UGC NET December 2025 Exam Review: Difficulty Level & Good Attempts

The UGC NET December 2025 exam is now complete with the last paper held on 7th of January 2026. Aspirants can check the detailed paper review and exam analysis. The UGC NET Answer Key will be available soon. 

The exam started from 31st December 2025 to 7th  January 2026. It tested candidates in:

• Paper 1 (General Aptitude) 
• Paper 2 (Subject-specific)

Students’ feedbacks suggest that the exam was moderate. Paper 1 was considered scoring as it was easier compared to Paper 2.

UGC NET 2025 Exam Overview

The NTA conducted the UGC NET December 2025 exam in two shifts:

• Shift 1: 9 AM - 12 PM
• Shift 2: 3 PM - 6 PM

English, History, Anthropology, Political Science, Law, Computer Science, Sanskrit, Dogri, Russian, Gujarati, and Rajasthani were among the main papers. The NTA is expected to release the answer key after almost one month of the exam. Once the official answer key is out, students will be able to check it to assess their chances of qualifying exam.

UGC NET Paper 1 Analysis: General Aptitude

As the candidates already know, UGC NET Paper 1 is common for all subjects and focuses on 10 units that are: Teaching and Research Aptitude, Reasoning, Comprehension, Communication, Mathematics, ICT, People & Environment, and Higher Education System.

Difficulty Level and Good Attempts

Which Sections Were Easy in UGC NET Paper 1?

As the students explained, Paper 1 had comparatively easier questions from the following units:

• Teaching Aptitude
• Reading Comprehension
• Data Interpretation

UGC NET Paper 1: Key Topics Asked

The recurring topics were:

UGC NET Paper 2 Analysis: Subject-Specific Review

The difficulty of Paper 2 varied by subject. Candidates highlighted that the language paper was easy, but the theoretical subjects tried to test the deep conceptual knowledge. Let us go through the difficulty level subject-wise:

UGC NET Minimum Qualifying Marks

UGC NET cutoff depends on your category:

UGC NET JRF Cutoffs and Difficulty Trends

UGC NET JRF exams have shown consistent trends in cutoffs and difficulty levels over recent years. As the recent cycles indicate, a slight rise in the difficulty level can be noticed. However, Paper 1 stayed easy to moderate, making the first part mark-rich.

Recent JRF Cutoffs (June 2025)

UGC NET JRF cutoff changes subject-wise. Generally, candidates have to score 200+ to get JRF, but the marks are a little lower for reserved category candidates.

Historical Trends (Education Subject, 2012-2017)

UGC NET JRF results between 2012-2017 indicate:

• A gradual decrease in cutoffs.
• General category scores range from 60.57% to 70.29%, averaging 64–66%. 
• SC and ST categories averaged 55.94% and 61.59%.

Difficulty Analysis (Recent Years)

• 2023 June: Moderate difficulty, 50-55% good attempts for Paper 1
• 2022 July: Moderate to Difficult, 48-54% good attempts
• 2021 Nov-Dec: Moderate, 50-54% good attempts
• December 2025 - January 2026: Paper 1 was easy to moderate.

What Candidates Should Do Next?

The UGC NET exam is held twice a year, which means that it will be scheduled again in June. The candidates who wish to appear in the next session should go through the exam analysis thoroughly to understand the exam pattern, most asked topics, scoring units, and difficulty level of the exam. Candidates who appeared in the December session should:

1. Check the official answer key to cross-verify responses.
2. Keep an eye on the official websites.
3. Analyse accuracy to predict results.
4. Track the cutoffs of subjects to get an estimate idea.
5. Focus on weak sections for upcoming UGC NET cycles.

Top IITs in Indian Accepting UGC NET JRF

The following table presents the top IITs that accept UGC NET for admission in various programs:

Central Universities Accepting UGC NET JRF

The following universities accept UGC NET qualified candidates: