NTA Released Exam Calendar for Upcoming Examinations

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC NET), which was cancelled earlier this month by the Education Ministry, will now take place in August and September. The NTA has recently released new dates for the CSIR-UGC joint NET and NCET exams in its calendar for the upcoming exams.

The UGC NET reexamination will take place in a computer-based format, the agency further announced. Before the most recent test edition went offline, NTA followed this pattern. Using pen and paper (OMR sheets), a total of 9,08,580 applicants took the exam on 18th June.

The exam was cancelled on 19th June due to intelligence inputs suggesting that the test’s integrity may have been jeopardized. The document was leaked on the darknet and distributed on Telegram, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan subsequently disclosed.

Postponed “due to unavoidable circumstances as well as logistic issues,” the joint CSIR-UGC net examination was announced by the NTA in a public notice four days before its start date. Originally, the exam was planned to take place between 25th June and 27th June 2024.

The purpose of the exam is to assess an Indian national’s eligibility for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Assistant Professor, and PhD programs in Chemical Sciences, Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Physical Sciences.

To assess an Indian national’s eligibility for admission as an Assistant Professor, JRF, or PhD, the UGC NET exam is administered in 83 courses.

Of the 11,21,225 candidates who registered for the UGC NET June examination, 6,35,587 were female, 4,85,579 were male, and 59 were third-gender candidates. Among them, 9,08,580 took the test, resulting in an overall attendance percentage of 81%.

In addition to the UGC NET, there have been suspicions of paper leaks and other anomalies regarding the NEET UG, which is the undergraduate medical admissions test administered by the same organization. This is an investigation being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigations.

The Education Ministry replaced the NTA’s director general and assembled a high-level panel led by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan to suggest changes to the organization.