UGC NET Eligibility 2024: Revised Qualification and Age Limit
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The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the UGC NET exam to ascertain candidates' eligibility for the position of Assistant Professor and/or Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in Indian universities and colleges. Lakhs of candidates who wish to appear in the exam must submit their UGC NET Application Form after confirming their eligibility criteria. Before applying for UGC NET 2024, the candidates must be aware of the detailed UGC NET Eligibility 2024. Candidates who fail to meet the UGC NET Eligibility Criteria in terms of educational qualification and age limit will not be approved to appear in the UGC NET examination by NTA.
What is New Change: As per the latest updates, the UGC Chairman Mr. Jagadesh Kumar states that candidates who have completed a four-year undergraduate degree will be eligible to apply online for a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) but not for Assistant Professor. candidates must have obtained a minimum of 75 percent marks or equivalent grades in their four-year undergraduate course. There is also 5-year age relaxation for other categories.
UGC NET Eligibility Criteria 2024
The UGC NET eligibility criteria primarily revolve around a candidate's educational qualifications and age limit, similar to any other exam. The eligibility criteria for the candidates who are planning to prepare for UGC NET 2024 exam is to have a Master's degree in the relevant subject from a recognised university with at least 55% marks in their Master's Degree and a four-year undergraduate degree with 75 percent marks. There is no upper age limit for the role of Assistant Professor and the upper age limit for JRF post is 30 years.
UGC NET Educational Qualification
Candidates need to have the following educational qualifications in order to be eligible to apply for the UGC NET 2024 June exam:
| UGC NET Educational Qualification |
| General/Unreserved/General-EWS candidates who have obtained at least 55% marks (without rounding off) in a Master’s Degree or equivalent examination from universities/institutions recognized by UGC. |
| Candidates who are pursuing their Master’s degree or equivalent course, those who have appeared for their qualifying Master’s degree (final year) examination and whose result is still awaited, or those whose qualifying examinations have been delayed are also eligible to apply for this test. However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and will be eligible for the award of JRF/eligibility for Assistant Professor only after they are declared qualified in their Master’s Degree or equivalent exam with a minimum of 55% marks (50% marks in case of OBC-NCL/ SC / ST / PwD / Third gender category candidates). Also, such candidates should finish their Master’s degree or equivalent exam within two years from the date of NET result with the required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be considered disqualified. |
| Candidates belonging to the Third gender category can avail of the relaxation in fee, age, and Eligibility Criteria for NET (i.e., JRF and Assistant Professor) as prescribed for SC/ST/PwD categories. |
| The Ph.D. degree holders whose Master’s level examination has been completed by 19 September 1991 (irrespective of the date of announcement of result) shall be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (i.e., from 55% to 50%) for participating in NET. |
| Candidates with a post-graduate diploma/certificate awarded by an Indian University/ Institute or a foreign degree/diploma/certificate awarded by a foreign University/ institute should in their own interest, ascertain the equivalence of their diploma/degree/ certificate with a Master’s degree of a recognized Indian universities from Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi |
| Candidates having passed a 4-year/8-semester bachelor’s degree program should have a minimum of 75% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed. A relaxation of 5% marks or its equivalent grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer)/Differently-Abled, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and other categories |
UGC NET Age Limit 2024
The UGC NET age criteria that candidates need to meet in order to be eligible for the posts of JRF and Assistant Professor through the UGC NET June 2024 exam are as follows (as on 01/06/2024):
UGC NET Assistant Professor Age Limit
There is no age limit to apply for the post of UGC NET Assistant Professor or Lectureship. Candidates of all ages can apply for this post.
UGC NET JRF Age Limit
Candidates applying for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) should not be more than 30 years of age on the first day of the month in which the UGC NET 2024 exam concludes. This age limit is applicable for the current examination only.
UGC NET Age Limit Relaxation 2024
Age 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.
| UGC NET Age Limit Relaxation 2024 | |
| Category | Age Relaxation |
| SC/ST/OBC/PwD/Transgender | 5 years |
| Females of all categories | 5 years |
| Candidates having research experience | Limited to the period spent on research (Maximum of 5 years) |
| Candidates holding LLM degree | 3 years |
| Candidates in the armed forces (subject to the length of service in the armed forces) | 5 years |
Note: If we are eligible to apply online for the UGC NET 2024 June exam, you can apply online for the UGC NET application form 2024 from 20th April to 10th May 2024 by visiting the official website https://ugcnet.ntaonline.in.
Reservation Policy for UGC NET Seats
- 15% seats for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.
- 7.5% seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates.
- 27% seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) candidates.
- 10% for General - Economically Weaker Sections candidates.
- 5% seats in the above-mentioned categories for Persons with Disability (PwD) with 40% or more disability.