CTET Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Age Limit, Minimum Qualifications & Reservation

CTET Eligibility Criteria Overview

CTET Eligibility Criteria 2026

To be eligible to attempt the CTET February 2026 exam, candidates must satisfy the minimum qualifications in accordance with

• The NCTE Regulations (As per the amendments made from time to time)

• The recruitment rules for the teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan or Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, or the government where the school is situated.

The authorities determined the CTET eligibility on the basis of:

• Nationality

• Educational Qualification

CTET Eligibility Criteria on the basis of Age

There are no age restrictions on applicants applying for the CTET exam.

CTET Educational Qualifications – CTET Paper-I (Primary Stage)

As per the CTET eligibility criteria 2026, candidates who wish to become government school teachers of classes I to V must at least fulfill one of the following educational requirements.

• A candidate must have passed class 12th with at least 50% marks and must have passed or must be appearing in the final year of a 2-year diploma in Elementary Education

OR

• Passed class 12th with at least 50% marks and must have passed or appeared in the final year of a 2-year diploma in Elementary Education, in accordance with NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2002.

OR

• At least 50% marks in class 12th and must have passed or must be appearing in the last year of a 4-year Bachelor’s in Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.)

OR

• 50% marks in class 12th and passed or appearing in the final year of a 2-year diploma in education (Special Education)

OR

• Graduation with 50% marks or more and a Bachelor’s in Education (B.Ed.) degree.

Note - A candidate who has a B.Ed. from any NCTE recognized institute will be considered for appointment as a primary school teacher provided that they undergo a bridge course in Elementary Education within 2 years of his/her appointment.

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CTET Educational Qualifications – CTET Paper-II (Elementary Stage)

Those who wish to appear for the CTET February 2026 paper-II must at least fulfill one of the academic qualifications as listed below to become teachers for classes VI to VIII in government schools.

• As part of CTET eligibility criteria 2026, candidates must have completed graduation in any discipline and the candidate must have passed or must be appearing in the final year of a 2-year diploma in Elementary Education

OR

• 50% marks in graduation and passed or appearing in 1-year B.Ed. course

OR

• At least 45% marks in graduation and passed or appearing in 1 year B.Ed. in accordance with NCTE Regulations issued from time to time in this regard.

OR

• At least 50% marks in class 12th and passed or appearing in the final year of a 4-year B.El.Ed.

OR

• 50% marks or more in class 12th and passed or appearing in the final year of B.A./ B.Sc.Ed. or B.A.Ed./ B.Sc.Ed

OR

• At least 50% marks in graduation (BA, B.Com, B.Sc, BBA, BCA, B.Tech) and passed or appearing in 1-year B.Ed. (Special Education).

OR

• Any candidate who has qualified a B.Ed. programme recognised by NCTE are eligible to appear for the exam. Moreover, anybody who’s pursuing a teachers’ education programme that is NCTE recognised can appear for the CTET exam.

CTET Eligibility Criteria 2026 – Important Points

The CTET 2026 exam is conducted to test the eligibility of candidates as teachers for classes I to VIII. Candidates who wish to teach classes I to V have to appear for CTET paper-I exam, while those who want to teach classes VI to VIII have to take CTET paper-II exam.

Candidates who meet the CTET eligibility criteria for both the papers are eligible to appear for both the papers if they wish to. Candidates who apply for the CTET exam 2026 successfully will be issued CTET admit card 2026. Given below are some important points related to CTET eligibility criteria:

1. Reserved category candidates (SC, ST, OBC and PWD) will get upto 5% relaxation in the minimum qualifying marks of the educational qualifications mentioned above.

2. Diploma and degree courses recognised by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) will only be considered.

3. In the case of Diploma in Education (Special Education) and B.Ed. (Special Education) courses, those recognised by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) will only be considered.

4. A candidate with a Diploma in Education (Special Education) must undergo a 6-month NCTE recognised special programme in Elementary Education.

5. Educational qualifications mentioned in CTET eligibility criteria are applicable to teachers of Languages, Social Studies/ Social Science, Mathematics, Science, etc.

6. For physical education teachers, minimum qualification norms for these teachers as per NCTE regulations will be applicable.

7. For teachers of Art Education, Craft Education, Home Science, Work Education, etc. norms set by the State Government or other managements will be applicable.

8. If found out that a candidate does not fulfil the required CTET eligibility criteria 2026 and is still appearing for the exam will be rejected at any stage.

9. Post-Graduation with a minimum 55% marks or equivalent grade and three-year integrated B.Ed.-M.Ed as per the gazette notifications No. 459 and 462 issued by National Council for Teacher Education, New Delhi.

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CTET Qualifying Marks 2026

Applicants who appear for the CTET exam must secure a certain minimum percentage of marks as per their category to clear the CTET cutoff 2026. The CTET 2026 minimum qualifying marks have been tabulated below.

CTET Qualifying Marks

CTET Eligibility Criteria - Application Form

The Central Board of Secondary Education releases the CTET application form 2026 online at ctet.nic.in. The last CTET 2026 application form date will be mentioned in the notification. Before proceeding to fill out the CTET application form, applicants should check if they meet the CTET 2026 eligibility criteria. After checking the CTET eligibility norms, candidates need to first register themselves for the CTET 2026 exam and then proceed to fill out the applications.

While filling the CTET online form, candidates have to upload scanned images of their photograph and signature. Once the CTET application form 2026 is filled out, applicants can pay the CTET application fees depending upon their category via credit card, debit card, net banking, or UPI. Candidates who wish to appear for both the papers of CTET have to pay more than those who just want to appear for just one paper. The category-wise CTET 2026 application fee is provided below in the table below.

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CTET Exam Centres 2026

Candidates can select CTET 2026 exam centre cities while filling the CTET 2026 application form. The CTET exam will be conducted in about 184 cities spread across various states and Union territories of the country. The CTET exam centre venue and address will be mentioned in the CTET 2026 admit card.

The details mentioned in the admit card will include the state and city that candidates have selected, exam centre codes, and the address where the exam centre will be located. Applicants will be allotted CTET 2026 exam centres on a first-come, first-served basis. If all the seats in a particular centre are filled, candidates will be allotted the next nearest CTET exam centres 2026.