Education Ministry reviews NTA reforms after UGC-NET June re-exam ordered

The government is also bringing in domain specialists from the private sector for areas such as cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design. The Minister directed officials to ensure strict compliance with established examination protocols and ordered a complete overhaul of the confidential operations (CONOPS) systems. This includes strengthening secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and device-deposit protocols on a war footing.

Also Read | NTA to re-conduct UGC-NET for English, Sociology, Commerce papers as audit finds factual, translation errors

NTA has also been directed to conduct a thorough audit of its examination processes and submit a report detailing the corrective measures taken. Education Ministry sources cited by news agency ANI said the agency is reviewing its internal processes at the stages of setting, moderating, translating and composing question papers to prevent similar errors at source and fix responsibility for lapses.

The measures come after NTA decided to re-conduct the UGC-NET June 2026 examinations for English, Commerce and Sociology. An expert committee constituted after complaints found factual, typographical and translation errors in the three papers, along with errors in question wording and repeated questions. NTA said the defects were extensive enough that they could not be addressed simply by dropping questions during the answer-key challenge process.

The re-examination will be held on September 9 and 10, 2026. English will be conducted on September 9 in the first shift, followed by Commerce in the second shift, while Sociology will be held on September 10 in the first shift. Candidates appearing for the re-test will not have to pay an additional examination fee.

The re-test will not affect the result process for the other 84 UGC-NET subjects. NTA has said that the number of candidates qualifying and the subject-wise allocation for JRF, Assistant Professor and PhD eligibility in the three re-tested subjects will not be reduced because of the re-examination.

UGC-NET is conducted for determining eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship, Assistant Professor positions and PhD admissions. The June 2026 examination was conducted from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects. The latest developments have placed renewed focus on question-paper preparation, examination security and the systems used by NTA to conduct large-scale national examinations.