A one-hour online exam in English, general knowledge and life skills, for every student from Standard 1 to Standard 12. The top students in each standard win ₹3,000 every month for a year, a memento and a certificate anyone can verify online.
Scholarship award
₹3,000
every month, for 12 months
₹36,000 over the year, paid to the student's bank account
For every winner
For every participant
The moment your child submits the exam, the LangVR courses reserved for participants open on their account — worth ₹25,000, free. The best preparation for another attempt is already in their hands.
Why English, why now
English is no longer the language of one country. It is how the world studies, trades, flies, publishes and builds software — and a child who can speak it clearly has every one of those doors open.
1.5 billion
people use English
Most of them speak it as a second language — exactly like an Indian student. Clarity, not a foreign accent, is what makes them understood.
About half
of all websites are in English
The largest share of what is written online — courses, research, documentation, news — is published in English first.
In the air
and at sea
English is the international language of aviation radio and of ship-to-ship communication. Pilots and officers are tested on it.
Every campus
abroad, and most at home
Higher studies, entrance interviews, IELTS and TOEFL, placements and global companies all assume a student who can speak and write English with confidence.
The gap in Indian classrooms
Most Indian students study English for ten years or more. Many still cannot find the word they need, or say it so that a listener understands. Two gaps do most of the damage.
Reading research is blunt about it: to follow a text comfortably, a reader needs to know about 98% of its words. Miss one word in ten and the meaning falls apart. Indian students mostly learn words as lists for an exam — they recognise a word on paper, and cannot reach for it when they speak or write.
57%
of 14–18-year-olds surveyed in rural India could read a simple English sentence — and about a quarter of those could not say what it meant.
ASER 2023, “Beyond Basics”
Most of our students meet an English word in print long before they hear it, so they say it by the spelling rules of their first language. V and w merge, silent letters are spoken, stress lands on the wrong syllable, and a correct sentence comes out hard to follow.
The goal is not to sound British or American. It is to be understood the first time — in an interview, a classroom abroad, or a call with a client.
That is why this exam listens as well as reads. It checks the words a student can use, not only recognise — and it asks every student to read a sentence aloud, marked for clarity.
The exam
The exam is taken online, in one sitting, whenever suits your family during the month. Every student gets a fresh selection of questions for their standard, and the same exam is set for every curriculum — so each standard has one fair merit list.
15 minutes
India and the world, science around us, history, geography, sport and the environment — stable facts a curious student in that standard should know, whatever their board.
15 minutes
Short real-life situations — a friend in trouble, a stranger online, a mistake to own up to — where the student chooses the kind, honest, safe or sensible thing to do.
30 minutes
Vocabulary in context, grammar, listening to spoken English, reading, building sentences, writing a few lines — and reading a sentence aloud, marked for clarity and pronunciation.
Ages 6–7
Ages 8–10
Ages 11–13
Ages 14–17
Choice questions are marked instantly. Writing and the read-aloud are marked by an AI examiner against an age-appropriate rubric — and a natural Indian accent is never marked down.
Questions are drawn from a large bank for each standard, so no two students in a class sit the same paper, and answers cannot be passed around.
If the connection drops, sign in again and carry on from your dashboard. The clock keeps running, exactly as it would in an exam hall.
How it works
Fill in the student, school and parent details — any curriculum, any state. One parent account can register several children.
UPI, card or net banking, through Razorpay. A confirmation arrives by email and on WhatsApp.
Any time before the month's window closes, in one sitting of one hour. Registrations paid after the 25th sit next month. Miss the window, and it moves to next month once, free.
Each month's winners are announced on the 5th of the next month, standard by standard, by email and WhatsApp and on the results page.
In the dashboard — the student's own account, a minor's account or a joint account with a parent.
Paid straight to that account, with a message each time it is sent.
Awarded standard by standard
A seven-year-old never competes with a sixteen-year-old. Scholarships are awarded separately in every standard, to the highest scores in that standard.
Standard
1
own merit list
Standard
2
own merit list
Standard
3
own merit list
Standard
4
own merit list
Standard
5
own merit list
Standard
6
own merit list
Standard
7
own merit list
Standard
8
own merit list
Standard
9
own merit list
Standard
10
own merit list
Standard
11
own merit list
Standard
12
own merit list
It depends on how many students take part. Every month's scholarships are paid for, in full, by that month's exam fees — about one scholarship for every 758 registrations — and shared between the standards in proportion to how many registered in each. The more students join, the more win.
The highest score in the standard, with ties broken by time taken — and at least 60% overall. A student already receiving a BRETS scholarship cannot win a second one while it runs, so the next student gets the chance.
Read the full rulesWho can apply
Students in Standards 1 to 12 studying at a school in India, in all 28 states and 8 union territories. Your child registers under their own curriculum, and sits the same exam as everybody else in their standard.
Results
Winners are published on the 5th of every month with their standard and school.
See the resultsVerify a certificate
Enter the code printed on it.
Answers
Any student studying in Standard 1 to Standard 12 at a school in India, in any curriculum — CBSE, ICSE/ISC, any State Board, IB, Cambridge/IGCSE or NIOS — and in any state or union territory. Registration needs an Indian mobile number and a parent or guardian's details.
The exam fee is ₹100, paid online. Winners receive a scholarship of ₹3,000 every month for 12 months, a memento, an online verifiable certificate, and free access to LangVR courses reserved for scholarship winners, worth ₹1,00,000.
Every student who takes the exam gets free access to the LangVR courses reserved for participants, worth ₹25,000. Access opens on langvr.com the moment the exam is submitted, using the same account used to register.
Yes, at any time. A student who does not win keeps free access to the participant courses and the practice rounds to study and improve, and can pay the ₹100 exam fee again for another attempt whenever they are ready — even in the same month. If a student sits more than once in a month, only their best attempt counts on that month's merit list.
Any time after paying, until the last day of that month's exam window. The exam is one hour in a single sitting: 15 minutes of general knowledge, 15 minutes of life skills and character, and 30 minutes of English. You can sign in again from your dashboard if the connection drops, but the clock keeps running. Registrations paid after the 25th of a month join the next month's exam, so nobody is left with only a few days.
The registration moves to the next month automatically, once, at no extra cost, and we remind you by email and WhatsApp.
Every standard has its own merit list, so a Standard 3 student competes only with Standard 3 students. The highest scores win, with ties broken by the time taken. A student must score at least 60% to be eligible. Results for each month are announced on the 5th of the next month.
The number depends on how many students take part that month. Each month's scholarships are fully funded from that month's exam fees, with the scholarship fund kept at no more than half of them, which works out to about one scholarship for every 758 registrations. Scholarships are shared between the standards in proportion to how many students registered in each.
After results are announced, the winner's family enters the student's bank account details in the dashboard — a minor's account or a joint account with a parent is fine. Once the account is checked, ₹3,000 is transferred on the 5th of every month for 12 months.
Answers with one right option are marked instantly. The written answer and the read-aloud are marked by an AI examiner against an age-appropriate rubric; it judges clarity and correctness and does not penalise a natural Indian accent. Every student in a standard gets a different selection of questions of the same level.
A phone, tablet or laptop with a working internet connection, a microphone for the read-aloud question, headphones or speakers for the listening questions, and one quiet hour. A laptop or tablet is easier for older students writing a paragraph.
Every certificate carries a code. Anybody can enter it on bretsenglish.com/scholarship/results or open bretsenglish.com/scholarship/certificate/<code> to see the student, standard, school and month it was awarded for.
Register your child for ₹100, and let them show what they can say.
Conducted by Brets Pvt Ltd, BRETS English Academy, Edapally, Kochi. Volunteer desk