The NTA is an autonomous body under the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of India. Established in November 2017, the NTA was created to conduct entrance examinations, admissions, and recruitment processes for higher educational institutions in India, specifically in fields such as engineering, medicine, management, and pharmacy. The NTA operates under the jurisdiction of the Government of India and is headquartered on the first floor of the NSIC-MDBP Building in Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi.

The NTA is led by Pradeep Kumar Joshi as Chairman, with Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS, holding additional charge as Director General. The agency's official website is nta.ac.in.

The origins of the NTA can be traced back to the Programme of Action 1992, linked to the National Policy of Education 1986, which proposed conducting national-level standard entrance tests for professional and non-professional programs. The idea gained traction in 2010 with a report submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), now the Ministry of Education, by a committee composed of directors from various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The report recommended the creation of a national testing agency by an Act of Parliament to ensure independence and transparency in conducting large-scale examinations.

In 2013, the MHRD constituted a seven-member task force to develop a blueprint for creating the National Testing Agency. This move followed a decision made in April 2013 to establish the agency. In 2017, the Finance Minister announced the NTA in the budget speech, and the Cabinet subsequently approved its formation. Vineet Joshi was appointed as the agency's first director-general.

On July 7, 2018, the former Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the NTA would conduct the Joint Entrance Examination–Main (JEE Main) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) twice a year. Additionally, the NTA was tasked with conducting the National Eligibility Test (NET), the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), and the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT).

The NTA is administered by a governing body that includes a chairperson, a secretary, and eight or more officials representing various national-level institutes. The Union Cabinet initially allocated ₹25 crore to the NTA to start its operations, with financing provided by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.

Exams Conducted:

The NTA conducts several national-level exams annually, which are divided into exams for universities and colleges, recruitment, and schools.

Exams for Universities and Colleges:

• Joint Entrance Examination (Main) (JEE-Main)
• National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG)
• Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)
• Common University Entrance Test (CUET)
• Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT)
• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Test
• Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examination
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research Entrance Examination
• National Council for Hotel Management Joint Entrance Examination (NCHMJEE)
• Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET)
• National Institute of Fashion Technology Entrance Examination
• All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET)
• Joint Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (JIPMAT)
• Graduate Aptitude Test – Biotechnology (GAT-B)
• Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET)

Exams for Recruitment:

• University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET)
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research National Eligibility Test (CSIR-NET)
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Recruitment Exam
• Biomedical Research Eligibility Test (BRET)
• Military Nursing Service Recruitment Exam
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Recruitment Exam
• National Horticulture Board Recruitment Exam
• Uttarakhand High Court Recruitment Exam
• Employees' Provident Fund Organisation Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (EPFO-LDCE)
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (NVS-LDCE)

Exams for Schools:

• Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Classes in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA)
• Navyug School Sarojini Nagar Entrance Test (NSSNET)
• All India Sainik Schools Entrance Exam (AISSEE)

Since its inception, the NTA has faced several controversies involving allegations of misconduct, technical issues, and discrepancies in exam processes.

In 2020, Neel Nakshatra Das, a candidate for JEE Mains, was involved in a scam where a substitute took the exam on his behalf. Das subsequently scored 99.8 percentile and topped the exam in Assam. Seven individuals were arrested, including Bhargav Deka, the owner of a coaching institute, Global Edu Light, employees of Tata Consultancy Services, the candidate Neel Nakshatra Das, his father Jyotirmoy Das, and an invigilator.

In the NEET (UG) 2020 exam, the NTA incorrectly declared Vidhi Suryavanshi, a candidate from Madhya Pradesh, as having scored only six marks, leading to her suicide. Later, it was found that she had scored 590 marks. In another case, the NTA allegedly declared Mridul Rawat failed, but after rechecking, it was claimed that he had topped the exam in the ST category. The NTA refuted these claims, stating that Rawat had scored 329 marks, not 650 as alleged.

The NTA was criticised for technical issues during the JEE (Main) 2022 examination, leading to lower student scores. Glitches in the answer key and response sheets were also reported, causing dissatisfaction among candidates.

The NTA was criticised for irregularities in the difficulty level of question papers in JEE-Main 2024, which affected the normalisation of marks and led to lower candidate scores.

Discrepancies were reported in the distribution of students across shifts during the January 2024 session of JEE Mains. Allegations of an uneven distribution of candidates led to claims of major disparities in percentiles. The NTA later released data denying any uneven distribution.

On April 4, 2024, the NTA reported one case of impersonation and nine cases of cheating during the JEE Mains exam. The offenders were detected through artificial intelligence-enabled monitoring and biometric verification. The agency disqualified 39 candidates for three years due to their involvement in unfair practices.

In the NEET (UG) 2024 exam, the paper was leaked in Patna, Bihar, and a gang allegedly charged ₹30 lakhs to ₹50 lakhs from candidates to provide them with question papers. The NTA also faced criticism for the early release of NEET-UG results, which coincided with the 2024 Indian general election results. Concerns were raised about the credibility of the results, especially after a sudden increase in the number of candidates scoring full marks. The Supreme Court later intervened, ruling out a re-examination and confirming no large-scale leak of the NEET (UG) 2024 paper.

The UGC-NET conducted on June 18, 2024, was cancelled after the University Grants Commission received inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre indicating that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised. Following the increased issues hindering the conduct of exams, the Ministry of Education formed a seven-member high-level committee on June 22, 2024, to recommend reforms in exams and data security in the country. The committee is also tasked with reviewing the structure and functioning of the NTA.

These incidents highlight the challenges faced by the NTA in managing large-scale national examinations and ensuring the integrity of the processes. The agency continues to operate under the scrutiny of the public, educational institutions, and the judiciary to maintain transparency and fairness in its examination procedures.