National Testing Agency The Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India (Gol) has established the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an independent, autonomous, and self-sustained premier testing organization under the Societies Registration Act (1860) for conducting efficient, transparent, and international standardized tests in order to assess the competency of candidates for admission to premier higher education institutions with a mission to improve equity and quality in education by developing and administering research-based valid, reliable, efficient, transparent, fair and international level assessments. The NTA has created a system that promotes teaching (by teachers), learning (by students), and assessment (by parents and institutions). NTA strongly believes in the quality, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and security of assessments. To practice these values, NTA is constantly engaging with its stakeholders, viz. students, parents, teachers, experts, and partner institutions. National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) The NCTE, as a statutory body under the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India came into existence in pursuance of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 on 17th August 1995 with the mandate to achieve planned and coordinated development of teacher education throughout the country and to govern the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards for teacher education. The organization is a pan-India jurisdiction and comprises various divisions along with 4 Regional Committees namely Northern Regional Council, Eastern Regional Council, Southern Regional Council and Western Regional Council which are all stationed in New Delhi. The gamut of functions performed by NCTE is very broad covering all the teacher education programmes e.g. Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El. Ed), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Master of Education (M.Ed.), etc. It includes the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) for student-teachers to equip them to teach at the Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary levels of the new school system in alignment with NEP 2020. National Common Entrance Test (NCET) 2026 National Common Entrance Test (NCET) is a national-level examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), on behalf of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). Qualifying in NCET is a mandatory requirement for seeking admission to the 4-Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in selected Central/State Universities/Institutions including IITs, NITs, RIEs and Government Colleges etc. for the Academic Session 2026-27. Integrated Teacher Education Programme Integrated Teacher Education Programme The 4-year integrated B.Ed. will be a dual-major holistic bachelor's degree, in Education as well as a specialized subject (such as language, history, music, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, economics, art, physical-education, etc.). Beyond the teaching of cutting-edge pedagogy, the teacher education will include a grounding in sociology, history, sciencе, psychology, early childhood care and education, foundational literacy and numeracy, knowledge ofIndia and its values/ethos/art/traditions, and more. [NEP 2020: 15.5] Recognition has been granted to selected Central/State Universities/Institutions which also include IITs, NITs, RIEs and Government Colleges etc. for the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) as envisaged in NEP 2020 from the academic session 2026- 27. The ITEP is a Dual Major Programme -the first major is in Education with School Specific Stage specialization and the second major is in an opted discipline. The approach to the design and implementation of ITEP are: Education in Multidisciplinary Environment 4 Year duration after grade 12 of the school system Admission through National Common Entrance Test (NCET) conducted by NTA Minimal degree qualification to become a teacher by 2030 Responsive to new 5+3+3+4 design Introduction of Credit System as per UGC Integrated Dual-Major Degree- Disciplinary & Professional Knowledge of Education Focus on 21st Century Skills Stage Specialization (5+3+3+4): Each student will specialize in one of the following school stages which will qualify them to become teachers of that stage: Foundational Stage Specialization (for teaching Pre-School to Grade 2) Preparatory Stage Specialization (for teaching Grades 3 to Grade 5) Middle Stage Specialization (for teaching Grades 6 to Grade 8) Secondary Stage Specialization (for teaching Grades 9 to Grade 12) Eligibility Criteria For appearing in the NCET 2023, there is no age limit for the candidates. The candidates who have passed the class 12 /equivalent examination or are appearing in 2023 irrespective of their age can appear in NCET 2023 examination. However, the candidates will be required to fulfil the age criteria (if any) of the University / Institution / Government College to which they are desirous of taking admission. For more details, visit https://exams.nta.nic.in/ncet/ Important Dates Online Submission of Application Form 12 February to 10 March 2026 (up to 11:50 P.M.) Last date of successful transaction of fee through Credit/Debit Card/Net-Banking/UPI 11 March 2026 (up to 11:50 Р.M.) Correction in Particulars 12 March to 14 March 2026 Announcement of the City of Examination To be announced later on the website Downloading Admit Cards from the NTA website To be announced later on the website Date of Examination 17 April 2026 (Friday) Display of Recorded Responses and Answer Keys To be announced later on the website Website(s) www.nta.ac.inhttps://exams.nta.nic.in/ncet/ Declaration of Result on the NTA website To be announced later on the website Application Fee Fee Payable by candidates [NCET 2023] in INR General (UR) OBC- (NCL)/ EWS SC/ST/PwBD/Third gender ₹ 1200 ₹ 1000 ₹ 650 Broad Features of NCET 2026 Mode of the Test Computer Based Test (CBT) Test Pattern Objective type with Multiple Choice Questions Medium 13 languages (Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu) Syllabus Language: Language to be tested through Reading Comprehension, Literary Aptitude, and Vocabulary Domain Subject: As per class 12 syllabus only General Test: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, General Mental Ability, Numerical Ability, Quantitative Reasoning, Logical and Analytical Reasoning Registration Registration will be online at Registration for NCET 2026 NTA Helpdesk For any queries/clarifications, candidates can also Email/call the NTA Helpdesk Email ID: ncet@nta.ac.inContact Number: 011- 40759000 / 011-69227700 For more details visit https://exams.nta.nic.in/ncet/ Source: https://exams.nta.nic.in/ncet/