UGC-NET June 2026: NTA Announces Re-Test for Three Papers Due To Errors

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will reconduct the UGC-NET June 2026 examination for English, Commerce and Sociology papers following multiple errors. 

The English paper will take place on September 9 during Shift 1 from 9 am to 12 noon. Candidates will sit for the Commerce paper later that day in Shift 2 from 3 pm to 6 pm. The Sociology test will be held on September 10 in Shift 1 from 9 am to 12 noon.

The NTA conducted the original UGC-NET June 2026 exams from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects. The nationwide test determines eligibility for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), assistant professor roles and PhD programme admissions.

Nature of Paper Errors

The NTA constituted an expert committee to investigate multiple complaints regarding errors in the three papers.

The panel found extensive factual, typographical and translation errors. These included misspelt scholar names, garbled book titles, grammatical mistakes, gender and number agreement errors, punctuation mistakes and non-standard coined terms for established concepts. The committee also found that a significant number of questions from previous exams were repeated.

The NTA stated, "It has therefore been concluded by NTA that papers carrying such defects do not meet the standards of fairness and error-free examination, and defects of this extent cannot be cured merely by dropping questions after the challenge process."

Impact on Other Subjects

The NTA informed candidates that it will charge no additional fee for the re-test. The agency will release details regarding exam cities, centres and admit cards separately on its official website.

Results for the remaining 84 subjects will proceed on schedule. The NTA stated, "Allocation of JRF seats and issuance of e-certificates for eligibility for Assistant Professor and for admission to PhD for these 84 subjects will not be delayed due to re-conduct of the examination for the three subjects."

The qualification threshold for assistant professor eligibility is capped at 6 per cent of the candidates who appeared in the June 2026 test or the re-test, whichever is higher. The NTA stated that subject-wise allocation for the remaining three subjects for JRF, assistant professor eligibility and PhD admission will follow the Information Bulletin.

The NTA stated, "After the retest, the numbers already allocated for each subject shall not be reduced under any circumstances."

The agency added that it remains committed to conducting examinations that are "fair, accurate and transparent". It advised candidates to rely only on official websites and communications.