The NTA will conduct the UGC NET 2025 December session exam from December 31, 2025 to January 7, 2026 for 85 subjects. The whole schedule subject-wise was released at ugcnet.nta.nic.in. Scroll down to know about the UGC NET subject list along with names and codes.
UGC NET Subject List 2025: The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the detailed subject-wise schedule for the December session. The UGC NET 2025 exam will be conducted from December 31 to January 7, 2026. The city intimation slip was also released. The admit card will be released 3 or 4 days prior to the examination. The list of all the NTA UGC NET subjects and their codes are mentioned in the information bulleting released on the official portal on October 7. There are 85 subjects for UGC NET exam in the December session 2025. This is the high time for the candidates for revision and preparation. Practice questions and give mock test. The UGC NET 2025 June session exam dates were June 25 to June 29, 2025.
It is to be noted that while submitting out the UGC NET application form for the December session, candidates required to enter their preferences for the desired subject. Candidates need to select the UGC NET subject in which they have done their postgraduation. Along with the UGC NET subject list, candidates must go through the pattern of an exam and syllabus to know the structure of the exam as well as the important topics and sections.
Authority is expected to revise UGC NET syllabus as per NEP 2020. The notification has not been released for 2026 yet. It will be updated on the official website. Syllabus of UGC NET is divided into two sections: Paper 1 and Paper 2. UGC NET Paper 1 syllabus is common for all candidates who are going to take UGC NET. However, UGC NET Paper 2 syllabus varies for different subjects. Paper 2 carries subject-specific questions in which candidates specialise.
The UGC NET 2025 English Syllabus is divided into ten unites as mentioned below:
- Drama
- Poetry
- Fiction and Short Story
- Non-Fiction Prose
- Language: Basic Concepts, theories and pedagogy, English in Use
- English in India: history, evolution, and future
- Cultural Studies
- Literary Criticism
- Literary Theory post World War II
- Research Methods and Materials in English
UGC NTA NET exam is conducted by NTA twice a year to determine the eligibility of candidates for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and/or Assistant Professor. The NTA UGC NET exam comprises two papers- Paper 1 and Paper 2. The Paper 1 is common for all candidates while Paper 2 will be conducted for 85 subjects. Here we have provided the complete subject list along with their subject codes and names. Go through the details below to have a decent idea about the selection of subjects.
Also Read:
- UGC NET 2025: Exam Pattern
- List of UGC NET Subjects with Codes
- How to Choose UGC NET Subject?
- Important Points Related to UGC NET Exam
UGC NET 2025: Exam Pattern
Candidates can check below the NTA UGC NET Exam pattern for both Papers 1 and 2.
| Particulars |
UGC NET Paper 1 Highlights |
UGC NET Paper 2 Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Exam mode |
Online |
Online |
| Exam duration |
3 hours (180 minutes) |
|
| UGC NET December Cycle Exam Date |
31-Dec-2025 to 7-Jan-2026 |
|
| Type of paper |
Common for all candidates |
Subject-specific questions (85 Subjects) |
| Total Questions |
50 |
100 |
| Type of questions |
MCQs |
MCQs |
| Total marks |
100 |
200 |
| Marking scheme |
+2 for correct answer 0 for incorrect answer |
+2 for correct answer 0 for incorrect answer |
| Language of paper |
English and Hindi |
English and Hindi |
Also Read:
- UGC NET Exam City Intimation Slip 2025 released
- UGC NET 2025 Syllabus
- UGC NET Geography Syllabus 2025
List of UGC NET Subjects with Codes
Check below the complete list of 85 UGC NET subjects along with the codes.
