Nearly a Month After Exam, Provisional Key Still Not Released
New Delhi, August 5, 2026
Almost a month gone after NTA held the June 2026 UGC-NET exam, and the provisional answer key is still not released. Nearly 10 lakh students who gave the test are left waiting, and many who wants to do PhD are now looking at private universities.
Exam Timeline and Unusual Delay
The exams happened from 22 June to 30 June, and few papers was held on 5 July also. More than 600 centres was used across the country. Normally NTA put out the provisional answer key in 10 to 15 days. In June 2023 it came even in five days. But this time almost full one month passed after last exam date and still no news from the agency.
Impact Amid Recent NTA Controversies
This delay is happening few months after NTA cancelled NEET-UG 2026 because of alleged paper leak, then did re-exam in June and gave results quick. For UGC-NET, which decide who can get JRF, assistant professor job and PhD seat, the long silence is making students unable to plan anything.
Students Forced to Explore Private Options
Purushottam, who finished masters in history from Mumbai and wrote the exam from Jaipur, said the whole year is wasted for him. “I am just waiting only. Family and relatives keep asking what I am doing. I tell them waiting for application to open,” he said. Now he is seriously thinking about private universities for PhD.
Many other students also feel same way. They say without answer key they cannot even know how they performed and cannot apply for research or teaching posts. indianexpress.com tried to contact NTA for comment but no reply came till the time of writing this.
Students are questioning why the delay is taking so long when results of other exams came fast, and some already started checking options in private colleges so their time is not lost completely.
