UGC NET December 2026 exam dates change: now 14 to 18 and 21 December, city slip on 23 November

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued a corrigendum to the UGC NET December 2026 Information Bulletin. The revised bulletin is dated 16 October 2026 and replaces the version published on 8 October. If you noted down the exam dates from the first notice, update them now.

What changed in the dates

Event	First bulletin (8 October)	Revised bulletin (16 October)
Exam dates	14 to 19 December 2026, with 20 and 21 December as a buffer	14 to 18 December and 21 December 2026
Exam city intimation	To be intimated later	23 November 2026
Admit card download	To be intimated later	7 December 2026

The exam is still computer based, 180 minutes in one sitting with no break between Paper 1 and Paper 2. Shift timings are still to be announced, and your date, centre and shift will be on your admit card.

What did not change

• Apply by: 8 to 28 October 2026, up to 11:50 pm. The fee must also be paid by 28 October.
• Late fee window: 29 to 31 October 2026, with an extra ₹500 on top of the category fee.
• Correction window: 2 to 4 November 2026.
• Fee: ₹1,150 for General, ₹600 for Gen-EWS and OBC-NCL, ₹325 for SC, ST, third gender and PwD candidates, plus gateway charges and GST.

Rule changes worth reading

• Marked for review still counts. The first bulletin said no marks would be given for questions marked for review. The revised one says questions you answered are evaluated whether or not you marked them for review. Unanswered questions are not evaluated.
• Result format. The result will be declared in marks along with the percentile score, so the marks can be used for PhD admission. NTA plans to hold each subject in a single shift. If a subject does run in two or more shifts, marks are normalised using the equi-percentile method.
• Gates close 30 minutes early. Centre gates will shut 30 minutes before the exam starts, and a candidate who arrives after that will not be allowed in.
• Barred items. The revised list no longer names water and now bars watches.
• Papers in two languages. The papers are bilingual, in English and Hindi, except the language papers, where questions are in that language.
• City choice. Where fewer than four exam cities are available for you, you choose from the ones shown, and you can revise your preferences in the correction window.
• Disability claims and certificates. No PwD or PwBD claim will be entertained after the application window closes. The bulletin now spells out which certificate to upload: a UDID or disability certificate for blindness, locomotor disability affecting both arms and cerebral palsy, and the scribe certificate in Annexure VI (40% or more, with difficulty in writing) or Annexure VIII (below 40%, with difficulty in writing). Only candidates who submit these get a scribe or 20 minutes of compensatory time per hour.
• Corrections. Changes to particulars are not considered after the correction window closes, and then only for fields NTA permits to be edited.

What to do now

1. If you have not applied, finish by 28 October. Waiting for the late-fee window costs ₹500 extra for no benefit.
2. Put 23 November and 7 December in your calendar for the city slip and the admit card.
3. Plan your travel only after the admit card shows your date and shift, and reach the centre well before the gate closes.
4. Use the correction window on 2 to 4 November to fix details and revisit your city choices.

For the syllabus, eligibility and last year's cut-offs, read our UGC NET December 2026 guide. Our earlier story on the application opening is here; its exam dates are now superseded by this notice.

CareerBox News Desk, reporting on the National Testing Agency’s corrigendum to the Information Bulletin of the UGC NET December 2026 examination, dated 16 October 2026. Official portal: ugcnet.nta.nic.in. Dates and eligibility change; confirm them on the official portal before you act.