University Grants Commission (UGC) will now allow students with four-year undergraduate degrees to directly appear for the NET Exam for admissions into PhD programmes. As per the announcement by UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar, UG students can now directly enter PhD courses.
As per the Chairman, students will be allowed to appear for the National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) for admission into post-doctorate courses if they have secured an aggregate of at least 75 percent during their bachelor's.
Earlier on, only those students who have cleared their Masters degree programmes with 55 percent aggregate or above were eligible to appear for the UGC NET Exam. However, with these reforms, students would no longer have to secure a PG degree before their PhD.
"The candidates with four-year undergraduate degrees can now directly pursue PhD and appear for NET. Such candidates are allowed to appear (for tests) in a subject in which they want to pursue a PhD irrespective of the discipline in which they have obtained the four-year bachelor's degree," the UGC Chairman told news agency PTI.
While students in the general category must secure 75 percent aggregate, a five percent relaxation will be offered to students belonging from the SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), differently-abled, economically weaker sections and other categories.
Students will have an option to pursue PhD degree courses through without or without the Junior Research Fellowship programme as long as their grades meet the eligibility criteria.
As per the 2024 information bulletin for the NET June Exam, "candidates having passed a 4-year/8-semester bachelor’s degree programme should have a minimum of 75% marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed".
The guidelines to allow UG students to pursue PhD programmes for introduced n 2022. While introducing the scheme two years ago, the UGC Chairman stated that this method will encourage UG students with a "research bent mind" to pursue a PhD, which in turn will improve the "research ecosystem of the Higher Education Institutions of India."
Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency has opened the application process for the UGC NET 2024 Exam, which is scheduled for June 16.Interested candidates can apply for the exam on the official website - ugcnet.nta.ac.in. The last date to apply for the NET June Exam is May 10.
