UGC NET 2025 Cut-offs Vary Widely Across Subjects; English Sees Sharp Rise, Economics Declines

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the provisional answer keys for the University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) December 2025 cycle across 85 subjects. The answer keys are available on the official website, ugcnet.nta.nic.in, for examinations conducted between December 31 and January 7.

Alongside the release, an analysis of UGC NET cut-off trends over the past two years reveals significant variations across major subjects for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Assistant Professor, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) eligibility, particularly among reserved categories.

For JRF eligibility, cut-off marks in economics and education have declined across all reserved categories. In economics, the qualifying marks for the OBC–Non Creamy Layer (NCL) category dropped from 198 to 184, while the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) cut-off decreased from 200 to 186 over the last two years. In contrast, English witnessed a sharp rise in cut-offs, with the OBC (NCL) threshold jumping dramatically from 99.07 to 176.

A similar trend was observed for Assistant Professor eligibility. While cut-offs for economics and education were reduced, English again recorded a steep increase. The OBC (NCL) cut-off for English rose from 91.32 to 150, indicating growing competition in the subject.

For PhD eligibility, the data shows a mixed pattern. Cut-offs for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates in economics declined, whereas both categories saw an increase in psychology, reflecting stronger performance or higher competition in that discipline.

According to NTA, the UGC NET December 2025 cut-offs will be determined by several factors, including the number of candidates appearing for each subject, overall and subject-wise performance, the difficulty level of question papers, the normalisation process, and the availability of qualifying slots for JRF, Assistant Professor, and PhD admissions.

The December 2025 examination saw participation from 7,35,592 candidates, conducted over six exam days. Attendance across sessions ranged between 71 per cent and 75 per cent.

The NTA is expected to declare the UGC NET December 2025 results along with subject-wise cut-offs for all three eligibility categories in the coming weeks.