University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test
University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test - December 2026 [UGC-NET December-2026]
UGC-NET December 2026
[University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test - December 2026]
conducted by The National Testing Agency (NTA)
UGC-NET is a test to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for ‘award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as Assistant Professor', ‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D.' and ‘admission to Ph.D. only' in Indian universities and colleges
Opening of the online registration portal for submission of Online Application Form
for UGC-NET December 2026 examination.
The NTA has been entrusted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with the task of conducting UGC-NET, which is a test to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for (i) ‘award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as Assistant Professor’, (ii)‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D.’ and (iii)‘admission to Ph.D. only’ in Indian universities and colleges.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct UGC-NET December 2026 for 87 subjects in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, as per Schedule given in table below:
| Submission of Online Application Form |
08 October, 2026 to 28 October, 2026
(up to 11:50 P.M.) |
| Late Submission of online application Form with Late Fee Rs. 500/- |
| Late Submission of online application Form |
29 October, 2026 to 31 October, 2026
(up to 11:50 P.M.) |
Last Date of Successful Transaction with Late Fee through Credit /
Debit Cards / Net-Banking / UPI |
31 October, 2026 (up to 11:50 P.M.) |
| Correction in the Particulars in Online Application Form |
02 November, 2026 to 04 November, 2026
(up to 11:50 P.M.) |
| Announcement of Exam City |
To be Intimated later |
| Downloading of Admit Card |
To be Intimated later |
| Date of Examination |
14 December, 2026 to 19 December, 2026 |
| Centre, Date and Shift |
As indicated on Admit Card |
| Display of Recorded Responses and Answer Key(s) |
To be announced later on the website |
| Website |
ugcnet.nta.ac.in / www.nta.ac.in |
| Application Fee |
General / Unreserved |
Rs. 1,150/- |
| General-EWS / OBC-NCL |
Rs. 600/- |
| SC / ST / PwD / Third Gender |
Rs. 325/- |
Important Instructions:
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Candidates can apply for UGC-NET December 2026 through the "Online" mode only through the website https://ugcnet.nta.nic.in .
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Submission of the Online Application Form may be done by accessing the NTA website https://ugcnet.nta.nic.in . The Application Form in any other mode will not be accepted.
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Only one application is to be submitted by a candidate.
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Candidates must strictly follow the instructions given in the Information Bulletin available on the NTA website. Candidates not complying with the instructions shall be summarily disqualified.
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Candidates must ensure that the e-mail address and Mobile Number provided in the Online Application Form are their own or Parents/Guardians only and accessible, as all information/ communication will be sent by NTA through e-mail on the registered e-mail address or SMS on the registered Mobile Number only.
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In case candidate faces difficulty in applying for UGC-NET December 2026, please contact on 011 4075 9000 / 011 6922 7700 or e-mail at ugcnet@nta.ac.in for any clarification related to the UGC-NET December 2026.
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Candidates must fill in their particulars carefully, as no changes will be allowed after the final submission of the Application Form. As far as possible, candidates are advised to use Aadhaar verification while completing the Application Form, as this will facilitate the registration and examination process, particularly at the examination centres, as also the processing of their JRF.
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Application form registration has been enabled through the single sign on service-Meri Pehchan of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, for the convenience of the applicants.
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Dates mentioned above are tentative, and applicants will be informed in case there is any change due to any reason.
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UGC-NET is a test to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for ‘award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as Assistant Professor’, ‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D.’ and ‘admission to Ph.D. only’ in Indian universities and colleges.
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The candidates qualifying under the ‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D.’ category will be eligible for appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D. but not for the award of JRF.
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The candidates qualifying under the ‘admission to Ph.D. only’ category will be eligible for admission to Ph.D. only but not for the award of JRF and/or appointment as Assistant Professor.
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The eligibility will be determined in the following manner:
| Qualified for |
Eligible for |
| JRF |
Assistant Professor |
Ph.D. Admission |
| Category-1: Award of JRF and appointment as Assistant Professor |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Category-2: Appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D. |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Category-3: Admission to Ph.D. only |
No |
No |
Yes |
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The JRF-qualified candidates are admitted into the Ph.D. programme based on an interview as per the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2022.
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UGC-NET under category-2 & category-3 can be used as an entrance test for Ph.D. admission in place of entrance tests conducted by the different universities/HEIs for admission to Ph.D.
