UGC NET re-exam to be held online, NTA scraps pen and paper test for June session

The UGC NET re-examination will be held online as a computer based test (CBT), the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Friday. On June 18, the exam was hele in pen-and-paper mode but the test was later cancelled by the Education Ministry. The NTA has announced dates for the re-examination. UGC NET date 2024 live updates.

“The UGC NET June 2024 Cycle examination was earlier held in Pen & paper (offline) mode. However, it will now be held in the Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode,” the NTA said.

Until last time, the NTA conducted the UGC NET examination for assistant professorship, Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and PhD admissions in the CBT mode. Deviating from the convention, the NTA had earlier this year announced that the June exam will be held in pen and paper mode and in a single day.

As per the revised schedule, the exam will be held in multiple shifts between August 21 and September 4 – the same pattern followed by the agency before the June edition.

Notably, the registration and participation of candidates in the UGC NET examination went up for its CBT edition. As many as 11,21,225 candidates had applied for the June exam. The December 2023 exam had a total of 9,45,872 registered candidates.

Of the total registered candidates, 9,08,580 appeared for the June exam recording an overall attendance of around 81 per cent, up from December's 73.6% per cent.

UGC NET June 2024: Why was the exam cancelled

On June 18, the NTA issued a press release saying it successfully conducted the UGC NET June exam for 9.08 lakh candidates. However, a day later, the Education Ministry informed that inputs have been received that the integrity of the exam might have been compromised and the test has been cancelled. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan later shared that a question paper of the test was leaked on the darknet.

Days after the UGC NET cancellation, the NTA postponed the joint CSIR-UGC NET citing logistical issues and unavoidable circumstances. The agency has now announced fresh dates for the CSIR NET exam as well.

Read: NEET-UGC NET exam controversy: A timeline of events so far

What's next for candidates

Next, the NTA will release the subject-wise detailed schedule and admit cards for the re-test on ugcnet.nta.ac.in.

It is not clear yet if the candidates will get an opportunity to apply for the UGC NET June re-exam afresh. For more details, they are advised to visit the examination website regularly.