UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Age limit, Qualification, Marks, Reservation

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026

Candidates must go through the UGC NET 2026 eligibility criteria before applying. UGC NET is conducted twice every year to determine the qualifying status for candidates aspiring to be JRF and Assistant Professors. Below is the age limit for different posts under UGC NET 2026:

UGC NET Age Limit 2026

Note: The JRF age limit for general category is not more than 30 years.

Read More: UGC NET 2026 Exam Pattern

UGC NET Age Relaxation 2026

The UGC NET 2026 age relaxation details is given in the table below:

Age Relaxation For UGC NET 2026

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Educational Qualifications

As per the UGC NET qualification, candidates have to fulfill certain educational qualifications to be eligible for UGC NET exam 2026. The UGC NET 2026 educational qualifications have been specified below:

• General/ unreserved/ General-EWS candidates must have a score of at least 55% in their Master's degree/ equivalent examination (MA, M.Sc, M.Com, M.Tech, MBA, etc.). The OBC/ SC/ ST/ PwD/ other gender categories must have a score of at least 50% in their Master's degree / equivalent examination to write this test.

• Candidates who are pursuing their Master's degree or candidates who have appeared for their qualifying masters degree or candidates whose qualifying examination has been delayed are also eligible for this exam. Such candidates must complete their Master’s degree within 2 years from the date of the NET results.

• Candidates who are from the third gender category will have the lowest subject-wise cut off compared to the other lower categories.

• Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their Post- Graduation only.

• The candidates who have passed the 4 year bachelor's degree program must have a percentage of 75%. A relaxation of 5% marks or its equivalent may be allowed for backward castes ( SC/ST/OBC).

• Candidates who are still pursuing their 4 year bachelor's degree may also apply for the exam. However, the candidates will be awarded the JRF/ admission to Ph.D only after fulfilling certain requirements.

• Candidates who are doing their Bachelors degree can choose the subject of their choice in the NET exam in the discipline they want to pursue their Ph.D.

UGC NET 2026 Eligibility Criteria - Subject Relevance (Masters)

Candidates while applying for UGC NET 2026 must make sure that they select the test for the subject they have studied in their post-graduation. In case the subject of the candidate is not given in the list given by NTA, candidates can choose the relevant subject from the list as per their preference.

Quick Links:

• UGC NET Admit Card
• UGC NET Result

UGC NET 2026 Eligibility for JRF

Candidates who are appearing for UGC NET JRF are eligible for both Assistant Professors and fellowships programs. A candidate who qualifies for JRF will also be deemed qualified for a Lectureship. However, if any candidate qualifies for Lectureship won’t be considered qualified for JRF. In such a case, candidates will be considered for Lectureship only.

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Exemption (Eligibility for Assistant Professor)

• Candidates must have qualified `NET/SET/SLAT to be appointed as Assistant Professors. In this case, the exemption (from appearing in NET/SET/SLET) will be governed by UGC regulations and amendments notified in the Gazette of India from time to time.

• Candidates who have qualified for the UGC/CSIR JRF exam before the year 1990 are exempted from appearing for the UGC NET 2026 exam.

• Those candidates who have qualified for the State Eligibility Tests (SETs) before the year 2002 are also exempted from appearing for UGC NET 2026. However, such candidates will have to apply for Assistant Professors in the Universities/Colleges of the state of which they have qualified the SET.

Eligibility criteria of other TET exams

• CTET Eligibility Criteria
• HP TET Eligibility Criteria
• OTET Eligibility Criteria
• CSIR NET Eligibility Criteria

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Reservations

In the UGC NET, the reservation policy of the Government of India is applicable as per which in central universities and Institutions the reservation of seats shall be as follows:

• 15% seats for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.
• 7.5% seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates.
• 27% seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) candidates.
• 10% for General - Economically Weaker Sections candidates.
• 5% seats in the above-mentioned categories for Persons with Disability (PwD) with 40% or more disability.

For detailed information on the UGC NET eligibility criteria 2026 aspirants are advised to download the UGC NET information brochure.

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria - Application Form

The National Testing Agency will release the UGC NET June 2026 application form on the official website at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. The UGC NET exam 2026 application form is available in online mode only. Candidates need to upload scanned copies of their photograph and signature along with the payment of the application fee to successfully complete the UGC NET 2026 application process.