The National Testing Agency (NTA) is holding a re-examination for three UGC-NET subjects—English, Sociology, and Commerce—after significant errors were found in the question papers. This follows numerous complaints about the exams' integrity, prompting the NTA to act to maintain fairness.
Set for September 9 and 10, the re-tests won't impact the results for the other 84 subjects, held from June 22 to 30. The NTA assured that results for these subjects will be released as planned, with Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) seats and e-certificates for Assistant Professor eligibility proceeding without delay.
The NTA's notification detailed errors in the three papers. A committee investigating the complaints found issues like factual inaccuracies, typos, and translation errors. Notably, famous scholars' names were misspelled, and some questions had grammatical errors and non-standard terminology. The committee decided these defects required a re-test, as they couldn't be fixed by removing the problematic questions.
Frustration among candidates is high. Surya, a PhD hopeful from Chennai, noted that sociologist T. Parsons was misspelled as “T Parsows, ” and George Ritzer was listed as “Putzer.” Simran from Bihar pointed out that many English paper questions were repeated from a previous re-test, making her feel like she'd already taken the exam.
Despite the NTA's assurance that no extra fees would be charged for the re-test, candidates are stressed over preparing again. Many have spent months studying and incurred travel costs to reach exam centers. Surya, who must return to Chennai for the re-test, is anxious about the disruption, saying, “I have no idea what I should do after coming back to Delhi.”
Simran echoed this, having spent about 12 hours a day studying. The thought of repeating her preparation while managing her PhD work adds to her stress. “Either you give me a fellowship or give me a fair exam, ” she remarked, highlighting the toll on her mental health.
The NTA's notification didn't specify how many questions were affected or address potential reimbursements for travel and accommodation costs for the re-test. Candidates usually expect provisional answer keys 20 to 25 days post-exam, but this year's key was delayed by 45 days, coinciding with the re-test announcement.
For those who took the other 84 subjects, the NTA confirmed results will be on time. The agency stated that 6% of candidates who took the June 2026 test or the re-test, whichever is higher, will qualify for Assistant Professor eligibility.
But for candidates in the three re-examined subjects, the results timeline is uncertain. The NTA's notification said the revised scores from the September exams will determine eligibility for JRF and PhD admissions, leaving many worried about their academic futures.
While the NTA is committed to fair and transparent exams, candidates are concerned about the lack of clarity regarding the errors and their impact on preparations. Some reported similar issues in other subjects, but no re-test has been announced for those papers.
