Last verified: 6 November 2026. The AISSEE 2027 dates, application fee and exam pattern below are CONFIRMED from the NTA public notice dated 3 November 2026, as reported by News18, The Telegraph and The Times of India. The school’s location on Pukhao Road about 8 km from Imphal, its founding on 7 October 1971, its Classes VI–XII range, its five houses and its NCC company are CONFIRMED from the school’s Wikipedia entry. The annual school fee is REPORTED by an admission directory, not confirmed by the school or the bulletin — it is labelled as such wherever it appears, and the 2027 seat matrix should be checked in the AISSEE bulletin.
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Manipur has one school under the Sainik Schools Society: Sainik School Imphal, on Pukhao Road, about 8 km from Imphal. It is a fully residential, CBSE-affiliated, English-medium school, and it admits to Classes 6 and 9 through one exam only — the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). There is no school-level test, no walk-in admission, and no separate Manipur entrance exam for this school.
That single-school fact shapes everything for Manipur parents. The 67% home-state pool (explained below) means a Manipur-domicile child is competing first against other Manipur children for most of Imphal’s seats, not against the whole country — but the competition for that one school is concentrated too. And Imphal is not a new school finding its feet: it was established on 7 October 1971, making it one of the older Sainik Schools in the country, with more than five decades of cadets behind it.
If you are reading this in the AISSEE 2027 window, the immediate point is simple: applications opened on 3 November 2026 and close on 2 December 2026 at 11:50 PM, with a late-fee window from 3 to 6 December. The exam is on 31 January 2027. Everything in this guide is built around that calendar.
| Fact | Detail | Status |
|---|---|---|
| School | Sainik School Imphal, Pukhao Road, Imphal, Manipur | CONFIRMED |
| Founded | 7 October 1971 | CONFIRMED |
| Type | Fully residential, CBSE-affiliated, under the Sainik Schools Society; member of the Indian Public Schools’ Conference | CONFIRMED |
| Classes | VI to XII | CONFIRMED |
| Entry classes | Class 6 and Class 9 | CONFIRMED |
| Entry exam | AISSEE, conducted by NTA, pen-and-paper (OMR) mode | CONFIRMED |
| Medium | English | CONFIRMED |
| Campus | 268 acres | CONFIRMED |
| Houses | Tikendrajit, Netaji, Raman, Shivaji, Tagore | CONFIRMED |
| NCC | Independent Company, Junior and Senior Division, with Army, Navy and Air Force wings | CONFIRMED |
| After the written test | E-counselling and a medical examination | CONFIRMED |
| Class 6 / Class 9 intake | No verified 2027 figure found — check the AISSEE bulletin seat matrix | NOT FOUND |
| Annual school fee | Around Rs 2,26,881 lumpsum, as reported by Careers360’s 2027 list | REPORTED, not confirmed |
Two cautions on that table. First, we found no verified seat figure for Imphal in this run, so we are not printing one. Any website quoting a Class 6 seat count for Imphal without citing the bulletin is guessing — the 2027 seat matrix in the AISSEE Information Bulletin is the authority. Second, the fee figure comes from a directory, not from the school. Careers360’s 2027 list reports a lumpsum of about Rs 2,26,881 for Imphal — the highest figure in its whole list — but other directories report different amounts, and school fees are revised by the Board of Governors. Budget from the higher figure, and confirm the exact amount from the school’s own fee notice (ssimphal.nic.in) before you commit. Scholarships based on parental income are available through the Ministry of Defence and the state government, and the fee can usually be paid in instalments.
Here is the thing most Manipur parents already sense but rarely hear said plainly: this school sits in a state that produces a remarkable share of India’s footballers and athletes, and the cadet record reflects it. Two of Imphal’s named alumni are footballers — Nongdamba Naorem, who was in India’s squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017, and Thangjam Singh, who has played in the Indian Super League. That sporting culture is real, and it shows up in the school’s daily life: physical training and games are not an afterthought here. But do not mistake the school for a sports academy. The NDA is still the destination the school is built around, and the written exam is the gate. A child who is fast on the field but weak in Class 6 Maths will not clear AISSEE — Maths alone is half the marks.
Under the standard Sainik School reservation pattern, 67% of seats are reserved for candidates from the state or Union Territory where the school is located — here, Manipur — and the remaining 33% are open to candidates from other states and Union Territories. Within those pools, the standard pattern reserves 25% of seats for children of service personnel including ex-servicemen, 15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes. In Class 6, 10% of vacancies (or 10 seats, whichever is more) are reserved for girl cadets across the 33 schools.
That home-state pool is the single biggest advantage a Manipur-domicile child holds in this exam, and it is decided by one document: the domicile certificate. If your child’s domicile certificate is not ready, or the name on it does not match the birth certificate and the school records exactly, fix that this week. Our AISSEE form-mistakes guide lists the errors parents keep making, and the domicile mismatch is near the top. Girls can apply for both classes too — the 2027 notification covers boys and girls — so if you have a daughter in Class 5 or Class 8, she is in this race as well.
