The National Testing Agency (NTA) will hold fresh examinations for UGC-NET in English, Commerce and Sociology after an internal review found multiple errors in the question papers used in June, the agency said.
The papers contained factual and typographical mistakes, translation problems and errors in the wording of questions, NTA said on Sunday. Some scholars’ names were misspelt, book titles were unclear and non-standard terms were used in place of established concepts.
NTA said it had received several complaints about the three papers and set up a committee to examine them. The panel also found that some questions had been repeated from earlier examinations.
“Papers carrying such defects do not meet the standards of fairness and error-free examination,” NTA said, adding that the problems could not be addressed simply by removing disputed questions after the challenge process.
The retest will take place on Sept. 9 and 10.
The English examination will be held on Sept. 9 from 9 a.m. to noon, followed by Commerce from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sociology will be conducted on Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon.
The UGC-NET is used to determine eligibility for assistant professor positions and Junior Research Fellowships and is also among the routes for admission to PhD programmes.
NTA conducted this year’s examination in 87 subjects between June 22 and June 30 in two daily shifts through a computer-based test.
Examinations for the remaining 84 subjects will proceed as planned, with their results expected on schedule, the agency said.
The decision drew criticism from opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who said candidates were being forced to bear the consequences of errors made by the testing agency.
“Thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled forms, paid the fees, travelled to distant centres, must now do it all again in September,” Gandhi said in a post on X on Monday.
He also questioned whether the question papers had been leaked before the examination.
The announcement comes after widespread student protests in India in July over alleged irregularities and mismanagement in several competitive examinations.
UGC-NET was also cancelled in June 2024 after the government said the integrity of the examination may have been compromised. A retest was subsequently conducted.
The latest decision is likely to add to concerns among candidates about the reliability of India’s competitive examination system, particularly the burden placed on students when tests have to be repeated.
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