Last verified: 12 October 2026 (Monday, night). School lists below are cross-verified from the Standing Committee on Defence report, Tier-2 education directories and 2026 news reports; admission-route facts are labelled ✅ CONFIRMED or 🔶 EXPECTED as per our verification system. Final seat matrices and dates come only from the official bulletins — always double-check before applying.
Rajasthan has a soldier in almost every village. So it makes sense that the state now has three different kinds of Sainik Schools running side by side — and this is where parents slip up. Pick the wrong admission form and your child sits out a year.
Two established schools under the Ministry of Defence. Four new PPP-affiliated schools. Two state-run girls’ schools with their own entrance exams. Plus two Rashtriya Military Schools for good measure. Let’s untangle them one route at a time.
These are the classic Sainik Schools. Admission to Class 6 and Class 9 is through AISSEE 2027, the national entrance exam conducted by the NTA — expected on 31 January 2027 ✅ (tentative, per the NTA exam calendar).
| School | Founded | District | Official website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sainik School Chittorgarh | 1961 | Chittorgarh | sschittorgarh.com |
| Sainik School Jhunjhunu | 2018 | Jhunjhunu | ssjhunjhunu.com |
Chittorgarh is one of the originals — set up in 1961 ✅, among the first five Sainik Schools in the country (per the Standing Committee on Defence report tabled in Parliament). Jhunjhunu, established in 2018 ✅, is the younger sibling — newer infrastructure, still building its legacy.
The big reason to prefer these two if you are a Rajasthan-domicile family: under the AISSEE 2026 reservation policy, 67% of seats at each of the 33 schools were reserved for home-state candidates ✅ (2026 SOP). That home-state quota is the single biggest admission edge you will get anywhere in this guide. We expect the same pattern for 2027, but mark it 🔶 EXPECTED until the NTA bulletin confirms it.
Under the Ministry of Defence’s new-schools initiative, private and state-run partner schools have been affiliated with the Sainik Schools Society — and their admissions also run through the AISSEE exam ✅. In the 2026-27 cycle, 69 such new schools were included in the AISSEE scheme 🔶 (as reported for the 2026 cycle; the 2027 participating list comes only with the NTA notification).
Four of these are in Rajasthan ✅ (reported in the state-wise new-school list):
Two cautions here. First, these schools run on the partner school’s own campus and fee structure — the all-inclusive residential feel of a Chittorgarh is not guaranteed everywhere. Second, check the AISSEE 2027 bulletin to confirm exactly which of these schools take Class 9 as well as Class 6, because the new-school class coverage varies year to year.
This is the one most parents outside Rajasthan don’t know about — and some parents inside Rajasthan confuse with AISSEE schools.
The Rajasthan government launched its own Sainik School model — the first state in India to do so ✅. The Maharav Shekhaji Government Girls’ Sainik School in Sikar and the Girls’ Sainik School in Bikaner (Jaymalsar, near the international border) are operational ✅. Key facts:
Do not fill an AISSEE form expecting a Sikar or Bikaner seat — and do not wait for the NTA notification to apply to these schools. Different exam, different timeline.
Rajasthan also hosts two Rashtriya Military Schools — RMS Ajmer and RMS Dholpur ✅. These are not Sainik Schools; they admit through a separate RMS entrance exam (usually held a few weeks before AISSEE) for Class 6 and Class 9. If your child is defence-background, these deserve a place on your shortlist too.
For how the AISSEE application and counselling process actually works, read our AISSEE counselling-day document checklist and compare routes with our Uttar Pradesh Sainik Schools list — UP has a similar two-route setup, and the same mistakes apply there.
How many Sainik Schools are there in Rajasthan for 2027? Rajasthan has the busiest Sainik School landscape in India. Two established schools (Chittorgarh and Jhunjhunu) plus four new PPP-affiliated schools admit through AISSEE 2027, and the state government runs its own separate girls’ Sainik Schools in Sikar and Bikaner with their own exams.
Do Rajasthan Sainik Schools admit through AISSEE? Chittorgarh, Jhunjhunu and the four new PPP schools in Rajasthan admit through the AISSEE 2027 exam conducted by the NTA. Rajasthan’s own state-model Sainik Schools (Sikar, Bikaner) do not — they hold separate state exams through the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education.
Is there a home-state quota for Rajasthan students? Under the AISSEE 2026 policy, 67% of seats at each of the 33 established schools were reserved for home-state candidates, so Rajasthan-domicile students have a strong edge at Chittorgarh and Jhunjhunu. Treat this as EXPECTED for 2027 until the NTA bulletin confirms it.
Can girls apply to Sainik Schools in Rajasthan? Yes. Girls can take AISSEE 2027 for the AISSEE-route schools, and Rajasthan’s own state Sainik Schools in Sikar and Bikaner are girls-only (about 80 girls per class) — the first state-run girls’ Sainik School model in India.
Which is older: Sainik School Chittorgarh or Jhunjhunu? Chittorgarh, founded in 1961, is among the first five Sainik Schools ever set up in India. Jhunjhunu was established in 2018 as part of the expansion of the 33-school network.
What is the difference between Sainik School Chittorgarh and the Rajasthan state Sainik Schools? Chittorgarh is run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence and admits through the national AISSEE exam. The state schools in Sikar and Bikaner are run by the Rajasthan government, hold their own separate entrance exams, and are girls-only.
Photo: Pexels
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