NTA is an acronym of National Testing Agency which is an autonomous and self-sustained testing agency set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Department (MHRD) to conduct exams for admission in higher educational institutions.
NTA first came into existence in 2018 and from then the NTA has taken over the responsibility of conducting different exams.
The exams conducted by National Testing Agency are: CSIR NET, UGC NET, JEE Main, NEET-UG, GPAT, AIAPGET. There are also many more such exams conducted by the NTA.
So, keep reading this article to know in detail about the NTA and the exams conducted by it.
About National Testing Agency
NTA (National testing Agency) was established in 2018 as a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization.
It was established with an objective to:
Produce and disseminate information and research on education and professional development standards.
Conduct efficient, transparent and international standards tests in order to assess the competency of candidates for admission, and recruitment purposes.
Identify experts and institutions in setting examination questions.
Undertake research on educational, professional and testing systems to identify gaps in the knowledge systems and take steps for bridging them.
List of NTA Exams
Before 2018, when NTA was not established, these exams were conducted by different organizations like CBSE, CSIR, UGC and many more big organizations.
But from 2018, all these exams are now under National Testing Agency.
The list of NTA Exams is huge. So, we have given the brief details of the major exams conducted by the agency.
These exams are in no particular order.
JEE Main Exam
The most popular and toughest exam conducted in India. JEE Main Exam is conducted for admission to B.E./B.Tech. & B. Arch./B. Planning Courses in IITs, NITs, IIITs, and other CFTIs.
The exam is divided into three Papers:
Paper 1 – For admission to B.E./B.Tech. Courses.
Paper 2 – For admission to B.Arch. Courses.
Paper 3 – For admission to B. Planning Courses.
Every year around 10 lakhs students register for the JEE Main exam. This exam was taken over by the National Testing Agency (NTA) from 2019. Before this, CBSE took the responsibility of conducting the exam.
Who can take JEE Main Exam?
Here are some of the general conditions that a candidate must fulfill to appear in JEE Main Exam:
Candidates who have passed Class 12 with 5 subjects and Physics and Mathematics as their core subjects.
Candidates of any age can take this exam i.e. there is not age limit.
Indian candidates as well as Foreign nationals, NRIs, PIOs, OCIs can also apply for this exam.
There are different conditions for every JEE Main Paper, so you can check them here – JEE Main Eligibility Criteria.
CSIR NET Exam
CSIR NET (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – National Eligibility Test) is conducted for the candidates who want to go for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) or Lectureship (LS) in reputed Universities and Organizations.
This exam is conducted twice in a year in the months of June and December. For every session of this exam, around 2 lakhs candidates register.
From December 2019, CSIR NET exam is being conducted by the NTA. Earlier it was conducted by CSIR.
Candidates who want to take the NTA CSIR NET Exam can apply for either both JRF and Lectureship or only for Lectureship. You cannot take this exam only for JRF.
Who can take CSIR NET Exam?
Candidates who are willing to take this exam should fulfill the below mentioned CSIR NET Eligibility Criteria:
Candidates having bachelor's or masters’ degree with 55% aggregate marks or enrolled for post-graduation are eligible for this exam.
The age limit for Junior Research Fellowship is 28 Years but there is no limit for Assistant Professor.
Free Download CSIR NET 2022 Model Papers
NEET UG Exam
National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) is one of the toughest exams conducted in India. It is conducted for admission to the undergraduate medical courses in all medical institutions including those governed under any other law.
Now NEET Exam is also conducted for admission to MBBS course in AIIMS, New Delhi, JIPMER and all AIIMS like Institutions.
Every year around 14-15 lakhs students register for the NEET UG Exam and around 13-14 lakhs students appear in the exam.
Who is Eligible for NEET UG Exam?
Following are the conditions that need to be satisfied by the candidates who want to take this exam:
Candidates must clear their Class 12 or equivalent with 50% marks from a recognized School/University.
