How to prepare for UGC NET Paper 1

Start from the pattern

UGC NET Paper 1 has 50 compulsory multiple-choice questions of 2 marks each, 100 marks in all. It is a computer-based test, in English or Hindi, and it is taken with Paper 2 (100 questions, 200 marks) in one sitting of three hours with no break. The bulletin gives no separate time for Paper 1.

The syllabus has 10 units and notes that five questions are set from each, so every unit is worth 10 marks. No unit can be skipped as minor: Higher Education System counts exactly as much as Research Aptitude. A plan that gives each unit its share of time, rather than following the units you already like, matches how the paper is marked.

Plan on 72 seconds a question

Three hours for 150 questions is 72 seconds a question on average across both papers. Our practice papers give 60 minutes for 50 questions, which is 72 seconds a question, so a practice paper trains the same pace. That hour is our choice, not NTA's: in the real sitting you decide how to divide the three hours between the two papers.

Some questions take far less than 72 seconds, a definition or a fact you know, and some take more, a sum or a set of questions on a table. A simple check is the clock at the halfway point: after 30 minutes of a practice paper, about half the questions should be answered or marked. If you are well behind, move faster through the questions you can answer at sight and come back to the long ones.

Answer every question

There is no negative marking. A wrong answer scores 0, the same as a question left blank, and a question only marked for review also scores 0. So a blank answer can never help you. Before the clock runs out, every question should have an answer chosen, even where you are unsure: with 4 options, a choice made after ruling out one or two of them is far better than none.

Keep the last few minutes for this. Use the palette to find every question that is not answered, and choose your best option for each.

Learn the screen before the day

The real test is taken on a computer screen with one question at a time, a palette that shows the state of every question, Save & Next, Clear Response and Mark for Review & Next. Knowing these by habit saves time and avoids mistakes such as moving on without saving an answer.

Mark for Review is for a question you have answered but want to check, or one you want to come back to. On our screen an answered question that is also marked for review is scored; on the day, read NTA's instructions for how such a question is treated, and remember that a question marked but not answered scores nothing. NTA runs a free mock test at nta.ac.in/Quiz that shows the official screen.

Know how each unit is asked

In our papers Comprehension comes as one passage followed by its questions, as the syllabus describes, and Data Interpretation as one table followed by its questions. Both reward reading the passage or the table once with care before answering. Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude and Data Interpretation share the same arithmetic: percentages, ratios and averages.

The other units are mostly single questions on terms, ideas and facts: Teaching Aptitude, Research Aptitude, Communication, Logical Reasoning, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), People, Development and Environment, Higher Education System. Logical Reasoning includes Indian logic, which is new to many candidates and worth reading on its own. Each unit has a page of its own, linked below.

• Unit 1: Teaching Aptitude
• Unit 2: Research Aptitude
• Unit 3: Comprehension
• Unit 4: Communication
• Unit 5: Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude
• Unit 6: Logical Reasoning
• Unit 7: Data Interpretation
• Unit 8: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• Unit 9: People, Development and Environment
• Unit 10: Higher Education System

Practise in full sittings, then by unit

Take a practice paper in one sitting, without pausing the clock, as the real paper runs. Our 8 papers are free and need no login; the clock keeps running if you reload the page, and the paper submits itself at zero. After you submit, read the explanation of every question, the ones you got right included, since a right answer can come from a lucky guess.

The result shows your score in each unit. Use it to choose what to work on next: a unit where you lose marks again and again needs reading, not only more questions. Unit practice gives untimed sets from one unit: choose an answer, press Check the answer, and see the correct answer with its explanation.

If you are entitled to extra time

Candidates with a benchmark disability are given compensatory time in the official exams; check the current bulletin for the rule that applies to you. If you are entitled to it, practise with it: our papers offer an extra-time option of 80 minutes instead of 60, so you can learn how to use the longer sitting.

The language of the paper

The real paper is offered in English and Hindi. Our practice papers are in English and Hindi. Whatever medium you choose for the exam, practise reading questions in it, since the wording of terms can differ from the wording in your notes.