UGC NET 2026: Spelling Errors and Repeated Questions Spark Controversy, Opposition Criticises NTA

The UGC NET June 2026 examination has drawn complaints from candidates over spelling mistakes in the Sociology paper and recycled questions in the English paper. The controversy has prompted criticism from the opposition, with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioning the National Testing Agency's (NTA) competence.

The University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) is conducted to determine eligibility for Assistant Professor positions and PhD admissions in Indian universities. The June 2026 examination was held in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode, with the Sociology paper on June 30.

Candidates who appeared for the Sociology paper alleged that the question paper contained numerous spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and poorly framed questions. Examples cited on social media included sociologist George Ritzer appearing as 'Putzer', the word 'social' printed as 'oval', Talcott Parsons written as 'Parsow', G S Ghurye as 'Ghunye', A R Desai as 'A K Desai', and Martha Nussbaum as 'Nusbaut'. Candidates argued that these errors made it difficult to understand questions and affected the examination's quality. Some also claimed that several questions were outside the prescribed syllabus and that Hindi translations were poorly worded.

Separate concerns were raised about the UGC NET English paper. Candidates alleged that a large number of questions were repeated from the 2024 examination. One candidate claimed that 67 of the 150 questions were identical, including the sequence of answer options. These claims have raised questions about the integrity of the examination process.

As of now, the NTA has not issued an official response to the allegations. It remains unclear whether candidates will be allowed to challenge disputed questions through the answer key objection process, which typically allows objections after provisional answer keys are released.

The issue gained political attention when Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh criticised the government and the NTA. He alleged that the NTA's performance continues to be poor despite promises of reforms, pointing to repeated questions in the English paper and spelling errors in the Sociology paper as examples of mismanagement.

This incident adds to a series of controversies surrounding NTA-conducted exams in recent years, including the NEET row and examination rescheduling issues. The UGC NET 2026 results will be announced after the NTA reviews objections and finalises answer keys.