Sainik Schools in Maharashtra: Fees, Seats, Admission

Last verified: 17 October 2026. Seat numbers below are the tentative 2027-28 figures published by education portals (Careers360’s Satara admission page) — final seats are confirmed in the AISSEE counselling seat matrix each year. Fee figures are the published 2025-26 fee structure (Ezyschooling/Careers360) — indicative for 2027-28, which will be slightly higher. Exam dates marked ✅ are from NTA’s official exam calendar; AISSEE form dates are 🔶 EXPECTED from the previous year’s pattern until NTA’s notification releases.

Satara is the school Maharashtra parents mean

When a Maharashtra parent says “Sainik School,” they almost always mean Sainik School Satara — the classic, Defence Ministry-run Sainik School in the state (official site: sainiksatara.org). Like every classic Sainik School, it takes students in only through one door: the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE), conducted by NTA for Classes 6 and 9.

And honestly, there’s a reason Satara carries the weight it does in Maharashtra. It’s one of the older schools, it has a long NDA-entry record, and for defence families posted in Pune–Mumbai–Nashik, it’s the nearest “real” Sainik School — not a private lookalike. A quick warning from my side: several private websites market themselves as “Sainik School Maharashtra” with their own fee charts. If a site isn’t sainiksatara.org and the admission isn’t through NTA’s AISSEE portal, it is not the Defence Ministry school. Apply only via exams.nta.nic.in/sainik-school-society.

Seats: the 2027-28 matrix (tentative)

Seat counts move slightly every year, but the tentative matrix for the 2027-28 session gives you the real picture:

Two things to read into this. First, Class 9 is genuinely scarce — 29 seats total. If your child is in Class 8, the competition is brutal and you cannot afford to “see how the exam goes.” Second, girls’ seats exist (Satara admits girls in both classes) but the Class 9 girls’ intake is tiny — just 2 seats tentatively. For Maharashtra domicile students, the home-state quota matters enormously: a large share of seats go to the state’s own students, which is why a Maharashtra-domiciled child at Satara is competing in a much friendlier pool than an out-of-state candidate. State-wise cutoffs tell the same story: which state really has the toughest Sainik School cutoff.

Fees: what Satara actually costs

Here’s the published 2025-26 fee structure for new admissions (Classes 6 and 9):

So: roughly ₹1.8 lakh per year as the planning number. Two honest caveats. First, Sainik School fees rise about 10% a year under Ministry of Defence rules, so the 2027-28 figure will be higher — budget ₹2 lakh to be safe. Second, nobody actually pays the full sticker price for long: defence scholarships (for wards of serving/ex-servicemen) and state government scholarships reduce the burden substantially, and fee concessions are income-linked. Our detailed walkthrough: Sainik School fee concessions and income slabs — how to apply.

Eligibility for 2027-28

✅ Exam date: 31 January 2027 (NTA official exam calendar — tentative but official). 🔶 Form window: expected October–November 2026 (the NTA notification is still awaited as of 17 Oct 2026); application fee expected ₹850 (Gen/OBC/Defence) / ₹700 (SC/ST), online only.

The exam is OMR-based, no negative marking — Class 6: 125 questions, 300 marks, 150 minutes; Class 9: 150 questions, 400 marks, 180 minutes. Details in our AISSEE 2027 exam calendar guide.

The admission path, start to finish

1. AISSEE form (expected Oct–Nov 2026): one central form on the NTA portal; select Sainik School Satara as your preference. Keep the application number safe.
2. Written exam (31 Jan 2027): Maths carries half the marks in Class 6 — it decides more admissions than any other subject.
3. E-counselling: merit lists by category and state; Satara seats allotted per the seat matrix above.
4. Medical examination: mandatory and strict (6/6 vision, no speech defects or skin conditions with tattoos excluded — check our medical certificate format guide early, not after allotment).
5. Document verification + first fee payment: domicile, birth certificate, category certificates — originals.

A Maharashtra parent’s checklist

• Confirm Maharashtra domicile (home-state quota is your biggest advantage at Satara)
• Birth certificate DOB falls inside the brackets above — no exceptions, ever
• NTA AISSEE portal bookmarked; form expected Oct–Nov 2026 — check weekly
• Fee budget: ~₹2 lakh/year planning number; explore defence/state scholarships now
• Medical pre-check: vision 6/6, no disqualifying conditions — before counselling, not after
• Maths-first prep plan: 30-day revision plan for AISSEE 2027

One last opinion, since you’re deciding: Satara’s Class 9 intake is too small to be anyone’s only plan. If your child is in Class 8, apply to Satara and keep your other options (AISSEE for other schools, RMS) genuinely open — not as backup, as parallel plans. We compared the two exams head-to-head: AISSEE vs RMS CET — which exam is tougher?

Sources

• Careers360 — Sainik School Satara Admission 2027-28 (seats, eligibility, dates)
• Careers360 — Sainik School Satara Result 2026-27 (2026 admission fee: tuition ₹96,631)
• Ezyschooling — Sainik School Fees Structure 2026 (Satara 2025-26 fee table: total ₹1,83,879)
• NTA official exam calendar 2026-27 — AISSEE 2027 on 31 January 2027 (via CollegeDekho reporting of the official calendar)
• Education Times — Sainik School Admission 2027 (52 schools: 33 existing + 19 new)

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