| UGC NET Subjects |
Subject Codes |
|---|---|
| Adult Education/Continuing Education/Andragogy/Non-Formal Education |
46 |
| Anthropology |
07 |
| Arab Culture and Islamic Studies |
49 |
| Arabic |
29 |
| Archaeology |
67 |
| Assamese |
36 |
| Bengali |
19 |
| Bodo |
94 |
| Buddhist, Jaina, Gandhian, and Peace Studies |
60 |
| Chinese |
32 |
| Commerce |
08 |
| Comparative Literature |
72 |
| Comparative Study of Religions |
62 |
| Computer Science and Applications |
87 |
| Criminology |
68 |
| Defence and Strategic Studies |
11 |
| Dogri |
33 |
| Economics/Rural Economics/Co-operation/Demography/Development Planning/Development Studies/Econometrics/Applied Economics/Development Economics/Business Economics |
01 |
| Education |
09 |
| Electronic Science |
88 |
| English |
30 |
| Environmental Sciences |
89 |
| Folk Literature |
71 |
| Forensic Science |
82 |
| French (French Version) |
39 |
| Geography |
80 |
| German |
44 |
| Gujarati |
37 |
| Hindi |
20 |
| Hindu Studies | 102 |
| History |
06 |
| Home Science |
12 |
| Human Rights and Duties |
92 |
| Indian Culture |
50 |
| Japanese |
45 |
| Kannada |
21 |
| Kashmiri |
84 |
| Konkani |
85 |
| Labour Welfare/Personnel Management/Industrial Relations/Labour and Social Welfare/Human Resource Management |
55 |
| Law |
58 |
| Library and Information Science |
59 |
| Linguistics |
31 |
| Maithili |
18 |
| Malayalam |
22 |
| Management (including Business Admn. Mgt./Marketing/Marketing Mgt./Industrial Relations and Personnel Mgt./ Personnel Mgt./Financial Mgt./Co-operative Management) |
17 |
| Manipuri |
35 |
| Marathi |
38 |
| Mass Communication and Journalism |
63 |
| Museology & Conservation |
66 |
| Music |
16 |
| Nepali |
34 |
| Oriya |
23 |
| Pali |
83 |
| Performing Art - Dance/Drama/Theatre |
65 |
| Persian |
42 |
| Philosophy |
03 |
| Physical Education |
47 |
| Political Science |
02 |
| Politics including International Relations/International Studies including Defence/Strategic Studies, West Asian Studies, South East Asian Studies, African Studies, South Asian Studies, Soviet Studies, American Studies |
90 |
| Population Studies |
15 |
| Prakrit |
91 |
| Psychology |
04 |
| Public Administration |
14 |
| Punjabi |
24 |
| Rajasthani |
43 |
| Russian |
41 |
| Sanskrit |
25 |
| Sanskrit traditional subjects (including Jyotisha/Sidhanta Jyotish/Navya Vyakarna/Vyakarna/Mimansa/Navya Nyaya/Sankhya Yoga/Tulanatmaka Darsan/Shukla Yajurveda/Madhav Vedant/Dharmasasta/Sahitya/Puranotihasa/Agama) |
73 |
| Santali |
95 |
| Sindhi |
101 |
| Social Medicine & Community Health |
82 |
| Social Work |
10 |
| Sociology |
05 |
| Spanish |
40 |
| Tamil |
26 |
| Telugu |
27 |
| Tourism Administration and Management. |
93 |
| Tribal and Regional Language/Literature |
70 |
| Urdu |
28 |
| Visual Art (including Drawing & Painting/Sculpture Graphics/Applied Art/History of Art) |
79 |
| Women Studies |
74 |
| Yoga |
100 |
| Indian Knowledge System | 103 |
| Disaster Management | 104 |
| Ayurveda Biology | 105 |
Also Read:
The history syllabus of the UGC NET exam consists of several topics that is, Indian History, Pre-History, Ancient History, Medieval Indian History and Modern India including the National Movement and post independent phase. The history syllabus is divided in to ten units. The topics for the History subject are mentioned below:
- Negotiating the Sources
- From State to Empire
- The Emergence of Regional Kingdoms
- Source of Medieval Indian History
- Administration & Economy
- Society and Culture
- Sources of Modern Indian History
- Colonial Economy
- Rise of Indian Nationalism
- Historical Method, Research, Methodology, and Historiography
The UGC NET Paper 2 is subject-specific and holds 200 marks for 100 questions. There is no negative marking for the exam. The syllabus for Political Science comprises 10 units and are mentioned below:
- Political Theory
- Political Thought
- Indian Political Thought
- Comparative Political Analysis
- International Relations
- India's Foreign Policy
- Political Institutions in India
- Political Processes in India
- Public Administration
- Governance and Public Policy in India
How to Choose UGC NET Subject?
Candidates need to choose the UGC NET subject as per their area of specialisation in their post-graduation degree course while submitting their online applications. If a candidate’s post-graduation subject is not mentioned in the subject list prescribed by UGC, he or she can choose a related subject. As per the official UGC NET notification , “Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their post-graduation only. The candidates, whose post-graduation subject is not covered in the list of NET subjects, may appear in a related subject.”
