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UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2023

Do you want to know the eligibility criteria of NTA UGC- NET? Read on to find out the details.

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In order to apply for the UGC-NET exam, candidates need to fulfil certain requirements that are announced by the National Testing Agency, an autonomous body that conducts the UGC NET exam every year. The eligibility criteria of the exam depend upon educational qualifications, age limit, and other aspects of the candidate.

Following are the details regarding the eligibility criteria of UGC-NET that are required to be fulfilled by each student:

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2023: Qualifying Examination

a. Candidates who have obtained at least 55 percent (without rounding off) in a Master’s Degree or equivalent examination in Humanities and Social Science (including languages), Computer Science and Applications, Electronic Science, etc. from universities/institutions recognised by UGC, provided on the web, are qualified for this Test. Candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) who belong to the Non-Creamy Layer/Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Persons with Disabilities (PwD)/Third gender category and have obtained a minimum of 50% (without rounding off) in a Master’s degree or equivalent examination are qualified to obtain this test.

b. Applicants who are studying a Master’s degree or similar course, candidates who have taken their passing Master’s degree (final year) examination but are yet to receive their results, or candidates whose certifying examinations have been postponed, are all eligible to take this test. However, such candidates will be admitted on a provisional basis and will be eligible for the program for the award of a JRF/eligibility for Assistant Professor only after passing their Master’s Degree or equivalent examination with a minimum of 55 percent (50 percent for OBC-NCL / SC / ST / PwD / Third gender category candidates). Such applicants must pass their Master’s degree or comparable examination scoring the required percentage within two years of receiving their NET result, without which they would be rejected.

c. Candidates from the third gender category are eligible for the same fee, age, and Eligibility Criteria for NET (JRF and Assistant Professor) as candidates from the SC/ST/PwD categories. In the associated topic, the subject-wise passing cut-offs for this category would be the least among those for SC / ST / PwD / OBC–NCL / General-EWS categories.

d. Ph.D. degree holders who completed their Master’s level test by September 19, 1991 (regardless of the date of result declaration) will be eligible for a 5% reduction in aggregate marks (from 55 percent to 50 percent) when taking the NET exam.

e. It is recommended that candidates only appear in the topic of their Post-Graduation. Candidates whose postgraduate subject is not included in the list of NET subjects may apply for a related subject.

f. Candidates are not required to send any certifications or documents to NTA to prove their eligibility, nor are they required to send a printout of their Application Form or Confirmation Page. Candidates must, however, verify their qualification for the test. If the UGC/NTA discovers any unsuitability at any point during the process, their participation will be cancelled, and they will be subject to legal action. Since the NTA does not check the information submitted by candidates during online registration, their candidacy will be completely provisional subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.

g. Candidates with a post-graduate diploma/certificate from an Indian university/institute or a foreign degree/diploma/certificate from a foreign university/institute must check if their diploma/degree/certificate is equivalent to a Master’s degree from a recognised Indian university.

UGC NET Age Limit

The age limit for UGC NET varies depending on the category. For General category candidates, the maximum age limit is 30 years. However, there is a relaxation of 5 years for candidates belonging to OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD, and transgender categories. Additionally, there is a relaxation of 3 years for candidates possessing L.L.M. degree.

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2023: Instructions

  • The candidate’s eligibility for ‘Assistant Professor’ or ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor’ will be determined by their overall quality in both UGC-NET papers. Candidates who only meet the requirements for Assistant Professor will not be eligible for the position of JRF. Candidates taking the UGC-NET should carefully choose if they want to be an ‘Assistant Professor’ or a ‘Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Assistant Professor’ on the Application Form. Candidates who pass the test for Assistant Professor eligibility will be subject to the same rules and regulations for Assistant Professor recruitment established by the involved universities/colleges/state governments, as the situation may be
  • Candidates who qualify for a JRF award are allowed to do research in their post-graduate field or in a related field, and they are also qualified for Assistant Professor positions. Universities, institutions, IITs, as well as other national bodies may choose JRF recipients for full-time research work according to their own procedures
  • Candidates who qualify for a Junior Research Fellowship would be entitled for UGC fellowships under other programmes, pending employment at universities/IITs/Institutions. The offer shall be effective for three years from the date of release of the JRF Award Letter. However, for those applicants who have already enrolled in an M. Phil. or Ph.D. programme, the Fellowship will begin on the date of the NET result announcement or the date of their enrollment, whichever is later
  • The National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students (NFSC), the National Fellowship for Other Backward Classes (NFOBC), and the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students (MANF) will be governed by the guidelines published on the websites of the respective Ministries and/or the UGC

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2023: Exemption (Eligibility for Assistant Professor)

  • The set of criteria prerequisite for recruitment and employment of Assistant Professors in Universities, Colleges, and Institutions will continue to be NET/SET/SLET. Exemption from NET/SET/SLET would be controlled by UGC norms and changes published in the Indian Gazette on a regular basis
  • Candidates who cleared the UGC/CSIR/JRF examination before 1989 cannot appear in the NET examination
  • Candidates who passed the UGC-accredited States Eligibility Test (SET) for Assistant Professor up to July 1, 2002, cannot appear in the NET, but are allowed to apply for Assistant Professor positions throughout India. Candidates who appeared in SETs held after June 1, 2002, are only eligible to apply for Assistant Professor positions in universities/colleges located in the state where they passed their SET 

    UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2023: Age Limit and Relaxation:

a. JRF: Not older than 31 years as of the first day of the month in which the examination is completed, i.e. 01.03.2021 (This age restriction is only valid for this examination).

Candidates belonging to the OBC-NCL (according to the Central list of OBC published on the website), SC/ST/PwD/Third gender categories, and women candidates are given a 5-year age relaxation. Upon the production of a certificate from a relevant authority, that should be a recognised Indian university / Institute of National Importance / foreign university that is duly approved / recognised / accredited in its own country / Public Sector Undertaking, candidates with relevant work experience will be granted a relaxation, restricted to the duration spent on research in the relevant / related subject of post-graduation degree, subject to a total of 5 years. The research should not have been done as part of a graduate or post-graduation degree programme (s). Candidates having an L.L.M. degree will be given a three-year age relaxation. Applicants who have served in the armed forces are eligible for a 5-year exemption, depending on the years of stay in the armed forces up to the the first day of the month in which the related UGC-NET is completed. Under no conditions will the total age relaxation on the aforesaid ground(s) exceed five years.

b. Assistant Professor:  No upper age limit for candidates who want to apply for the UGC-NET for Assistant Professor.