The National Educational Testing Bureau of University Grants Commission (UGC) conducts National Eligibility Test (NET) for Indian nationals in order to ensure minimum standards for the entrants in the teaching profession and research. It determines the candidate's eligibility for lectureship and for award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).
The tests are conducted twice in a year generally in the months of June and December. For candidates who desire to pursue research, the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is available for five years subject to fulfilment of certain conditions. The JRFs are awarded to the meritorious candidates from among the candidates qualifying for eligibility for lectureship in the NET. JRFs are available only to the candidates who opt for it in their application forms.
Name of the post
Selection procedure
Paper-III will be evaluated only for those candidates who are able to secure the minimum qualifying marks in Paper-I and Paper-II, as per the table given in the following:
The minimum qualifying criteria for award of JRF is as follows:
However, the final qualifying criteria for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Eligibility for Lectureship shall be decided by UGC before declaration of result.
How to apply
The candidate needs to follow the steps mentioned below for submission of online application form.
The tests are conducted twice in a year generally in the months of June and December. For candidates who desire to pursue research, the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is available for five years subject to fulfilment of certain conditions. The JRFs are awarded to the meritorious candidates from among the candidates qualifying for eligibility for lectureship in the NET. JRFs are available only to the candidates who opt for it in their application forms.
Name of the post
- Lecturership NET: for appointment as Lecturers
- JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) NET: to receive fellowship from UGC
- Lecturership NET: Minimum 19 years, no upper age limit
- JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) NET: Minimum 19 years; maximum 28 years
- Candidates who have secured at least 55% marks (without rounding off) in Master's Degree OR equivalent examination from universities/institutions recognised by UGC in Humanities (including languages) and Social Sciences, Computer Science & Applications, Electronic Science etc. are eligible for this Test. The Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Physically Handicapped (PH)/Visually Handicapped (VH) category candidates who have secured at least 50% marks (without rounding off) in Master's degree or equivalent examinations are eligible for this Test.
- Candidates who have appeared OR will be appearing at the qualifying Master's degree (final year) examination and whose result is still awaited OR candidates whose qualifying examinations have been delayed may also apply for this Test. However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and shall be considered eligible for award of JRF/ Lectureship eligibility only after they have passed their Master's degree examination or equivalent with at least 55% marks (50% marks in case of SC/ST/PH/VH category candidates). Such candidates must complete their P.G. degree examination within two years from the date of NET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.
- The PhD degree holders whose Master's level examination had been completed by 19 September 1991 (irrespective of date of declaration of result) shall be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (ie, from 55% to 50%) for appearing in NET.
- Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their post-graduation only. The candidates, whose post-graduation subject is not covered in the list of subjects, may appear in a related subject.
- Candidates seeking concession in fee are required to submit attested copy of their OBC (Non-creamy layer)/ SC/ ST/ PH/ VH certificate along with online printout of their Application Forms (obtained while applying on-line). Other candidates are not required to submit any certificates/ documents in support of their eligibility along with printout of their Application Form. Therefore, the candidates, in their own interest, must satisfy themselves about their eligibility for the Test. In the event of any ineligibility being detected by the Commission at any stage, their candidature will be cancelled and they shall be liable for legal action.
- Candidates with post-graduate diploma/certificate course(s), should in their own interest, ascertain the equivalence of their course(s) with Master's degree of recognized Indian universities from Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi. (http://www.aiuweb.org/)
- Opening date for online registration - 26 September 2011
- Closing date for online registration - 25 October 2011
- Last date for sending documents at test center- 31 October 2011
- Written Test Date- 24 December 2011 (Saturday)
Selection procedure
- The Test will consist of three papers. All the three papers will be held on 24 December 2011 in two separate sessions as under:
| Session | Paper | Marks | Duration |
| First | I | 100 | 1¼ Hours (09.30 A.M. to 10.45 A.M.) |
| First | II | 100 | 1¼ Hours (10.45 A.M. to 12.00 NOON) |
| Second | III | 200 | 2½ Hours (01.30 P.M. to 04.00 P.M.) |
Paper-III will be evaluated only for those candidates who are able to secure the minimum qualifying marks in Paper-I and Paper-II, as per the table given in the following:
| Category | Minimum Qualifying Marks | ||
| Paper - I | Paper - II | Paper - I + Paper - II | |
| General | 40 | 40 | 100 (50 %) |
| OBC/ PH/ VH | 35 | 35 | 90 (45 %) |
| SC/ ST | 35 | 35 | 80 (40 %) |
| Category | Minimum Qualifying Marks | |||
| Paper - I | Paper - II | Paper - I + Paper - II | Paper III | |
| General | 40 | 40 | 100 (50 %) | 100 (50 %) |
| OBC/ PH/ VH | 35 | 35 | 90 (45 %) | 90 (45 %) |
| SC/ ST | 35 | 35 | 80 (40 %) | 80 (40 %) |
How to apply
The candidate needs to follow the steps mentioned below for submission of online application form.
- Download Bank Challan Performa from the UGC website OR take photocopy from the UGC-NET Notification published in the Employment News and then deposit the requisite test fee in any branch of State Bank of India along with the bank charges (commission) of Rs 20.
- Before applying Online, the candidates must possess the following: (i) Scanned passport size photograph in JPEG format of less than 300 kb, (ii) Copy of Bank Challan (fee receipt).
- Candidate seeking admission to the Test must apply online through a link available on the UGC website: http://www.ugc.ac.in/.
- After successful submission, the candidate should take printout of online Application Form (two copies), Attendance Slip (one copy), and Admission Card (one copy) on separate A-4 size papers.
- The envelope containing the Application Form should be super scribed "UGC NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY TEST FOR JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AND ELIGIBILITY FOR LECTURESHIP, DECEMBER 2011".
