However, the NTA has introduced major changes to the information bulletin for the exam this year. Major alterations have been incorporated in terms of application fee amount, exam centres, number of subjects and answer key challenge fees.
UGC NET 2022: Application fee increased by 10%
The NTA has raised the application fee for candidates desirous of applying for UGC NET 2022 exam, for merged cycles of December 2021 and June 2022. The approximate raise in the application fee amount corresponds to 10%.
Now, general category candidates are required to pay Rs 1, 100 as the application fee, which was previously fixed as Rs 1,000 last year. Meanwhile, the amount has also gone up by Rs 50 for the OBC-NCL and EWS category candidates, making it to Rs 550, which earlier stood at Rs 500. The fee has also been raised by Rs 25 for the SC/ST/PwD and transgender category candidates, which now amounts to Rs 275.
UGC NET 2022: Number of subjects increased
So far, the UGC NET exam has been conducted for 81 subjects. However, now the UGC has decided to add a new subject to the list, titled 'Hindu Studies', as mentioned in its information bulletin. Hence, now students have the option to select from 82 disciplines while filling the application form for the exam.
UGC NET 2022: Number of exam centers go up by 126%
Now, the UGC NET exam will take place in 541 different cities of the country. Previously, the exam was conducted only in 239 locations. NTA has mentioned the complete list of exam centre cities in the information bulletin for UGC NET exam.
UGC NET 2022: Mode of exam changed
The UGC NET exam 2022 for the December 2021 and June 2022 merged cycles will advance in the Computer based mode now. The exam will unfold in two shifts and will last for a duration of three hours. The first shift will commence at 9 am to continue till 12 pm, while Shift-II will begin at 3 pm and will conclude at 6 pm. Paper I will carry 100 marks, whereas Paper II will carry 200 marks.
The medium of the examination will be bilingual (English and Hindi).