Teaching & NET · Government Exams

UGC NET Exam Pattern

Every figure here is from the UGC NET June 2026 information bulletin and the June 2026 cut-off sheet.

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UGC NET · checked 19 September 2026

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

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19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

UGC NET: the facts that matter now

01
Notified 29 April; applications to 23 May (extended); examination 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30 June and 5 July 2026 in 87 subjects at 655 centres in 286…
June 2026 cycle
02
7,73,806 registered and 6,07,151 appeared in the 84 subjects; 4,241 qualified for JRF and Assistant Professor, 45,904 for Assistant Professor and…
June 2026 result
03
Proposed for 14–19 December 2026, with 20–21 December in reserve, in NTA’s examination calendar of 16 September 2026; the information bulletin and…
December 2026 cycle
04
Held 31 December 2025 – 7 January 2026; 9,93,702 registered, 7,35,614 appeared; 5,108 JRF, 54,713 Assistant Professor, 1,17,058 Ph.D.-only; result…
December 2025 cycle

Pattern

UGC NET — UGC NET exam pattern 2026: Paper 1 and Paper 2, marking, qualifying rules and cut-offs

UGC NET is one computer-based sitting of three hours with no break: Paper I of 50 questions on teaching and research aptitude and Paper II of 100 questions on the subject, 300 marks in all, two marks a question and no negative marking.

Paper structure.
Paper	Questions	Marks	Content
I	50	100	Teaching aptitude, research aptitude, comprehension, communication, mathematical and logical reasoning, data interpretation, ICT, people and environment, higher education
II	100	200	The subject chosen, at postgraduate level
Total	150	300	3 hours, all questions compulsory

Result rules.
Rule	Detail
Minimum aggregate	40 per cent (120/300) General and EWS; 35 per cent (105/300) reserved categories
Assistant Professor	6 per cent of candidates appearing on a master’s degree, by category and subject
JRF	Slots by reservation policy; subject-wise cut-offs above the Assistant Professor line; age 30 on 1 June 2026 with relaxations
Ph.D. only	A third band below the Assistant Professor cut-off, used for Ph.D. admission under the 2022 regulations
Normalisation	NTA percentile scores for multi-shift subjects

June 2026 cut-offs out of 300, unreserved / OBC-NCL / SC, for four large subjects.
Subject	JRF	Assistant Professor	Ph.D. only
Computer Science and Applications	214 / 200 / 188	180 / 162 / 156	158 / 146 / 140
Education	232 / 222 / 212	206 / 192 / 180	182 / 168 / 160
Political Science	222 / 212 / 202	196 / 180 / 168	170 / 156 / 148
Management	214 / 202 / 194	184 / 166 / 158	162 / 148 / 140

Paper I is not qualifying

Since 2018 the two papers have been added together with no separate Paper I minimum, so a strong subject paper can carry a weak Paper I — but a 50-question paper common to every candidate is the cheapest 20–30 marks in the examination.

Exam resources