The National Testing Agency (NTA) has ordered a re-examination of three subjects under UGC-NET because of serious problems with the question papers. The subjects include English, Commerce, and Sociology. This follows complaints from the UGC-NET candidates who appeared for the UGC-NET exams between June 22 and June 30.
The examination is conducted to identify Assistant Professor positions and to apply for PhD courses in universities in India. The decision by the government to conduct new exams for the three subjects has raised questions about quality control of the preparation and translation of national-level examination papers.
Why were the three UGC-NET papers cancelled?
Many candidates had raised concerns soon after the June examinations and reported several errors in the question papers. NTA set up an expert committee to investigate the issues and determine if they had affected the fairness and reliability of the examination.
According to NTA, the committee found a combination of factual, typographical, and translation-related errors in the three papers.
The Sociology paper also reported errors in the names of famous scholars and theorists. Names such as Ritzer, Ghurye and Parsons were wrongfully printed as distorted ones like “Putzer,” “Ghunye” and “Parsow.” That can confuse candidates when questions are linked to works and theories of these scholars.
The committee also identified grammatical mistakes, incorrect punctuation, gender and number agreement errors, problems in question stems, as well as unusual or non-standard terms used in place of established academic concepts.
Questions seemingly repeated from previous examinations
Another major issue was the repetition of questions from previous UGC-NET examination cycles.
In the English paper, candidates faced questions that were either identical or substantially similar to those in previous exams. Some (such as the sequence of multiple-choice options) appeared word-for-word, they said.
Among them were questions on literary works like Kanthapura and The Life Divine. Matching-type questions for literary theorists and thinkers, like Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes, were also repeated.
The Commerce paper also faced similar criticism. Candidates reported seeing questions they had been asked in the past, including corporate taxation and accounting. In some cases, numerical figures and answer choices were said to be similar to earlier questions.
The repetition of questions became a concern because candidates who had already been asked the same questions before may have an advantage over others.
📢 UGC-NET June 2026 | Important Notice
— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) August 16, 2026
NTA had received several complaints about multiple errors in the papers of English, Commerce and Sociology. NTA formed a committee to enquire into and look into these errors and as per the recommendation of the committee, NTA will… pic.twitter.com/oejnlRSe0c
What did the expert committee recommend?
After consulting with the complaints and the question papers, the expert committee concluded the problems were serious enough to warrant new examinations.
NTA said the committee found factual, typographical, and translation errors, and the repetition of a significant number of questions which had already been administered in previous examination cycles.
The committee recommended that the three examinations be conducted again for a fair and error-free exam.
UGC-NET re-exam dates in September
The new examinations for the three subjects are scheduled for September.
English: September 9, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Commerce: September 9, 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Sociology: September 10, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Candidates taking these three subjects will not have to pay the additional examination fee for the re-test.
NTA will be sending out new admit cards and examination-centre details through its official channels. Candidates should regularly check the official NTA website for announcements about their revised examination schedule and centre information.
One of the key points in the announcement is that candidates involved in re-examination will not have to pay another examination fee at all. The re-test is conducted because of the issues found in the question papers and not the candidates’ fault.
Candidates should keep their examination-related documents and check their new admit cards once they are released.
Another setback for NTA
The UGC-NET controversy is just one of several problems faced by NTA in the administration of examinations and the quality of the question papers. For candidates in competitive and eligibility exams, accuracy and consistency in the question papers are especially important because errors in question papers can have a big impact on the way in which a candidate interprets and answers the question.
The re-examination of English, Commerce and Sociology is therefore intended to restore fairness for candidates who appeared in the affected papers.
For now, candidates from the three subjects should focus on the revised September schedule and wait for NTA's official release of admit cards and examination centre details. The fresh examination will determine the candidates' performance under a new question paper and provide an opportunity to conduct the assessment without the errors identified in the earlier papers.
