What is UGC-NET
UGC NET, short for University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test, is an important examination in India.
UGC NET examination as we talked about above is about the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency who acts under the guidance and the behalf of UGC or the University Grants Commission. The exam is conducted to determine the eligibility of the candidate for the role of assistant professor or junior research fellowship or both for Indian universities and colleges. The exam was previously conducted by the authority of CBSE who also carry out the Grade XII CBSE exams. However, now the rights rest on NTA or National Testing Agency.
The exams are conducted twice a year and have seen the number of students rise every year on year. The test also acts as a mandate for eligibility into the private college-based lectureship jobs and for the public sector undertakings. The area is expanding quite a lot and UGC NET has become one of the major exams across India. It also forms the basis for the recruitment of executives in various fields like management, human resource, finance, corporate communications, and more for the PSU recruitment drive.
- The UGC NET exam serves two main purposes:
- Assistant Professor: It determines eligibility for the position of assistant professor in Indian universities and colleges.
- Junior Research Fellowship (JRF): It also awards the Junior Research Fellowship, which supports research endeavours.
- Exam Structure :
- The UGC NET exam consists of two papers:
- Paper-I: 50 questions (total marks: 100)
- Paper-II: 100 questions (total marks: 200)
- Both papers are multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and must be completed within 3 hours.
- Subjects and Scope :
- The exam covers 83 subjects.
- It serves as a gateway not only to teaching positions but also to private college-based lectureship jobs and public sector undertakings.
- Eligibility criteria include :
- General Category: A minimum of 55% in the master’s program.
- Other Categories: A minimum of 50%.
- Candidates who cleared their State Eligibility Test (SET) before June 1, 2002 are exempt from the UGC NET exam1.
PhD degree holders, who did their Master’s before September 19, 1992, are allowed a relaxation of 5% marks in the qualifying criteria.
Do note that students from Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category are also eligible for 10% reservation in this exam.
For age limit – Please check official update – https://ugcnet.nta.ac.in/
There is no age limit specified for students who want to become Assistant Professors through the exam.
Smart Preparation Tips for the UGC NET Exam
- The Paper I of the exam is designed to test your general awareness, comprehension, reasoning ability and divergent thinking ability. Many guides are available in the market to help you practice questions asked in this paper. For Paper II, you should revise the syllabus of your Bachelors and Masters course thoroughly.
- The three basics always work in every exam – read through the syllabus carefully, make your own notes, and solve the previous years’ papers. The process helps you remember things better and for a longer period.
- In fact, we highly recommend you to solve the five previous years’ UGC NET Paper 1 question papers before you start your preparation. It will help you see that you can solve almost half the paper without studying. This will boost your confidence and help you see how many questions in the exam are easy and how many of them are difficult. Once you become familiar with the paper pattern, it will become easier for you to crack similar questions in the future.
- When you solve the previous years’ papers, you might want to write down all the questions related to a topic in one place. This will give you an idea about what types of questions are asked on each topic. This will also help you make crisp and clear revision notes that are relevant for the UGC NET exam.
- You must also note down the silly mistakes every time you solve a question paper. This will help you avoid them next time you solve a paper.
- Ideally, it takes 3 to 6 months to prepare for the UGC NET exam (depending on how many hours you can devote to studies every day). So, do not procrastinate until the eleventh hour.
- Takes about 3-5 hours of regular studies to clear the UGC NET exam. You cannot skip the daily revisions if you really want to clear the exam.
- Make a study plan. Start with the topics you can cover quickly and then, proceed to the more time-taking and difficult topics. As soon as you finish a topic, mark it as ‘done’ in your syllabus.
- The quickest way to learn something is to teach someone. So, offer free or paid tuitions to some students in your subject. This will help you grasp its fundamentals better.
- Try to pick up the tricks and formulae to arrive at an answer in the shortest possible time. Time-saving tips can make a lot of difference in your NET scores.
- Approximately five questions are asked from each topic mentioned in the Paper I syllabus, which includes:
- Teaching Aptitude
- Research Aptitude
- Reading Comprehension
- Communication
- Reasoning (including Math)
- Logical Reasoning
- Data Interpretation
- Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
- People & Environment
- Higher Education System: Governance, Polity & Administration
Each of these topics carries 10 marks. So, focus on all of them equally.
The MCQs asked in this paper can be of matching type, true/false type or assertion-reasoning type.
- Some of the easiest sections in Paper 1 are Communication, Information Technology, Reading Comprehension, and Teaching Aptitude. Reading Comprehension (RC) is something we have always done since school days while the Teaching Aptitude (TA) is quite generic. RC may need practice while a simple reading through TA chapters should be enough.
- These days, most people are familiar with computers. If you have dabbled in computers since school, you shouldn’t find the IT section difficult. Try to read up about the latest developments in the field from time to time.
- As far as Communication is concerned, you might consider taking soft skill courses where you learn about how to take interviews, how to give presentations, and how to participate in group discussions.
- Many students might have studied about how to do research while preparing dissertations or doing study projects. You also need to read about government policies and the latest summits about education, environment and other topics.
- Mathematical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation sections need regular practice.
- Revise the mathematics concepts covered in Class 9 and Class 10. Sets, patterns and approximation techniques are quite important.
- To improve Reading Comprehension, read about a topic and then try to summarize it in your own words.
- Diagrams and flow charts are powerful visual aids to memorize things. You may also read about other types of mnemonics you can use to remember something (such as making a parody of a song or using acronyms to remember a series).
Where to find support for UGC NET preparation?
The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that from May 2019, its test centres will be offering free coaching services to those who want to prepare for the UGC NET exam. The move has been planned to benefit students hailing from rural or semi-urban areas.
IAS-HOME online and offline coaching institutes also offer a variety of UGC NET coaching packages and study material.
On the Day of the Exam
The MCQs asked in this paper can be of matching type, true/false type or assertion-reasoning type.
Cut off Marks and the Merit List
General Category students need to score 40% in the exam while the reserved category students need 35% marks to be considered for the merit list. The merit list is drawn using the aggregate marks of the two papers for the NET qualifiers. Top 6% of the candidates (in each subject and category) are considered eligible for JRF if they have not applied for the position of Assistant Professor.
If you study judiciously and regularly, it is not difficult to score 70-80% marks in the UGC NET exam. So, give it your best shot.