UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026: Age Limit, Educational Qualification, Relaxation & Reservation for June Session

The UGC NET 2026 June session notification released on April 29 at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. Candidates can check below the UGC NET eligibility criteria for 2026 June session including the educational qualifications, age limit, and relaxation norms, before filling out the UGC NET application form.

UGC NET Eligibility 2026 for JRF & Lecturership

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026: The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the UGC NET 2026 June session notification on the official website at ugcnet.nta.nic.in on April 29. The UGC NET application form link is available for registration on the official website along with the notification. The last date to apply is May 20. The last date to pay the fees is May 20. The application correction window will also open from May 22 to 24. The exam will be conducted online as Computer Based Test (CBT) mode for 85 subjects. Candidates need to go through the eligibility criteria before applying for the UGC NET exam. The exam city will be released by June 10 and admit card by June 15, 2026. The candidates must check the UGC NET eligibility before applying for the UGC NET 2026 exam for the June session. 

For the ease of candidates, we have shared here the complete UGC NET eligibility 2026 regarding educational qualification, age limit, and relaxation norms for reserved category candidates such as SC, ST, OBC, and PwD. Go through the eligibility details below before filling out the application form for the NTA UGC NET exam. 

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026

According to the UGC NET eligibility criteria for 2026, NTA revised the upper age limit for JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) on January 5, 2023. The candidates must not be more than 30 years old as on first day of the month in which the examination is concluded that is June 1, 2026 to apply for UGC JRF. Candidates who meet the UGC NET 2026 eligibility requirements will be able to fill out the application form. Candidates must go through the NET JRF eligibility criteria and NET Assistant Professors/Lecturers eligibility criteria before applying. The UGC NET is conducted twice every year to determine the qualifying status of candidates to be JRFs, Assistant Professors and PhD only. Scroll down to learn about the UGC NET 2026 eligibility criteria in detail.

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UGC NET Eligibility 2026: Educational Qualification

Candidates need to have the following educational qualifications to be eligible to apply for the UGC NET exam:

• Candidates should have secured at least 55 per cent marks in master’s degree exams. A relaxation of five per cent is given to candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Other Backward Class (OBC)/Persons with Disability (PwD)/Transgender category. Therefore, candidates from reserved categories require only 50 per cent aggregate marks in their master’s degree exams.
• Candidates should have completed their post-graduation from a UGC-recognised college/university in relevant streams such as Humanities, Social Science, Electronic Science, Computer Science & Applications, etc
• Candidates appearing in or awaiting results for their final year examination for a master’s degree are also eligible to apply online for the UGC NET exam. However, such candidates are admitted provisionally and are considered eligible only when they pass their master’s exam with the required percentage. “Such candidates must complete their PG degree examination within two years from the date of NET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified”, informs the official website.
• PhD degree holders whose master’s exams were completed on September 19, 1991 (regardless of the result declaration date) are eligible for a relaxation of five per cent marks in the aggregate i.e., from 55 per cent to 50 per cent marks are required for such candidates.

Also Read:

• List of UGC NET subjects

UGC NET Age Limit 2026

The UGC NET age criteria that candidates need to meet to be eligible for the exam are as follows:

UGC NET Assistant Professor Age Limit 2026

There is no age limit to apply for the post of UGC NET Assistant Professor or Lecturership.

NTA NET JRF Age Limit 2026 

Candidates applying for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) should not be more than 30 years of age as on the first day of the month i.e., 1/6/2026 in which the UGC NET 2026 exam concludes, that is, June. This age limit is applicable for the current examination only.

UGC NET JRF Age Limit Relaxation 2026

Relaxation of JRF age criteria is given to SC, ST, OBC, PwD, women, and other category candidates. Have a look at the age relaxation for the reserved categories below. 

NET JRF Eligibility: Those candidates who appeared for NET JRF are eligible for both Assistant Professors and fellowships programmes. Also, a candidate who qualifies for JRF will be deemed qualified for a lectureship. But, it is important to note here that if a candidate qualifies for a lectureship, he or she won't be considered qualified for JRF. In this case, a candidate will be considered for a lectureship only.

