NORCET Syllabus: Subject-Wise Topics and Weightage

AIIMS does not publish a chapter-by-chapter NORCET syllabus. The advertisement says only that the syllabus follows the essential qualification, meaning the nursing subjects taught in B.Sc. Nursing and GNM, plus a General Knowledge and Aptitude section in the Prelims. To show where the marks actually come from, we counted 2,993 questions from 21 NORCET papers (NORCET-1 in 2020 to NORCET-11 in 2026) in our question bank, subject by subject.

What the official notice says

From the NORCET-11 advertisement (Notice No. 103/2026):

• Stage I (Prelims): 100 MCQs. 20 are on General Knowledge & Aptitude and 80 cover the nursing syllabus at the level of the essential qualification.
• Stage II (Mains): 160 MCQs covering the entire nursing syllabus at the essential qualification level, "focused towards case scenario-based questions for testing nursing skills competency".
• Syllabus: "in accordance with education qualification and experience as mentioned in the Eligibility Section".

So the scope is your B.Sc./GNM curriculum. Everything else in this post comes from our analysis of past papers. AIIMS does not publish official subject weightage.

NORCET syllabus: subject-wise weightage

Share of questions by subject across all 21 NORCET papers in our bank (2,993 questions):

The top six subjects (Med-Surg, OBG, Paediatrics, Pharmacology, Mental Health and Foundations) account for about 74% of all questions.

Recent pattern: Prelims vs Mains

Since the exam moved to two stages, the subject mix in the two papers is different. Average questions per paper from the four most recent editions in our bank (NORCET-8 to NORCET-11):

Numbers are rounded. One NORCET-11 Mains paper in our bank has 155 of 160 questions, so treat these as close estimates. The Prelims mixes nursing with roughly 18-20 non-nursing questions. The Mains is all nursing, with Med-Surg, OBG and Paediatrics taking about 60% of the paper.

Subject-wise topics to cover

Below are the chapters that came up most often in past NORCET papers for each major subject. Each list is in order of how often the chapter was asked.

Medical-Surgical Nursing

Cardiovascular, circulatory and haematologic disorders; respiratory function and respiratory care; perioperative nursing (pre-, intra- and postoperative care); fluid and electrolyte balance and IV fluid therapy; neurological disorders; gastrointestinal, urinary, skin (including burns) and endocrine conditions (including diabetes); shock and multisystem failure.

Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Contraception and population dynamics; normal labour and intrapartum fetal monitoring; hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; special topics in obstetrics; complications of the third stage of labour; malposition, malpresentation and cord prolapse; diagnosis of pregnancy; operative obstetrics; normal and abnormal puerperium.

Child Health Nursing

The newborn is by far the largest chapter: neonatal resuscitation, congenital malformations, thermal protection, routine newborn care, respiratory distress, kangaroo mother care, jaundice and low birth weight care. After that come fluid and electrolyte disturbances in children (including deficit therapy), growth and development, respiratory and GI disorders, and immunisation.

Pharmacology

Mixed high-yield facts (antidotes, de-addiction drugs, emergency and CPR drugs); CNS drugs (antipsychotics and antimanics most of all, then opioids and antiepileptics); antimicrobials; general pharmacology (routes of administration, adverse effects); cardiovascular drugs; hormones.

Mental Health Nursing

Schizophrenia (including Schneider's first-rank symptoms); mood disorders; psychiatric emergencies; treatment modalities (ECT, therapies); anxiety and stress-related disorders.

Nursing Foundations

Administration of medication and dose calculation; vital signs; infection control and biomedical waste; basic nursing procedures; fluids and acid-base balance.

Community Health Nursing

National health programmes; epidemiology; demography and health statistics; concepts of community health; environmental health and sanitation.

Smaller subjects

Microbiology (sterilisation, pathogens, immunity, hospital-acquired infections, BMW rules), anatomy and physiology, nutrition, research and statistics, and nursing management each give a few questions per paper. Cover them from short notes instead of textbooks.

GK and Aptitude (Prelims only)

Indian geography and history, national and international current affairs, basic computers, English vocabulary and grammar, reasoning (puzzles, series, analogy, direction sense) and simple arithmetic.

How to use this weightage

• Spend most of your time on the top six subjects. Med-Surg alone is worth more than the bottom 15 subjects put together.
• Do not skip GK and English for the Prelims. About a fifth of the Prelims is non-nursing, and the Stage I cut-off for UR was above the 95th percentile in NORCET-11.
• For the Mains, practise case-based questions on Med-Surg, OBG and Paediatrics.

Our free revision notes follow the same subject and chapter structure as this table, and the Q-Bank lets you practise past-year questions chapter by chapter.

FAQ

Does AIIMS publish an official NORCET syllabus? Not chapter-wise. The advertisement says the syllabus follows the essential qualification (B.Sc. Nursing / GNM), with 20 GK & Aptitude questions in the Prelims.

Which subject has the highest weightage in NORCET? Medical-Surgical Nursing. It made up about 28% of all questions in the past papers we analysed, and about 44 of 160 questions in recent Mains papers.

Is GK asked in NORCET Mains? The advertisement describes the Mains as covering the nursing syllabus. Our recent Mains papers had almost no GK, English or reasoning questions.

Are anatomy and physiology important for NORCET? They are asked, but in small numbers (about 1-2% each). Revise them from short notes after the major clinical subjects.

Is the syllabus the same for B.Sc. and GNM candidates? Yes. Everyone sits the same paper. The syllabus is based on the nursing courses taught at the essential qualification level.