Candidates who have passed their Class 12 from an open school can also take this exam.
Candidates whose minimum age is 17 years can apply for this exam.
There is no upper age limit.
You can find the detailed eligibility criteria here – NEET Eligibility Criteria.
UGC NET Exam
UGC NET Exam is a national level exam conducted to determine the eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Assistant Professorship.
Like CSIR NET, this exam is also conducted twice a year in the months of June and December. Around 10 lakhs candidates register for this exam in every session.
Candidates can take the UGC NET Exam only for Assistant Professorship or JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) & Assistant Professor both.
Who is Eligible for UGC NET Exam?
Candidates need to fulfill the below mentioned conditions to appear in the exam:
Candidates having masters’ degree with 55% aggregate marks can apply for this exam.
Candidates having PhD degree can also apply for this exam.
There is no age limit for for Assistant Professor but candidates who want to apply for JRF should not be more than 30 years of age.
If you want to know the detailed eligibility criteria, then you can visit here – UGC NET Eligibility Criteria.
DUET Exam
Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) is conducted by the National testing Agency (NTA) on behalf of Delhi University. It’s a national-level entrance exam conducted for admission in various UG, PG, MPhil and PhD programmes.
DUET Exam is conducted once in a year and every year around 2 lakhs students register for this exam. It is conducted in online mode i.e. computer-based test.
Who can take DUET Exam?
The eligibility criteria to appear in the DUET Exam is different for every course. So, below we have given the conditions for some of the courses.
For B.Tech:
Candidates who have passed Class 12 with 60% aggregate in four subjects and Mathematics as a compulsory subject are eligible for this exam.
For BA Hons Humanities and Social Sciences:
Candidates who have passed their Class 12 with at least 60% aggregate marks in four subjects can apply for this exam.
For M.Com:
Candidates who have completed their graduation in Commerce with 50% marks for General category candidates, 45% for OBC and 40% for SC/ST categories.
If you want to check the detailed criteria for all the other courses, then you can visit the official website: https://nta.ac.in/DuetExam.
CMAT Exam
CMAT (Common Management Admission Test) is a national level postgraduate entrance exam conducted for admission to various management programs in over 1000 B-Schools across India.
The exam is conducted every year and around 70-80 thousand candidates register for this exam. It is conducted in online mode and consists of Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness subjects.
Who can take the CMAT Exam?
Candidates who are willing to appear in this exam should first check the conditions required to apply for this exam:
Candidates having a Bachelor's degree in any discipline or equivalent from a recognized university are eligible for this exam.
Final year students (10+2+3) whose result will be declared before the admission process for academic year 2021-22 can also apply for this exam.
GPAT Exam
GPAT (Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test) is an entrance exam conducted for admission to various M. Pharma or equivalent courses. There are 800 institutes in India that accepts the GPAT score.
Earlier, this exam was conducted by AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education), but from 2018 it is being conducted by the NTA.
Who is Eligible for GPAT Exam?
Following are the conditions that need to be satisfied by the candidates to appear in this exam:
Candidates having a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy (4 years after 10+2, including lateral entry students) or equivalent from a recognized university are eligible.
Final year students (10+2+4) whose result will be declared before the admission process for academic year 2021-22 can also apply for this exam.
B.Tech. (Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemical Technology)/ equivalent candidates cannot apply for this exam.
There are many more exams that are conducted by the NTA like: JNUEE, NCHM JEE, AICE-JRF/SRF(PhD), IIFT, IGNOU Exam. To check the details about these exams, you can visit the official website of NTA here.
So, these all are the major NTA Exams that are conducted by the agency. Hope you have a brief idea about these exams.
You can also share this article with your friends or relatives so that they should also know about these exams.
If you have any queries/doubt regarding this article then you can mention it in the comments section below. We will resolve your doubts as early as possible.
If you want to give an extra edge to your preparation for CSIR NET Exam then download the Eduncle App, where you can get answers to all your doubts from a pan-India community of students and experts.
