The
exam pattern/format of UGC NET has been changed w.e.f. from
UGC NET June 2012 onwards. This blog post is being made to let you know of the latest format/scheme of the NET exam, so that you can start preparing accordingly. The notifications for UGC NET June 2013 has already come out and you can find detailed information on the same in my previous blog article titled:
UGC NET June 2013 Notification, Forms & Eligibility.
What has changed in the pattern/Format of UGC NET:
The major change that has been brought from this year onwards is that all three papers of UGC NET are going to be objective. Previously Paper-I & II were of Objective type while Paper-III was Descriptive type. Also the marks allotted to Paper-III has been reduced to 150 instead of 200 as was till last year. So the major change has happened in Paper-III of UGC NET.
With this the paper-wise revised format/pattern of UGC NET is as given in the following table:
As you can see, out of the total 350 marks, 250 marks is for your subject knowledge - more than 70%. So you have to put proper emphasis on your Subject knowledge.
In Paper-I (i.e. Teaching/ Research aptitude) there are 50 questions with 2 marks each. But in this paper, you will have the option to choose any 50 question out of a total of 60 questions. In the other two paper, you will not have this option - 50 questions have to be attempted in Paper-II & 75 questions in Paper-III.
Paper-I & II will be held in the morning half - Paper-I: 09.30 a.m. to 10.45 a.m. & Paper-I:I: 10.45 a.m. to 12.00 Noon. Paper-III will be in the afternoon (01.30 p.m. to 04.00 p.m).
UGC NET Cut-off Marks Category-wise:
Along with the change in the exam pattern, UGC has also changed the minimum cut-off marks for each paper. Now you have to score following minimum cut-off marks in UGC-NET which is given category-wise in the table at right.
As you can see from above, if you are a General category candidate, you need to score 40 marks in each of Paper-I & Paper-II and 75 marks in Paper-III of UGC-NET exam. This cut-off mark till last year was as below:
You should keep in mind that above cut-off mark is the minimum marks - only if you score these marks, you will be considered for publication of result. The final qualifying criteria for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and eligibility for Lectureship shall be decided by UGC before declaration of result.
Hope with above information on Exam pattern/Format for UGC NET you can base your preparation accordingly. You can also go through following previous blog article of mine to know more about UGC NET and how to prepare for the same:
UGC-NET Prep Books & Sample papers: Another source of study material for UGC-NET (besides the syllabus & sample papers above), this post gives you the list of books for UGC-NET exam, subject-wise – it also gives you price of the books and the links to order the books on-line as well as previous years exam papers of UGC-NET.
The examination is meant for Indian nationals and aims to implement uniform standards on aspirants coming into the teaching and analysis field in varied disciplines.