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For candidates qualified under the category-2 and category-3, the marks obtained in the NET will have 70% weightage and 30% weightage will be based on the performance in the interview/viva voce conducted by the University/HEI concerned. The Ph.D. admission will be based on the combined merit of NET marks and the marks obtained in the interview/viva voce.
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For admission to Ph.D., the marks obtained in the NET by the candidates in category-2 and category-3 will be valid for a period of one year from the date of declaration of the result of UGC-NET.
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The number of candidates who will be qualified for ‘admission to the Ph.D. only’ will be decided by the results committee.
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The result of NET will be declared in percentile along with the marks/normalized marks (in case of multiple shifts) obtained by a candidate to utilize the marks for admission to Ph.D. In case the test for a subject(s) is conducted in two or multiple shifts, the marks will be normalized by using the Equi-percentile method (as per Annexure–XI ), and the result will be declared in percentile along with normalized marks.
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The selection of candidates for the following Fellowships will be made through the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment:
- National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students (NFSC)
- National Fellowship for Other Backward Classes (NFOBC)
- National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities (NFPwD)
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The data of UGC-NET candidates can be shared by the UGC/NTA with Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) for admission to Ph.D. programmes and with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) & other organizations for their recruitment processes.
UGC-NET December 2026
The UGC-NET December 2026 will be conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode as per the time schedule specified in the Information at a glance, in the Subjects given at (refer to
Annexure–II ) in selected Cities spread across the Country (refer to
Annexure–III ).
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Mode of Examination:
The Examination shall be conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode only.
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Pattern of Examination:
The Test paper will consist of two sections, both the sections will consist of objective type, multiple-choice questions. There will be no break between the papers.
| Part |
Marks |
Number of Questions |
MCQ |
Total duration |
| I |
100 |
50 |
The questions in Part-I intends to assess the teaching / research aptitude of the candidate. It will primarily be designed to test reasoning ability, reading comprehension, divergent thinking and general awareness of the Candidate |
03 hours (180 minutes) without any break.
All the questions are compulsory. |
| II |
200 |
100 |
This is based on the subject selected by the candidate and will assess domain knowledge. |
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Subject and Syllabus of Test:
The List of Subjects and their Codes for UGC-NET December 2026 are given at Annexure–II . Syllabus for all NET Subjects can be downloaded from the UGC website: https://www.ugcnetonline.in/syllabus-new.php . The National Testing Agency will not provide the copy of syllabus to any candidate.
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Medium of Question Paper:
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The medium of Question Paper shall be in English & Hindi only, except language papers.
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Option for medium of Question Paper should be carefully chosen by the Candidate, while filling the Application Form online. The option once exercised cannot be changed.
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Candidates are required to answer in the medium as per option exercised in the Application Form.
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In case of any ambiguity in translation/construction of a question in the exam, its English version shall be treated as final and the decision of NTA shall be final in this regard.
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Marking Scheme:
- To answer a question, the candidate needs to choose one option as the correct option.
- Each question carries 02 (two) marks.
- For each correct response, the candidate will get 02 (two) marks.
- There is no negative marking for incorrect response.
- No marks will be given for questions un-answered/un-attempted/marked for Review.
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While every effort will be made to ensure that each question has one unique answer, in case, it is found that a question has more than one option, it will be dealt with in following manner:
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If more than one option is found to be correct, then Two marks (+2) will be awarded to only those who have marked any of the correct options.
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If all options are found to be correct, then Two marks (+2) will be awarded to all those who have attempted the question.
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If none of the options is found correct or a Question is found to be wrong or a Question is dropped, then two marks (+2) will be awarded to only those candidates who have attempted the question. The reason could be due to human error or technical error. Since there is no negative marking, candidate needs to choose one most appropriate option as correct answer.
Eligibility Criteria for UGC-NET December 2026
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Qualifying Examination:
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General/Unreserved/General-EWS candidates who have secured at least 55% marks (without rounding off) in Master’s Degree or equivalent examination from universities/institutions recognized by UGC (available on the website: www.ugc.ac.in in Humanities and Social Science (including languages), Computer Science and Applications, Electronic Science etc. are eligible for this Test. List of subjects at Post Graduation level is attached as Annexure–IV . The Other Backward Classes (OBC) belonging to Non-Creamy Layer / Scheduled Caste (SC) / Scheduled Tribe (ST) / Persons with Disability (PwD) / Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) / Third gender category candidates who have secured at least 50% marks (without rounding off) in Master’s degree or equivalent examination are eligible for this Test.
