2 weeks ago
UGC-NET Re-Exam: NTA's Question Paper Process Under Scrutiny
The UGC-NET is a big test that students in India take, run by an agency called the NTA.
When the test happened in June, officials found mistakes in three papers: English, Commerce, and Sociology.
The mistakes were too many to fix by removing the bad questions.
So the NTA decided those subjects would be tested again on September 9.
The NTA uses a very careful system to make test papers.
Experts write many more questions than the test needs so no one knows which will be used.
Other experts double-check the answers, and translations are verified too.
Question writers work in a locked building without their phones.
Even with all these checks, typos and repeated questions can still slip through.
People will be watching the new test to see if things go more smoothly.
NTA ordered a re-examination of UGC-NET English, Commerce and Sociology papers after finding "multiple errors" in them.
The flawed papers, originally conducted between June 22 and June 30, will be held afresh on September 9.
NTA says the defects were too extensive to be fixed by dropping individual questions after the challenge process.
Question papers pass through question banks, moderation, independent vetting, translation checks and algorithm-based randomisation.
Officials say repeated questions can occur when older sets are mixed with newer ones, while typos stem from proofreading and translation lapses.
- Who
- The National Testing Agency (NTA), the exam body that conducts UGC-NET, along with subject experts, moderators, vetters and translators involved in paper preparation.
- What
- A re-examination of UGC-NET English, Commerce and Sociology papers, which were scrapped after being found to contain extensive defects.
- Where
- India; question papers are prepared at the NTA's premises in Delhi.
- When
- The re-examination is scheduled for September 9; the original papers were conducted between June 22 and June 30.
- Why
- The three papers contained "multiple errors" so extensive that NTA concluded they could not be cured merely by dropping questions after the challenge process.
Key facts
- Exam
- UGC-NET
- Affected papers
- English, Commerce, Sociology
- Original exam period
- June 22-30
- Re-exam date
- September 9 (English 9 am-noon; Commerce 3 pm-6 pm)
- Question bank size
- At least five times the number of questions required for an examination
- Translation languages
- Entire question bank translated into 12 Indian languages; most NTA exams conducted in 13 languages
- Question-setting location
- NTA's Delhi premises, with experts' phones and devices surrendered
- Supreme Court affidavit
- Filed by the government on August 4 describing the paper preparation process
Quotes
NTA source familiar with the process
An official at NTA overseeing paper‑setting procedures.
“Even after the panels have completed their work, the final combination of questions is not known to any one person. The exact paper emerges only at the final generation stage.”
NDTV
“Repetition can happen when some questions from an earlier set are carried forward and then get mixed with questions generated for a subsequent set.”
NDTV
Sources
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