University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test — Assistant Professor & JRF eligibility. Conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA), on behalf of UGC. Lakshmi knows this paper from the site's own pattern pages — and reads your scores, your mocks and what you haven't touched before saying a word.
Typically twice a year (June and December cycles). CBT (computer-based test), online — 150 single-correct MCQs in one 3-hour sitting, no break, no sectional time lock.
One 3-hour CBT: 150 single-correct MCQs across both papers · 300 marks · +2 correct, 0 wrong/unattempted. There is no separate qualifying stage within the exam itself and no interview — this single sitting produces both the NET and JRF outcomes.
NTA applies a subject- and category-wise cutoff to declare candidates NET-qualified (Assistant Professor eligible). A smaller, higher cutoff within that same pool, plus a cap on available fellowship slots per subject, decides who additionally gets JRF. NET-only has no upper age limit; JRF is capped at under 30 (with standard reserved-category relaxations).
NET-qualified candidates apply for Assistant Professor posts at UGC-scale pay in colleges and universities. JRF-qualified candidates additionally draw a fellowship stipend while registered for a PhD; many universities also accept a plain NET score for direct PhD admission without a separate entrance test.
Compulsory for all candidates
Marking: None — +2 correct, 0 wrong/unattempted
The General Paper is identical for every candidate, whatever their Paper 2 subject. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation together make up close to a quarter of this paper, so a reasoning checklist pays off across every attempt, not just this one.
Subject-specific (Commerce variant modelled here)
Marking: None — +2 correct, 0 wrong/unattempted
This is the subject-specific paper — the platform currently models the Commerce variant, one of 80+ NTA-notified Paper 2 subjects. Accounting and Auditing and Business Finance together are close to a third of the paper, so numerical fluency there matters more than even coverage across every topic.
UGC NET is one combined 180-minute CBT — Paper 1 and Paper 2 questions sit together on the same screen with no sectional time lock, so you decide how to split your three hours. Every correct answer is a flat +2 and a wrong answer costs nothing, so there's no penalty for an educated guess.
50 questions, compulsory for every NET candidate regardless of subject. Logical Reasoning is the heaviest single unit; Teaching and Research Aptitude reward familiarity with UGC's own terminology more than outside theory.
100 questions — two-thirds of the total score. Accounting and Auditing is the heaviest topic by far, with Business Finance and Business Statistics close behind; these three numerical units decide most Commerce attempts.
The highest-weight chapters in each subject, linked to their notes. Weights are estimates from previous papers where the conducting body publishes none. Your guide weighs these against your own scores.
CTET, state TETs and UGC NET: pedagogy questions, Paper 1 and the subject paper. Pick one to start, or just talk — Lakshmi has read your profile either way.
Every fact on this page comes from the exam's blueprint on this site. How the guide uses it: how Guidance works.
Lakshmi has the pattern and will read your work. Talk it through, and leave with a plan you tick off.
