All you need to know about UGC NET

UGC NET is a qualifying exam conducted by CBSE for the posts of Assistant Professor or Junior Research Fellowship or both. UGC NET also serves as an eligibility criteria for admission to PhD degree program as many universities exempt NET qualifying candidates from appearing in the written test and call such candidates directly for the interview.

UGC NET is slated to be held on 22^nd January 2017. The registration for the exam ended on 23^rd November 2016. Admit card can be downloaded from 21^st December 2016. UGC NET is a pen paper exam in which candidates have to mark their answers on an OMR sheets. UGC NET exam consists of three objective type papers. While paper-1 deals with general aptitude questions, paper-2 and paper-3 focus on subject specific questions.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Candidates who have post-graduation degree are eligible for UGC NET exam. While the eligibility criteria for Assistant Professor and JRF are slightly different. The required criteria is given below:

• Candidates should not be more than 28 years of age as on 1^st January 2017 to be eligible for JRF. There is a relaxation of 5 years for women candidates and candidates belonging to OBC, SC, ST and PwD categories. There is also a relaxation of 3 years for LLM degree holders and of 5 years for those having research experience. There is no upper age limit for candidates applying for Assistant Professor.
• Candidates should have 55% marks in master’s degree or equivalent examination. The minimum marks required for candidates belonging to OBC(non-creamy layer), SC, ST and PwD categories is 50%
• Those in the final degree of master’s are also eligible.
• Candidates who have PhD degree are given relaxation of 5% in marks.

UGC NET APPLICATION PROCESS

The application process for UGC NET started on 17^th October 2016 and closed on 23^rd November 2016.  The candidates had to register on the official website. The application could be accessed by visiting official website of CBSE i.e, www.cbsenet.nic.in. candidates had to use scanned image of passport size photograph in jpg format. The size of the image was supposed to be between 4kb and 40kb. The size of the scanned image of signature was supposed to be between 4kb and 30 kb.

UGC NET APPLICATION FEE

After filling the application form successfully, next step was application fee payment. Application fee varied for different categories.  The candidates of general category had to pay Rs. 600 while the candidates of OBC (non-creamy layer) and SC/ST/PwD category had to pay Rs. 300 and Rs. 150 respectively. Fee could be paid through both the modes i.e, offline as well as online.

UGC NET ADMIT CARD

The admit card for UGC NET exam will be available on the official website from 21^st December 2016. Candidates can download admit card using the following steps:

• Visit the website
• Click on the link “admit card for UGC NET”
• Enter your application number and password
• View and save UGC NET admit card.

UGC NET EXAM PATTERN

UGC NET exam consists of three papers. Exam will be conducted in pen paper mode. Candidates will have to attempt three papers in 5 hours consisting of 175 questions and 350 marks.  All the questions asked will be of objective type. The marking scheme for the three papers is same. Two marks will be awarded for every correct answer.

UGC NET 2017 RESULTS

The result of UGC NET exam will be declared on the official website of CBSE. Candidates can check the result once the merit list is out.

Qualifying criteria

The candidates will have to clear the cut off marks. From among the candidates who have secured minimum required marks or more, a merit list will be prepared. Marks of all the three papers will be taken into consideration for preparing the merit list. Top 15% candidates from each subject and category will be declared as NET qualified for Assistant Professor. A separate merit list will be prepared for JRF candidates from among the qualified candidates.

UGC NET CUT-OFF

In order to secure a place in the merit list, candidates will have to score the minimum qualifying marks. However, securing minimum qualifying marks does not guarantee a seat in the merit list. The final cut-off will be declared by CBSE.

IMPORTANT DATES