How To Calculate Cut off Marks For UGC NET - National Testing Agency (NTA) releases the UGC NET cut off 2026 along with the declaration of the result. Candidates securing marks equal to or more than the UGC NET 2026 cut off marks are considered UGC NET qualified. Candidates can check the UGC NET cut off in the form of PDF for all subjects as per their categories. However, candidates must also know how to calculate cut off marks for UGC NET so that they can have an idea of the marking scheme.
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Also, knowing how to calculate cut off of UGC NET, candidates can know whether they can qualify or not. There are various factors that are considered by the exam authorities in order to calculate the UGC NET exam 2026 cut off. Calculating the marks secured by the candidates in each slot also plays an important part in determining the cut off since UGC NET cut off is nothing but the marks obtained by the last qualifying candidate. To know more about how to calculate UGC NET cut off 2026, go through the article below.
The qualifying marks of UGC NET is pre-determined by the exam authorities. The UGC NET qualifying marks have been mentioned in the UGC NET notification PDF. As per the UGC NET qualifying marks, general category candidates must secure at least 40% marks while reserved category candidates must secure at least 35%. The table below contains the qualifying marks.
UGC NET 2026 Qualifying Marks
Category | Paper I (Out of 100 marks) | Paper II (Out of 200 marks) |
UGC NET qualifying marks for General (Unreserved) | 40 (40%) | 40 (40%) |
OBC Non-creamy layer, PWD/SC/ST and Transgenders | 35 (35%) | 35 (35%) |
While calculating the UGC NET cut off, the authorities consider the following factors:
Total number of appeared candidates
Availability of seats
Difficulty level of the examination
The number of candidates to be qualified (total slots or Eligibility for Assistant Professor) must be equal to 6% of the total candidates appearing in both the papers of UGC NET.
The total slots in which the exam will be held must be allocated to different categories as per the reservation policy
For JRF and Assistant Professor eligibility, candidates will have to appear for both papers - paper I and II and secure at least 40% marks in both the papers taken together for General (Unreserved) and 35% aggregate marks in both the papers for all candidates belonging to the following reserved categories (viz., SC, ST, OBC (belonging to Non-Creamy Layer, PwD and Transgender).
The number of candidates to be declared qualified in any subject for a particular category is derived as per the method mentioned below
Example: Number of candidates to be declared qualified for Eligibility for Assistant Professor in the subject ‘Economics’ for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category | Number of candidates belonging to SC category who secure at least 35% for SC category in Economics' (x) Total slots derived for SC category (÷) Total number of candidates belonging to SC category over all subjects who secure at least 35% aggregate marks in both the papers taken together |
The aggregate percentage of the two papers as per the number of slots arrived at, will determine the qualifying cut-off for Assistant Professor ‘in ‘Economics’ for the SC category. Similar formula must be applied to all the other subjects for all other categories. So that the cut off mark for UGC NET can be calculated for all categories.
All those candidates willing to get shortlisted for both JRF & Assistant Professor both must know how the cut off for UGC NET is calculated for both. Here, the total number of slots available for awarding JRF is allocated among different categories as per the reservation policy. The table below contains the process through which the subject wise and category wise allocation of JRF is done
Number of candidates to be declared qualified for JRF & Eligibility for Assistant Professor both in the subject ‘Economics’ for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category | Number of candidates belonging to ST category who have opted for JRF and have qualified for Eligibility for Assistant Professor in the subject ‘Economics’ (x) Total JRF slots available for ST category (÷) Total number of candidates belonging to ST category over all subjects who have opted for JRF and have qualified for Eligibility for Assistant Professor |
Note: The aggregate percentage of the two paper scores as per the number of JRF slots arrived at, will determine the qualifying cut-off for JRF in ‘Economics’ for the ST category. Similarly, the cut off of UGC NET for other categories and subjects will be done.
The process of Normalization is done in order to compare the candidates' scores across multiple session papers. For normalization across sections, NTA uses the percentile equivalence process. This is done to provide equal opportunities to all candidates appearing in various slots which have different difficulty levels.
Based on the relative performance of all the appeared candidates, the percentile scores are calculated. The marks secured by the candidates are converted into a scale ranging from 100 to 0 for each session of examinees. The previous percentile scores is calculated up to 7 decimal places to avoid bunching effect and avoid the situation of the tie.
Subject/Category wise cutoff for Assistant Professor and JRF |
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Subject/Category wise cutoff for Assistant Professor and JRF |
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Subject/Category wise cutoff for Assistant Professor and JRF |
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Subject/Category wise cutoff | Subject/Category wise cutoff |
| Assistant Professor | JRF |
Subject/Category wise cutoff percentile | Subject/Category wise cutoff marks |
Subject | Lectureship Cutoff Only (General) | JRF & Lectureship Cut off (General) |
Economics | 62.67 | 70.00 |
Political Science | 60.0 | 68.0 |
Philosophy | 63.33 | 72.0 |
Sociology | 61.33 | 70.00 |
History | 54.00 | 60.00 |
Anthropology | 60.67 | 68.67 |
Commerce | 95.63 | 99.35 |
Public Administration | 62.00 | 68.00 |
Management | 56.67 | 64.67 |
Hindi | 97.2203957 | 99.59 |
English | 98.29 | 99.7 |
Mass Communication and Journalism | 58.67 | 65.33 |
Geography | 60.67 | 68.00 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The UGC NET cut off 2026 will be released along with the result at ugcnet.nta.nic.in.
In order to qualify the test, candidates will have to secure both the qualifying marks as well as the UGC NET cut off marks as per their categories.
The process of normalisation is basically equating the marks of all the candidates to 100. This is done to give equal opportunity to the candidates appearing for the test in different slots which have different difficulty levels.
Once you qualify for Assistant Professors, you will get an eligibility certificate through which you can apply in any of the colleges and universities for Lectureship.
On Question asked by student community
Hello Dear Student,
You are already pursuing BA (Hons.) Political Science from School of Open Learning University of Delhi , preparing for SSC CGL , and keeping UGC-NET/JRF as a backup. Doing a regular MA through CUET-PG can strengthen that backup plan significantly.
What I like about your plan:
Hi,
Yes, you can generally use a Bihar EWS certificate issued in May 2026 for UGC NET June 2026 if it is in the Central Government prescribed format and issued by a competent authority such as a Revenue Officer/Tehsildar. UGC NET requires a valid EWS certificate in the latest Government
Hello Dear Student,
No, you generally cannot use an EWS certificate for 2025–26 for the UGC NET May 2026 application if it has expired.
EWS certificates are usually valid only for the relevant financial year, so for May 2026 applications, you may need a newly renewed EWS certificate based on
Hello Dear Student,
There is no separate UGC NET paper specifically for Mechanical Engineering .
Mechanical Engineering students usually appear for:
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Yes, you will be eligible to appear for UGC NET Environmental Science exam with background in M.Sc Microbiology. You can also apply for JRF (PhD) and Lectureship (Assistant Professor) with an age limit of 30 years.
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