UGC NET Eligibility 2026: Exemptions (For Assistant Professor)

The exemptions in UGC NET eligibility criteria 2026 apply only to the candidates applying for the Assistant Professor post. These exemptions are:

• NET/SET/SLET shall remain the minimum eligibility condition for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professors in Universities/Colleges/Instructions/ In this regard, exemption from NET/SET/SLET will be governed by UGC regulations and amendments notified in the Gazette of India from time to time.
• Candidates who have cleared UGC/CSIR JRF examination before 1989 are exempted from appearing for the UGC NET exam.
• Those who have cleared the State Eligibility Test (SET) such as MH SET, APSET, KSET, etc. before June 1, 2002, are exempted from appearing for the UGC NET exam. Such candidates can apply for the post of Assistant Professor in colleges/ universities across India based on their SET score.
• Those who have cleared the State Eligibility Test after June 1, 2002, can apply for the post of Assistant Professor only in colleges/ universities that are located in the state from where they have cleared the SET exam.

Also Read: How to prepare for UGC NET 2026? 

UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026: Reservation Policy

The reservation policy applicable to the UGC NET exam is as per the Government of India rule. Accordingly, the seats are reserved in the central universities and institutes which are deemed to be universities. The reservation of seats is given below.

Also Read:

UGC NET exam centres

UGC NET Subject Eligibility 2026

One of the most important eligibility criteria for the UGC NET exam is the selection of the appropriate subject while submitting the application form. The UGC NET exam comprises Paper 1 and Paper 2. While Paper 1, that is, 'General Paper on Teaching and Research Aptitude' is compulsory for all, candidates need to choose an appropriate subject for Paper 2. As per the official UGC NET notification 2026, candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their Post-Graduation only. However, there are some exceptions as mentioned below:

• Candidates with a Master’s Degree in Geography (with specialisation in Population Studies) or Mathematics/ Statistics are also eligible to appear for 'Population Studies (Subject Code 015).
• Candidates with a Master’s Degree in Humanities (including languages) and Social Sciences are eligible to appear for 'Women Studies' (Subject Code 074).

Important Points for UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2026

Some of the important points that candidates need to note regarding UGC NET eligibility criteria are:

• Candidates are recommended to give the UGC NET 2026 exam in the subject of their post-graduation only
• If the post-graduation subject is not covered in the list of subjects given by UGC, candidates may appear in a related subject as per the official recommendation
• Those holding a post-graduate diploma/certificate from an Indian university or degree/diploma/certificate from a foreign university must determine if their diploma/degree/certificate is equivalent to a master’s degree from a recognised Indian university.
• The equivalence must be determined by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi

At last, the eligibility will be determined in the following manner:

As per the official notification, The JRF-qualified candidates are admitted into the Ph.D. programme based on an interview as per the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2022.

UGC-NET under category-2 & category-3 can be used as an entrance test for Ph.D. admission in place of entrance tests conducted by the different universities/HEIs for admission to Ph.D.

For candidates qualified under the category-2 and category-3, the marks obtained in the NET will have 70% weightage and 30% weightage will be based on the performance in the interview/viva voce conducted by the University/HEI concerned. The Ph.D. admission will be based on the combined merit of NET marks and the marks obtained in the interview/viva voce.

For admission to Ph.D., the marks obtained in the NET by the candidates in category-2 and category-3 will be valid for a period of one year from the date of declaration of the result of UGC-NET.

The number of candidates who will be qualified for ‘admission to the Ph.D. only’ will be decided by the results committee.

The result of NET will be declared in percentile along with the marks/normalized marks (in case of multiple shifts) obtained by a candidate to utilize the marks for admission to Ph.D. In case the test for a subject(s) is conducted in two or multiple shifts, the marks will be normalized by using the Equi-percentile method (as per Appendix-IX), and the result will be declared in percentile along with normalized marks. 

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