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Candidates who are pursuing their Master’s degree or equivalent course or candidates who have appeared for their qualifying Master’s degree (final year) examination and whose result is still awaited or candidates whose qualifying examinations have been delayed may also apply for this test. However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and shall be considered eligible for award of JRF/eligibility for Assistant Professor only after they have passed their Master’s Degree or equivalent examination with at least 55% marks (50% marks in case of OBC-NCL/ SC / ST / PwD/PwBD / Third gender category candidates). Such candidates must complete their Master’s degree or equivalent examination within two years from the date of NET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.
However, those candidates who qualify for ‘Admission to Ph.D. Only’ must complete their Master’s degree or equivalent examination within one year from the date of NET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.
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Candidates belonging to the Third gender category are eligible to draw the same relaxation in fee, age and Eligibility Criteria for NET (i.e. JRF and Assistant Professor) as are available to SC/ST/PwD/PwBD categories. The subject-wise qualifying cut-offs for this category would be the lowest among those for SC / ST / PwD/PwBD / OBC–NCL / General-EWS categories in the corresponding subject.
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The Ph.D. degree holders whose Master’s level examination have been completed by 19 September 1991 (irrespective of date of declaration of result) shall be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (i.e. from 55% to 50%) for appearing in NET. The list of PostGraduation courses and their codes is given at Annexure–V .
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Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their Post-Graduation only. The candidates whose Post Graduation subject is not covered in the list of NET subjects attached as Annexure–II , may appear in a related subject.
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The candidates having passed a 4-year/8-semester bachelor’s degree programme should have a minimum of 75% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed. A relaxation of 5% marks or its equivalent grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/Differently-Abled, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the Commission from time to time (refer to University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2022 (https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/0909572_Minimum-Standards-and-Procedure-for-Award-ofPhD-Degree.pdf ).
The candidates qualifying in the NET, based on a four-year undergraduate degree, will be eligible for the award of the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and for admission to the Ph.D. The candidates qualifying in the NET, based on a four-year undergraduate degree, will not be eligible for appointment as Assistant Professor. The candidates who are pursuing Four Year/8 Semester Bachelor’s Degree Programme and are in their last semester/year may also apply for the test. However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and shall be considered eligible for the award of JRF/admission to Ph.D. only after fulfilling the requirements contained in the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2022 within two years (if qualified for award of JRF)/within one year (if qualified for admission to Ph.D. only) from the date of declaration of the NET result, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.
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The candidates with a Four-Year Bachelor’s Degree Programme are allowed to appear in a subject (the List of Subjects and their Codes for UGC-NET December 2026 are given at Annexure-II) in which they want to pursue a Ph.D. irrespective of the discipline in which they have obtained the four-year bachelor’s degree.
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Candidates are neither required to send any certificates/documents in support of their eligibility nor printout of their Application Form or Confirmation Page to NTA. However, the candidates, in their own interest, must ensure themselves about their eligibility for the test. In the event of any ineligibility being detected by the UGC/NTA at any stage, their candidature will be cancelled, and they shall be liable for legal action. NTA does not verify the information provided by the candidates during online registration and hence candidature will be purely provisional subject to the fulfillment of eligibility criteria. Candidates holding a foreign qualification are advised, in their own interest, to obtain equivalence of their qualification from the University Grants Commission (UGC). Attention is invited to the University Grants Commission (Recognition and Grant of Equivalence to Qualifications Obtained from Foreign Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2025 published in the Gazette of India on 04th April, 2025. For more clarification candidates are requested to contact NET Bureau. The Candidates with Post-Graduate diploma awarded by an Indian Institute should in their own interest, ascertain the equivalence of their diploma with Master’s degree of recognized Indian Universities from Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
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Click here for more detail
Contact:
011 4075 9000, 011 6922 7700
ugcnet@nta.ac.in
genadmin@nta.ac.in
Download Notification
Download Information Bulletin
APPLICATION FORM
Click for more information
Published By: Sahadeb
Published On:
13 Oct 2026
