NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released a revised information bulletin for UGC NET 2026 December exams. Along with the changes in exam dates, NTA has also changed a few important rules for candidates. The revised UGC NET 2026 bulletin is available online on the official website of NTA, ugcnet.nta.nic.in. As per the revised UGC NET December 2026 exam dates, the test will be held from December 14 to 18 and on December 21, 2026. The bulletin also gives details of the application deadline, late fee period and application correction window.
UGC NET December 2026 exam will be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode. The subject-wise schedule, including the date and shift allotted to individual candidates, will be announced separately. The test will be of 180 minutes, or three hours, with no break between Paper 1 and Paper 2.
UGC NET December 2026: Important Dates
UGC NET December 2026: Major Changes
1. Examination dates revised
Earlier, the National Testing Agency (NTA) notified that the UGC NET December 2026 exam will be held from December 4 to 19. Whereas December 20 and 21 were kept as buffer dates. However, as per the revised bulletin, the UGC NET exam will be conducted from December 14 to 18 and on December 21, 2026. Complete details related to the subject-wise exam schedule for individual subjects will be released separately.
2. Pen will be provided at respective UGC NET exam centres
As per the previous guidelines, candidates were not allowed to carry a pen to the exam centre. The revised bulletin now clearly states that candidates will be given a pen at the UGC NET exam centre. Hence, they do not have to bring their own pens.
3. Rules for unanswered questions
The revised UGC NET bulletin states clearly that if a candidate selects and saves an answer, it will be checked even if the question is marked for review. For example, if you choose option B but mark the question to review it later, your answer will still be evaluated. However, if you mark a question for review without selecting any option, it will be treated as unanswered and you will not get any marks for it.
In simple words, If a candidate marks a question for review after selecting and saving an answer, it will still be evaluated. However, if the candidate marks a question for review without selecting any answer, it will be considered by NTA as unanswered.
4. Examination city selection rules amended
Earlier, UGC NET candidates were to select any four preferred exam cities as per their priority which were to be within the state or Union Territory of their permanent or present address. But, as per the revised rules, candidates are given some flexibility. If fewer than four exam cities are available in their state or Union Territory, candidates can choose from the other cities listed on the application portal. This gives candidates more options to select as exam centers while filling the UGC NET application form 2026.
5. Application correction rules clarified
As per the prior bulletin, candidates could not request changes to their application details at any stage. The revised rules simplify that candidates can make allowed corrections during the correction window. Once the window closes, NTA will not accept any further requests to change details such as name, date of birth, category, contact information, photograph, signature or exam city preference. Candidates who will send requests by post, fax, WhatsApp, email or in person will also not be accepted.
6. Normalisation of marks
The revised bulletin says that the UGC NET December 2026 exam will be held in one shift for each subject. However, if a subject has to be held in multiple shifts due to unavoidable reasons, then in such case, equi-percentile method will be used by NTA to normalise the marks. If a subject is held in only one shift, marks will be calculated using the percentile method without normalisation.
The official website for application-related updates, examination city intimation slips, admit cards and other announcements is ugcnet.nta.nic.in. Candidates are advised to check the portal regularly for the subject-wise examination schedule and any subsequent notifications issued by NTA.
