will retain their current allotment.

12.2.2 Once a candidate accepts a higher-priority school, their previously allotted seat will be released and offered to the next candidate on the waiting list.

12.2.3 Candidates will continue to be offered higher-priority schools during online counselling rounds as long as vacancies exist in the schools they have listed as higher priority. This process would continue during the entire counselling process.

12.2.4 For clarity, 'higher-priority school' refers to any school ranked above the candidate's current allotment in their submitted preference list.

12.2.5 The fees, medical records, and all other admission-related documents of the candidate shall be transferred from the old school to the new school as hitherto.

12.2.6 Schools shall ensure the timely transfer of all fees, medical records, and other admission-related documents from the old school to the new school.

13. The AISSAC portal seat-to-candidate allocation ratio has been revised from 1:1 to 1:3 in the counselling process.

13.1 The online rounds will generate electronic merit lists comprising three times the number of candidates for each vacancy and will be conducted six times, enabling candidates to obtain their effective first-choice school. Each round will proceed based on candidates' acceptance of the school allotted through the portal.

13.2 The candidate if offered a regular seat by the AISSAC portal, then the portal would read out the following message:

13.2.1 1st choice of Preferred School Allotted:
"Congratulations, you have been allotted (Name of School), which is your highest priority of school."

13.2.2 1st choice of Preferred School not Allotted:
"Congratulations, you have been allotted (Name of School), which is your (rank) priority of school."

13.3 The candidate if offered a wait-list seat by the AISSAC portal, then the portal would read out the following message:
"Congratulations, you have been placed on the (rank in WL) wait-list of (Name of School), which is your (rank) priority of school."

DECLARATION OF OFFLINE WAIT-LIST

14. The Spot Round of counselling will be discontinued. Instead, schools will be provided with a list of waitlisted candidates (based on candidate's 1st priority of school) after the conclusion of the online rounds to fill any remaining vacancies.

14.1 The last date for all admissions at school's post closure of online rounds and waitlist candidates would be 30 Jun 26.

14.2 All the admissions being taken at the schools need to be updated on the AISSAC portal for electronic record keeping.

COUNSELLING TIMELINES

15. Apropos, the breakdown of the tentative timelines for counselling in AY 2026-27 are as follows:

15.1 Overall tentative timelines for counselling

15.2 Round-wise tentative timelines for counselling

16. All Principals of Sainik Schools and New Sainik Schools are required to fully comply with these amplifying instructions. Mentor Schools are to ensure compliance.

Admission

AISSAC 2026 E-Counselling

Click the button below to proceed to the official AISSAC 2026 E-Counselling portal

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