UGC-NET re-test for 3 papers: The errors that forced a fresh exam

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will re-conduct the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) for English, Sociology, and Commerce after receiving complaints of “multiple errors” in the question papers. The decision follows an official notification released on August 16, citing flaws that compromise the fairness of the examination.

The UGC-NET was held from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects. Under the new schedule, English and Commerce papers will be re-conducted on September 9, while Sociology will be held on September 10. On the same day, the NTA released the provisional answer key for the remaining 84 subjects, clarifying that the re-test would not affect candidates who appeared for those papers. Results for the unaffected subjects will be declared as scheduled, and allocation of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) seats and e-certificates for Assistant Professor eligibility and PhD admission will not be delayed, the agency said.

On the errors, the NTA said it had constituted a committee to investigate the complaints. “The Committee recommended that, in the interest of holding a fair and error-free examination, these three papers should be re-conducted. It has therefore been concluded by NTA that papers carrying such defects do not meet the standards of fairness and error-free examination, and defects of this extent cannot be cured merely by dropping questions after the challenge process,” the notification stated.

The committee found that the three papers contained “factual, typographical, translation errors, including misspelt names of prominent scholars, garbled book titles, errors in the stem wording of questions, grammatical errors, gender and number agreement errors, punctuation mistakes, and non-standard coined terms for established concepts, as well as repetition of a significant number of questions previously administered.”

Candidates who appeared for the exams recalled specific instances of these errors. Surya, a Chennai-based aspirant currently in Delhi preparing for his PhD, was attempting the exam for the fifth time to clear JRF. He noted that sociologist T. Parsons was misspelt as “T Parsows” in one option, and George Ritzer was rendered as “Putzer” in another — both prominent figures in the field. He also noticed that J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author, appeared as an option in one multiple-choice question. “Which is funny,” he said.

Juliya, from Kozhikode in Kerala, who is pursuing a Master’s at Jamia Millia Islamia, appeared for the Sociology paper for the second time, having first sat in December 2025. She recalled that Indian sociologist A.R. Desai was misnamed “AK Desai”.

Simran, from Bihar, took the English paper for the third time this year to clear JRF. She alleged that 60 to 65 questions, including comprehension-based ones, were repeated from the December 2024 re-test paper — which itself was conducted after an earlier examination was cancelled. The similarity was so striking, she said, that she felt as though she had already taken the paper, particularly since the comprehension passage was identical.

While the NTA has stated that there will be no additional fee for the re-test, candidates still face significant burdens. Many have to repeat months of preparation and bear fresh travel costs to their exam centres. Beyond the expense, the mental strain of preparing for an examination they have already taken is considerable. Uncertainty over the revised results has added to concerns about their academic future, including the timeline for JRF certification and PhD admissions. Some candidates are unsure whether admissions will still be open by the time the revised results are declared.

Surya, who will have to travel back to Chennai for the re-test in September, expressed his anxiety: “I have no idea what I should do after coming back to Delhi… I have very little time, I also have to apply.”