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Online applications open | 3 November 2026 | CONFIRMED |
| Last date to apply (no late fee) | 2 December 2026, 11:50 PM | CONFIRMED |
| Late-fee window (Rs. 500 extra) | 3–6 December 2026 | CONFIRMED |
| Correction window | 7–9 December 2026 | CONFIRMED |
| Exam city announcement | 11 January 2027 | CONFIRMED |
| Admit card download | 25 January 2027 | CONFIRMED |
| Exam day | 31 January 2027 | CONFIRMED |
| Result | To be announced | EXPECTED |
The application fee is Rs. 850 for General, OBC-NCL and wards of defence personnel and ex-servicemen, and Rs. 700 for SC/ST candidates. The exam is pen-and-paper OMR, multiple-choice, with no negative marking — a wrong answer costs nothing, so your child should attempt every question.
The exam pattern is the same one parents have prepared against for years. Class 6 runs 150 minutes, 125 questions, 300 marks — Maths 50 questions for 150 marks, Language 25 for 50, Intelligence 25 for 50, and General Knowledge 25 for 50. Class 9 runs 180 minutes, 150 questions, 400 marks — Maths 50 for 200, and English, Intelligence, General Science and Social Science 25 questions for 50 marks each, in English only. The qualifying bar is 25% in each section and 40% aggregate (not applicable to SC/ST candidates).
1. Apply, don’t wait. The form is open now at exams.nta.nic.in/sainik-school-society. The 2 December deadline looks far away; the families who miss it are the ones who planned to apply “next week” four times in a row. Apply in the first week, then use the correction window only if you genuinely need it.
2. Get the documents in one sitting. Birth certificate, domicile certificate, caste certificate if applicable, the child’s photograph and signature in the format the bulletin specifies, and the study certificate from the current school. Photograph and signature rejections are the most avoidable reason a form gets stuck — and the full AISSEE notification explainer walks through the whole schedule.
3. Put Imphal first — and list backups honestly. In counselling you will rank schools. If Imphal is your first choice, put it first. But list the other schools you would genuinely accept, because an empty second preference is a wasted seat if the Imphal cut-off lands above your child’s score. The nearest alternatives for most Manipur families are in Assam and Nagaland — our Assam guide covers Sainik School Goalpara the same way.
4. Plan the exam city now. Manipur exam cities are listed in the bulletin; the city is announced on 11 January. If your family is outside Imphal — in Churachandpur, Thoubal, Ukhrul or the hill districts — check which cities the bulletin lists and whether travel is realistic on a January morning. Admit cards come on 25 January — six days before the exam — so there is no time to fix a travel problem then.
5. Study to the pattern, not to the syllabus. For Class 6, Maths is half the marks. One full 150-minute paper every Sunday morning, phone in another room, is worth more than three extra hours of chapter reading. For Class 9, Maths is again half the marks, and Social Science is where most children leak marks on dates and concepts they half-remember.
Manipur parents often ask whether they should also consider schools in neighbouring states. The honest answer: the 67% home-state quota makes Imphal your best statistical bet by a wide margin, and the same logic works in reverse for children of Assam and Nagaland — their home schools are their best bet. Our state-wise directory of all Sainik Schools lists every school if you want to compare.
The other comparison that matters is with the New Sainik Schools. The 2027 notification covers Class 6 in 80 approved New Sainik Schools and Class 9 in 40 of them. Whether any of those are in Manipur is a bulletin question — check the school list in the AISSEE Information Bulletin rather than trusting a directory. And one warning that applies to every parent in the North-East: a private school calling itself “Sainik School Manipur” on a website is not the same as Sainik School Imphal. The real school is the one on Pukhao Road, run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence, and the only way in is AISSEE. If a website is selling direct admission, walk away.
How many Sainik Schools are there in Manipur?
One school under the Sainik Schools Society: Sainik School Imphal, on Pukhao Road about 8 km from Imphal. It admits to Classes 6 and 9 through AISSEE. Check the AISSEE bulletin for any approved New Sainik Schools in Manipur.
What is the home-state quota for Sainik School Imphal?
Under the standard Sainik School reservation pattern, 67% of seats are reserved for candidates domiciled in Manipur, and 33% for candidates from other states and Union Territories. Confirm the exact 2027 seat matrix in the AISSEE bulletin.
What are the age limits for Sainik School Imphal?
For Class 6, age 10 to 12 years as of 31 March 2027, studying in Class 5. For Class 9, age 13 to 15 years as of 31 March 2027, studying in Class 8. Both boys and girls can apply for Classes 6 and 9.
How many seats does Sainik School Imphal have in Class 6?
No verified 2027 seat figure for Imphal was found in this run. The seat matrix in the AISSEE Information Bulletin is the authority — do not trust a directory number for your planning.
What is the fee at Sainik School Imphal?
No confirmed 2027 fee figure was found this run. Careers360’s 2027 fees list reports a lumpsum of Rs 2,26,881 for Imphal, the highest figure in its list, but directories differ and fees change. Treat it as reported only and check the school’s own fee notice before budgeting.
How do Manipur parents apply for Sainik School Imphal?
Through the national AISSEE route only: apply online at exams.nta.nic.in/sainik-school-society between 3 November and 2 December 2026, with a late-fee window from 3 to 6 December 2026. The exam is on 31 January 2027.
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