🔄 Last verified: 26 September 2026 — The 33 established schools below are verified against the Ministry of Defence PIB release (PRID 1706594). The AISSEE 2027 bulletin hasn’t been released yet, so any new schools joining the 2027-28 cycle are still 🔶 unconfirmed.
If you’ve searched for a “sainik schools in India list” online, you’ve probably noticed something strange: no two lists agree. One site says 33 schools, another says 100+, a third lists names that don’t seem to exist anywhere. A parent called us last month, completely confused — he’d found three different lists with three different counts and wanted to know which one was real before filling his son’s application.
Here’s the straight answer. There are 33 established Sainik Schools — directly under the Ministry of Defence — and that list is officially confirmed (✅ via PIB). Everything beyond those 33 is a different category, which is exactly where the confusion comes from. Let’s clear it up.
The phrase “Sainik School” now covers three different categories:
| Category | Count | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ Established schools | 33 | The original schools under the Ministry of Defence — the verified list below |
| Partnership / new schools (2026 cycle) | ~69 for Class 6, ~19 for Class 9 | State-government and private partnership schools affiliated with the Sainik Schools Society, included in AISSEE |
| 🔶 Announced (March 2026) | 100 (policy announcement) | Defence Minister announced 100 new Sainik Schools in PPP mode — individual approvals still pending |
The list below covers only the 33 established schools — the ones with decades of history and the ones most parents are asking about. For the partnership schools, see our new Sainik Schools PPP model guide.
(Years in brackets are as recorded in the PIB release for the newer schools. For the older schools, check the school’s official website for the founding year.)
Get this clear before you plan: there is no single national fee. Each school sets its own fees based on its costs, mess charges, and state policy. As a rough ballpark, most established schools land somewhere around ₹1–1.5 lakh a year including mess (🔶 EXPECTED — varies school to school, so treat this as an estimate, not a figure).
For exact numbers:
Q1. Are the 100 newly announced PPP schools on this list? No. This is only the verified list of 33 established schools. The 100-school announcement (March 2026, ✅ CONFIRMED) was a policy-level announcement — which schools actually join AISSEE 2027-28 will only be clear in the bulletin (🔶 expected October 2026).
Q2. My state has no Sainik School. What should I do? Every school reserves 33% of seats for other-state students (✅ CONFIRMED), so you can apply to a school in any state. Just remember you’ll be competing in the tougher pool.
Q3. Are the new partnership schools as good as the established ones? They’re affiliated with the Sainik Schools Society and follow the same discipline and curriculum framework, but they run in partnership mode with state governments or private bodies. The established 33 have decades of alumni networks and NDA track records the newer ones are still building.
Q4. How do I find a school’s official website? Start at the Sainik Schools Society site (sainikschool.ncog.gov.in) — individual school links are listed there — or search “Sainik School [name] official website” on Google.
Q5. Will the number of schools increase for the 2027 cycle? 🔶 Likely, but unconfirmed. The AISSEE 2027 bulletin (expected October 2026) will carry the final participating-school list. Anyone naming specific new schools before that is guessing.
Q6. Can I apply to more than one school? The application form lets you give school preferences — the counselling process (AISSAC, ✅ run by the Sainik Schools Society, online, no fee, ~6 rounds) allots schools based on merit and preference. See our counselling guide for the full process.
Read next: Seat matrix 2027 | Fee comparison | Quota and reservation rules | New PPP schools explained
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