NTA to Re-Conduct UGC NET Exams for English, Commerce, and Sociology After Question Paper Errors

THE NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY (NTA) will be re-conducting the UGC NET exams for Sociology, English, and Commerce subjects, after several candidates complained about the errors in the question papers of these exams. The English and Commerce re-exams are scheduled for September 9, 2026; whereas the Sociology re-exam will be conducted on September 10, 2026. No additional fees will be charged from the students who appeared in these three subjects.

The NTA conducted University Grants Commission - National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) this year during June 22-June 30, 2026, across 87 subjects. This exam is conducted for recruitment to the post of Assistant Professors and Junior Research Fellowship, as well as for PhD admissions. 

After the completion of the exams, several candidates and student groups complained about the question paper and errors within the questions. Large-scale repetitive questions from previous years exam papers and severe spelling mistakes in English and Commerce papers; flawed translations, and jumbled scholar names in Sociology were some of the concerns raised. NTA said the extent of the errors was too significant to be resolved merely by dropping questions during the answer key challenge process.

Addressing the conduction of the re-exam for these three subjects, NTA Director, Abhishek Singh, in a statement given to The Hindu stated the exam agency took the decision after multiple complaints regarding errors in the exam questions papers were flagged. 

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In the interest of holding “free and error-free examinations,” the Committee recommended the decision to conduct re-exams for the specified subjects.

“It has therefore been concluded by NTA that papers carrying such defects do not meet the standards of fairness and error-free examination, and defects of this extent cannot be cured merely by dropping questions after the challenge process,” read a public notice issued by the NTA.

What is the schedule of the UGC NET re-exams for English, Commerce, and Sociology?

The details for the re-exams for English, Commerce, and Sociology are as follows:

NTA will issue separate notifications on the examination city, center, and admit cards for the three papers being re-conducted. Candidates will not be required to pay any additional fee to appear for the re-examination.

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What were the errors in the UGC NET exam paper for English, Commerce, and Sociology?

In the English exam paper, candidates found that 67 out of the total 150 questions were found to be as verbatim as the questions that were in the English paper of the NET held in December 2024, including the sequence of answer options. In Commerce, complaints that alleged that as many as 80 questions were repeated from the same paper.

In the Sociology paper, incorrect names and questions were given that didn't align with the prescribed syllabus. For example, “Ritzer” was written as “Putzer”, “Parsons” as “Parsow”, and “AR Desai” as “AK Desai,” among other errors. Book titles were also garbled.

(Edited by Agniva Ray)

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