UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2025 - National Testing Agency will provide the UGC NET eligibility criteria 2025 for the December session on the official website. The UGC NET 2025 eligibility criteria is elaborated in the official UGC NET notification at ugcnet.nta.ac.in. The UGC NET eligibility criteria 2025 comprises of the age limit, academic qualifications and other such conditions that candidates need to fulfill to be considered eligible for UGC NET exam. Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria can fill out the UGC NET application form.
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The minimum academic qualification for the NTA UGC NET 2025 eligibility is a post-graduation degree, and those who are awaiting the result of their master's degree can also apply for UGC NET. The age limit for JRF is not more than 30 years. However, according to the UGC NET eligibility criteria 2025, there is no upper age limit for Assistant Professors/Lecturers. To know more about the UGC NET eligibility criteria, read the full article below.
Candidates must go through the UGC NET 2025 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 2025:
Post | Age limit |
UGC ET JRF age limit | 30 years |
UGC NET age limit for Assistant Professor | No upper age limit |
Note: The JRF age limit for general category is not more than 30 years.
Read More: UGC NET 2025 Exam Pattern
The UGC NET 2025 age relaxation details is given in the table below:
Category | Age relaxation |
Candidates pursuing LLM degree | 3 years |
Ex-Army man (The length of service in the armed forces up to the first day of the month in which the concerned UGC-NET is conducted, i.e., December 1, 2023). | 5 years |
SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/Female/Transgender | 5 years |
Research candidates (only on producing the certificate issued by appropriate authority) | 5 years |
As per the UGC NET qualification, candidates have to fulfill certain educational qualifications to be eligible for UGC NET exam 2025. The UGC NET 2025 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.
Candidates while applying for UGC NET 2025 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.
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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.
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 2025 exam.
Those candidates who have qualified for the State Eligibility Tests (SETs) before the year 2002 are also exempted from appearing for UGC NET 2025. 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
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:
For detailed information on the UGC NET eligibility criteria 2025 aspirants are advised to download the UGC NET information brochure.
The National Testing Agency will release the UGC NET December 2025 application form on the official website at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. The UGC NET exam 2025 application form will be 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 2025 application process.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The UGC NET eligibility criteria is determined by the NTA.
Candidates can check the UGC NET 2025 eligibility criteria in the official brochure.
The maximum age limit for JRF is 30 years while there is no upper age limit for the post of assistant professor.
No, candidates are not guaranteed a job after clearing UGC NET 2025. The exam is just an eligibility requirement to apply for the post of JRF and Assistant Professor at universities and colleges in the country.
As per the eligibility criteria of UGC NET 2025, reserved category candidates are given age relaxation in the UGC NET exam.
Yes, graduates with a 4 year bachelors degree need to meet certain UGC NET eligibility criterias before applying for the examination.
Yes, candidates belonging to the OBC category can avail the UGC NET age relaxation of 5 years.
On Question asked by student community
Hi dear candidate,
You can find the complete syllabus for Paper 1 and 2 along with marking scheme for UGC NET at our official website in PDF format. Kindly refer to the link attached below:
UGC NET Syllabus 2025 - Download UGC NET Subject-wise Syllabus PDF
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If your MBA (Finance) is from an accredited university and you have at least 55% of the possible points (or 50% for reserved categories), you can take the UGC NET in Commerce.
Your MBA in finance is relevant because UGC NET Commerce covers business, accounting, finance, economics, and management topics.
If you are well-versed in the fundamentals of commerce, pick commerce.
As an alternative, you can choose UGC NET Management, which is closely related to MBA courses.
Your subject-matter expertise and career objectives should guide your decision.
Hello,
Here are some links where you can access UGC NET study materials :
Hope it helps !
Hii,
Yes, you can still appear for the UGC NET in Geography, but there's a small change. UGC prefers candidates to write NET in the subject of their post-graduation. However, if your Rural Development MA had strong overlaps with geography topics like environment, population studies, etc., and you feel confident with Geography concepts, you can go for it. Just be ready to justify your choice if asked during verification. Otherwise, another option is to appear for UGC NET in Rural Development if that’s more aligned with your MA.
Thank you for reaching out and all the best for your exam !
Hello,
If you get the EWS certificate after filling the UGC NET form , then it will not be valid for this attempt.
EWS certificate must be valid and available at the time of form submission. You cannot claim EWS benefit later after the form is submitted.
Hope it helps !
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