UGC-NET June 2026 Re-test Ordered for English, Commerce, Sociology; New Dates Announced
The National Testing Agency (NTA) today, August 17, 2026, announced a re-examination for UGC-NET June 2026 candidates in English, Commerce, and Sociology. This decision comes after an expert committee identified significant errors in the original question papers for these three subjects. The re-test will be conducted on September 9 and 10, impacting thousands of candidates who appeared for these subjects. Importantly, candidates who previously took the affected examinations will not be required to pay any additional fees for the re-test.
UGC-NET June 2026 Re-Test Schedule
The National Testing Agency has released a detailed schedule for the re-examination of the three affected subjects. Candidates are advised to note the specific dates and timings for their respective papers to ensure timely appearance.
| Subject | Date | Time | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | September 9 | 9 AM to 12 noon | Shift 1 |
| Commerce | September 9 | 3 pm to 6 pm | Shift 2 |
| Sociology | September 10 | 9 am to 12 noon | Shift 1 |
UGC-NET June 2026 Re-Test: Reasons for Re-Examination
The UGC-NET June 2026 re-test was ordered after an expert committee identified significant errors and irregularities in the English, Commerce, and Sociology question papers.
- Question paper errors: The papers contained factual, typographical and translation-related errors.
- Incorrect content: Names of prominent scholars were misspelled, while some book titles were incorrect or distorted.
- Language issues: Several questions had poor wording, grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and gender and number agreement issues.
- Non-standard terminology: The committee also identified the use of non-standard terminology in the question papers.
- Question repetition: Several questions were found to have been repeated from previous examinations, raising concerns about the integrity of the original papers.
UGC-NET June 2026: Subject-Specific Complaints
The subject-wise complaints reported by candidates in the UGC-NET June 2026 examination are summarised below:
| Subject | Complaints Reported |
|---|---|
| Sociology | Candidates reported spelling and grammatical errors, misspelled scholar names, poor Hindi translations, and questions allegedly outside the prescribed syllabus. |
| Sociology – Name Errors | Examples included ‘Ritzer’ as ‘Putzer’, ‘Parsons’ as ‘Parsow’, ‘Ghurye’ as ‘Ghunye’, and ‘A R Desai’ as ‘A K Desai’. |
| English | Candidates alleged that 67 of 150 questions were identical to those asked in the 2024 examination. |
| Commerce | Candidates later raised similar concerns about repetition of questions from previous examinations. |
Impact on Other UGC-NET June 2026 Subjects
The NTA has clarified that the re-test for English, Commerce, and Sociology will not impede the UGC-NET process for the remaining 84 subjects. Results for these unaffected subjects will be declared according to the existing schedule, ensuring that their academic progression is not delayed. The NTA had previously released provisional answer keys for 84 of the 87 UGC-NET subjects, withholding the keys only for the problematic English, Commerce, and Sociology papers.
For the 84 subjects not impacted by the re-test, the allocation of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) seats and the issuance of eligibility certificates for Assistant Professor positions and PhD admissions will proceed as planned. For English, Commerce, and Sociology, the allocation of JRF seats, Assistant Professor eligibility, and PhD eligibility will strictly adhere to the rules and guidelines outlined in the examination information bulletin, following the completion of the re-test.
UGC-NET June 2026: Eligibility and Qualification Criteria
The UGC-NET is a crucial national-level examination conducted by the NTA in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode since December 2018. It serves to determine eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship, Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D., and admission to Ph.D. only. A key aspect of the qualification criteria is that the number of candidates qualifying for Assistant Professor eligibility will be 6% of the total candidates who appeared in either the original June test or the re-test, whichever figure is higher for the respective subject.