Candidates can select the following subject in the scenarios mentioned below:
- Candidates with a Master’s Degree in Geography (with specialization in Population Studies) or Mathematics/ Statistics are eligible to appear in the subject 'Population Studies' (Code 15).
- Candidates with a Master’s Degree in Humanities (including languages) and Social Sciences are eligible to appear in the subject 'Women Studies' (Code 74)
It may be noted that the NTA UGC NET subject chosen once by the candidate will not be changed later under any circumstances. Therefore, candidates are advised to choose their UGC NET subject wisely at the time of submitting the online form.
Important Points Related to UGC NET Exam
The candidates who will be going to appear for the exam must know the exam inside out. The points that have been given below will help the applicants to understand the exam clearly:
- NTA UGC NET exam comprises two papers i.e. Paper 1 and Paper 2
- The exam is conducted in two languages i.e. English and Hindi
- The time duration of the exam is 3 hours
- The total number of questions asked in the exam is 150 for a total of 300 marks
- All questions will be MCQ in nature and every question will have four options
- For each correct answer, candidates will be awarded 2 marks
- No marks will be deducted for incorrect answers as there is no negative marking
- No marks will be awarded or deducted for questions left unanswered or blank
- If any question is dropped by UGC then maximum marks will be awarded to the candidates for the dropped question
- If a question is found to be incorrect/ambiguous or has multiple correct answers, only those candidates who have attempted the question and chosen one of the correct answers would be given the credit
- If a question is found to be incorrect and the Question is dropped, then two marks will be awarded to only those candidates who have attempted the question. The reason could be due to human error or technical error. Since, there is no negative marking, candidate needs to choose one most appropriate option as correct answer
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Student Forum
Answered 2 days ago
After clearing the UGC NET exam, candidates have lot of opportunities to give their best in the research perspective. They can become assistant professor, pursue lectureship or get JRF. They can start working on their Ph.D. They can also set up their laboratory and recruit people for work. They can
S
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
The UGC NET 2026 June session result will be released after the conduction of an exam. It is expected that it will be declared in the last week of July or first week of August 2026.
C
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
It is important to understand the core concept of the subject while preparing for the UGC NET exam. Generally, around 6 months with dedicated hard work is sufficient to crack the UGC NET exam as per the experts. It is also recommended to study for around three to four hours daily. Consistent revisio
M
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
The overall difficulty level of the UGC NET exam vary as per the subject and from one exam cycle to another. In General as per the subject expert, the overall difficulty level of the UGC NET exam is considered to be of moderate level. The exam test the candidates knowledge, comprehension, analytical
S
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
UGC NET is conducted at national level by the National Testing Agency for those candidates who want to become assistant professor or researcher. It is important for a candidate to meet the eligibility criteria including the education qualification, age limits, etc. which vary depending on whether th
I
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
The UGC NET exam has two papers namely Paper 1 and Paper 2. The duration of an exam is three hours. Paper 1 is common for all the candidates and Paper 2 is subject-specific. In Paper 1, total questions asked are 50 and in Paper 2, total questions asked are 100. Questions asked in the form of MCQs. P
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
The UGC NET June session 2026 exam date has not been released yet. It will be announced along with the notification. The NTA conducts the UGC NET exam in two sessions, namely June and December.
V
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 3 days ago
No the registrations for the UGC NET are not open for MDSU Ajmer PhD admissions for the academic year 2026. The December session of UGC NET for 2026 admissions is already over.
However, the registrations for the June session are yet to begin. Candidates interested in MDSU Ajmer PhD admissions need to
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
Yes, UGC-NET is a mandatory entrance exam for MDSU Ajmer PhD admissions. All candidates who are eligible for MDSU Ajmer PhD course must appear for the UGC-NET as well as participate in the interview round to gain admissions. The selection of candidates will be based on their UGC-NET score.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
No, UGC NET is not a mandatory entrance exam for NIT Srinagar PhD admissions. Candidates can also appear in the GATE as well to qualify for admissions to the NIT Srinagar PhD course.
However, candidates who are applying through a ME/MTech score are required to appear for the national level NIT Srinag
S
Contributor-Level 10

Candidates can check the UGC NET syllabus at ugcnetonline.in. It will be released along with the notification. The Paper 1 includes topics on teaching aptitude, research, development, environment, and more. Paper 2 is subject-specific. A thorough understanding of the NTA NET syllabus is important for all the candidates aiming to clear the exam. It is important to appear for both papers to qualify for the NET exam.