The Ministry of Education has ordered the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), just a day after it was held. Controversy has again erupted following the cancellation of the second entrance exam conducted by the NTA. The centre had earlier scrapped the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates who took the NEET UG 2024. A re-test has been scheduled for these students for June 23, 2024
What is UGC-NET
The National Testing Agency conducts the University Grants Commission – National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) to screen eligible candidates for the post of Assistant Professor, Junior Research Fellowship and PhD admissions in Indian universities and colleges.
The exam, this year, was held in pen and paper mode on June 18, 2024 in two shifts. The first shift was conducted from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and the second shift from 3 pm to 6 pm.
In order to regularise the UGC-NET examination cycle, the agency holds the UGC NET December 2023 in 83 subjects, at selected cities across the country.
The exam is held twice every year in the month of June and December. From December 2018 onwards, UGC-NET was being held in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode. However, in a departure from previous practices, the exam was conducted in a pen-and-paper format this time. Approximately 81% of the 11.21 lakh registered candidates appeared for the exam, held in 317 cities nationwide.
Candidates are required to score an aggregate marks in Paper 1 and Paper 2 of UGC NET for awarding of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and/ or eligibility for Assistant Professorship. Students who qualify the eligibility test for Assistant Professorship are governed by the rules and regulations of the concerned universities/colleges/state governments, as the case may be for recruitment of Assistant Professor.
The candidates qualifying under the ‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to PhD’ category will be eligible for appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to PhD but not for the award of JRF. Similarly, students qualifying under the ‘admission to PhD only’ category will be eligible for admission to PhD only but not for the award of JRF and/or appointment as Assistant Professor.
