UGC-NET June 2026: NTA Orders Re-Exam for English, Commerce, Sociology Over Errors; Rahul Gandhi Slams Agency

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has ordered a fresh examination for UGC-NET June 2026 candidates in English, Commerce and Sociology after an expert committee found serious errors in the question papers. The re-test will be held on September 9 and 10, and candidates who appeared for the three affected subjects will not have to pay any additional examination fee.

New Exam Dates And Timings

According to the NTA notice, the English paper will be conducted on September 9 from 9 AM to 12 noon in Shift 1. The Commerce examination will follow on the same day from 3 pm to 6 pm in Shift 2. The Sociology paper will be held on September 10 from 9 am to 12 noon in Shift 1.

NTA Orders Re-Exam For UGC-NET June 2026 English, Commerce And Sociology Papers Over Errors

📢 UGC-NET June 2026 | Important Notice

NTA had received several complaints about multiple errors in the papers of English, Commerce and Sociology. NTA formed a committee to enquire into and look into these errors and as per the recommendation of the committee, NTA will… pic.twitter.com/oejnlRSe0c

— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) August 16, 2026

The agency said the re-test was necessary after an expert committee examined complaints received from candidates and reviewed the three question papers. UGC-NET June 2026: NTA Announces Re-Exam Date for English, Commerce, Sociology After Question Paper Errors.

Committee Finds Factual, Language And Translation Errors

The committee's findings point to failures that go beyond minor printing mistakes. The three papers contained factual, typographical and translation-related errors, according to the NTA.

The problems included misspelled names of well-known scholars, incorrect or distorted book titles and poorly worded questions. The committee also identified grammatical mistakes, errors involving gender and number agreement, punctuation problems and the use of non-standard terminology for established concepts. More seriously, the committee found that a significant number of questions had been repeated from earlier examinations. UGC NET June 2026: NTA Puts English, Commerce, Sociology Answer Key on Hold.

The NTA has now accepted that papers containing such defects cannot be treated as meeting the required standard of a fair and error-free examination.

Decision Comes After Complaints From Candidates

The UGC-NET June 2026 examination was conducted between June 22 and 30 across 87 subjects. The test is a crucial examination for candidates seeking Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Assistant Professor eligibility. It is also used for admission to PhD programmes.

Candidates from the three affected subjects raised concerns over the quality of the question papers following the examination. The complaints eventually led to a committee review and the decision to conduct fresh tests.

For candidates who have spent months preparing for a national-level examination, the re-test means another round of preparation, travel and uncertainty. While the NTA has waived the additional fee, the disruption itself remains significant.

Other 84 Subjects Will Not Be Affected

The NTA has made it clear that the re-test will not hold up the UGC-NET process for the remaining 84 subjects. Results for those subjects will be declared according to the existing schedule. The agency has also said that the allocation of JRF seats and the issuance of eligibility certificates for Assistant Professor positions and PhD admissions will not be delayed because of the re-examination.

For English, Commerce and Sociology, the NTA said the allocation of JRF seats, Assistant Professor eligibility and PhD eligibility will follow the rules laid down in the examination information bulletin.

Rahul Gandhi Slams NTA Over UGC-NET Paper Errors

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a scathing attack on the government and the National Testing Agency after the three UGC-NET papers were cancelled and rescheduled, saying students were being made to pay for the exam body's mistakes.

Rahul Gandhi Slams UGC-NET Retest

Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done.

UGC-NET exams for Sociology, English and Commerce were held between 22 and 30 June. Nearly two months later, NTA has cancelled all three because it set faulty papers and repeated old questions.

Thousands of candidates who prepared… https://t.co/TUMhhMhjvL

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 17, 2026

"Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done," Gandhi said in a post on X, questioning why thousands of candidates who had spent months preparing for the examination would have to appear again because of errors made by the testing agency.

"Thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled out forms, paid the fees, travelled to distant centres, must now do it all again in September. NTA makes the mistake, but the student serves the sentence," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2026 10:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).