UGC NET Eligibility 2023: Age Limit, Qualification, Reservation

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the post of Assistant Professor or for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Assistant Professor in Indian universities and colleges.

To be eligible to take the UGC NET examination, candidates must meet certain criteria set by the CBSE. They must hold a Master's degree in the relevant subject with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point-scale wherever the grading system is followed) from a recognized university or equivalent degree from a foreign educational institution. Candidates who are appearing for their Master's degree final examination are also eligible to appear for the UGC NET examination. The age limit for JRF is maximum of 30 years for general category candidates and for Assistant Professor there is no upper age limit. In addition to these, the candidates have to meet other conditions as specified by the CBSE such as having a valid domicile certificate and a valid identity proof.

UGC NET eligibility criteria 2023 for JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) and Assistant Professorship are different. It is mandatory for the applicant to have a Master’s degree in the relevant subject from a recognized university. The upper age limit for JRF has been increased from 30 years to 31 years. The applicant must have at least 55% marks in their Master’s Degree. Solve UGC NET Previous Years Papers.

NTA has released an urgent notice regarding the December 2022 session application process for JRF candidates. The notification for the exam was released on December 29, 2022. However, the NET bureau of CBSE has requested NTA to make a correction regarding the JRF age limit. Earlier, in the official notification, the age limit was written as February 1, 2023. As per the update, the JRF upper age limit will be up to December 01, 2022, for the December 2022 session. The age of the candidate should not be more than 30 years as of December 01, 2022. There is no upper age limit for Assistant Professors applying for the exam.

UGC NET notification has been released on the official website. Aspiring candidates must check subject-wise UGC NET Cutoff before applying. Also, check the detailed UGC NET Syllabus

UGC NET Eligibility: Educational Qualification

Candidates securing at least 55% marks in their Master’s Degree or equivalent from a recognized university in Humanities (including languages), Social Science, Computer Science and Applications, Electronic Science, etc. are eligible to appear for the UGC NET exam conducted by NTA.

• However, candidates belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer of Other Backward Classes (OBC-NC), Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Persons with Disability (PwD), and Transgender category have to score at least 50% marks.
• Candidates who are pursuing their Master’s degree or are waiting for their result or whose qualifying examinations have been delayed can apply for the test. However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and will be considered for award of JRF or recruitment as Assistant Professor only when they will pass their Master’s Degree with at least 55% marks (50% marks for reserved category).in addition, they are required to complete their Master's degree within two years from the date of the UGC NET 2023 Result with the required percentage of marks, failing which they will be treated as disqualified.
• Candidates with a PhD degree whose Master’s level examination was completed before September 19, 1991 (irrespective of the date of declaration of result) will be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (i.e. from 55% to 50%) for appearing in UGC NET 2023.
• Transgender candidates will be provided with the same relaxation in exam fee, age, and qualifying criteria for NET (i.e. JRF and Assistant Professor) as are available to SC/ ST/ PwD categories. However, the required subject-wise cutoffs for the Transgender category will be the lowest among all the reserved categories including SC/ ST/ PwD/ OBC–NCL in the respective subject.
• Candidates are suggested to choose the same NET subject for Paper 2 as their specialization in Post Graduation. However, if your Post-Graduation subject is not covered in the list of 81 NET subjects, you can appear in a related subject.
• Candidates possessing Post Graduation Diploma/ Certificate awarded by Indian University/ Institute or Foreign Degree/ Diploma/ Certificate awarded by a Foreign University/ Institute should in their own interest, ascertain the equivalence of their Diploma/ Degree/ Certificate with Master’s Degree of recognized Indian universities from Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi.

UGC NET Age Limit and Relaxation 2023

UGC NET Age Limit and Relaxation for Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professorship are given below:

1. Junior Research Fellow (JRF): Candidates should not be more than 31 years as of June 01, 2023.

• Candidates belonging to OBC-NC, SC, ST, PwD categories, Transgenders, and Women applicants are provided with a relaxation of up to 5 years.
• Candidates with research experience will also be provided age relaxation equivalent to the years/ period spent on research in the respective subject or Post Graduation Degree.
• Relaxation to researchers can be of up to 5 years and will only be provided on production of a certificate from the appropriate authority.
• Candidates with L.L.M. Degree will be permitted an upper age relaxation of 3 years.
• Candidates who have served in the armed forces will be provided with the benefit of relaxation of up to 5 years subject to the length of service in the armed forces up to June 01, 2023.
• Total age relaxation on the above grounds shall not exceed 5 years under any circumstances.

2. Assistant Professor: There is no upper age limit to apply for Assistant Professor.

UGC NET Exemptions for Assistant Professor

NET/ SET/ SLET is the minimum eligibility condition for the recruitment and appointment of the Assistant Professorship in Indian Universities and Colleges. However, certain exemptions 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 passed UGC/ CSIR/ JRF examination before 1989 are exempted from appearing in NET.
• Candidates who have cleared State Eligibility Test (SET) accredited by UGC for Assistant Professor held before June 01, 2002, are exempted from appearing in NET and are eligible to apply for Assistant Professor anywhere in India.
• However, candidates qualified in SET held after June 01, 2003, are eligible to apply for the post of Assistant Professor only in the universities and colleges situated in the respective states.

UGC NET eligibility criteria have been recently updated by the conducting body. Specifically, the upper age limit for JRF has been increased to 31 years. Earlier, it was 30 years for the Reserved category. The applicants must check the UGC NET exam dates, admit card release date and other important details by regularly visiting the website of NET.