UGC-NET
Determines eligibility for Assistant Professor posts in Indian universities and colleges, award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), and — since 2024 — admission to PhD programmes in place of separate entrance tests.
Eligibility
Master's degree with at least 55% marks (50% for OBC-NCL/SC/ST/PwD) in a subject among the NET subjects (currently 87); final-year postgraduate students may also apply. Candidates with a four-year undergraduate degree with 75% marks can appear for JRF and PhD admission in line with the newer UGC rules. JRF has an upper age limit of 30 years with standard relaxations; Assistant Professor eligibility has no age limit and no attempt cap.
Age limit: JRF: up to 30 years (relaxations for reserved categories and women); no age limit for Assistant Professor eligibility or PhD admission
Exam pattern
Computer-Based Test (CBT) held in a single three-hour sitting with no break between papers. Paper 1 (common to all): 50 multiple-choice questions on teaching aptitude, research aptitude, comprehension, reasoning, data interpretation, ICT, higher-education system — 100 marks. Paper 2 (chosen subject): 100 multiple-choice questions — 200 marks. There is no negative marking. Results are declared in three categories: JRF + Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor + PhD admission, and PhD admission only.
Syllabus at a glance
Paper 1 follows the common UGC syllabus of ten units covering teaching and research aptitude, communication, mathematical reasoning, logical reasoning, data interpretation, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), people and environment, and the higher-education system. Paper 2 covers the full postgraduate syllabus of one of 87 subjects, from Commerce and English to Computer Science and Education, per the 2019-revised UGC syllabi.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 cycle result (84 subjects; the 3 re-conducted papers follow later) | Late Aug - Sep 2026 | expected |
| Re-exam for English and Commerce (9 Sep) and Sociology (10 Sep) papers, June 2026 cycle | 9-10 Sep 2026 | confirmed |
| December 2026 notification | Early Oct 2026 | expected |
| December 2026 application window | Oct - Nov 2026 | expected |
| December 2026 exam | Late Dec 2026 - early Jan 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- NTA UGC NET/SET/JRF Paper 1: Teaching & Research Aptitude - KVS Madaan (Pearson)
- Trueman's UGC NET/SET General Paper 1 - M. Gagan & Sajit Kumar
- NTA UGC NET Paper 1 - Arihant Experts
- Subject-wise Trueman's / Arihant UGC NET Paper 2 guide for your subject
- UGC NET Paper 1 Previous Years' Solved Papers - Disha Experts
How toppers play it
- There is no negative marking — attempt all 150 questions and use elimination aggressively on the ones you are unsure of.
- Paper 1 is the score multiplier: 80+/100 in Paper 1 routinely separates JRF qualifiers from Assistant Professor-only qualifiers, so drill data interpretation, ICT and higher-education-system facts.
- Both papers run in one 3-hour sitting with no sectional time limits; finish Paper 1 in about 50 minutes to leave over two hours for the 100 subject questions.
- Work through at least the last six cycles of official papers for your subject — repetition of concepts (and sometimes near-identical questions) is high.
- Track the category cutoffs for your subject: JRF cutoffs are percentile-based and vary sharply by subject, so set your target from last cycle's cutoff, not a generic score.