cut-off marks are out for 84 of the 87 subjects under UGC NET June 2026 — released by NTA on 28 August 2026 alongside the result. What’s still pending: cut-offs for English, Commerce, and Sociology, since these three subjects are being re-examined on 9 and 10 September 2026, just three days from now. If you appeared for one of these three subjects, nothing in this article’s cutoff figures applies to you yet — your result and cutoff will come only after the re-exam.
NTA released the UGC NET June 2026 result and cut-off together, covering candidates who sat the exam between 22 and 30 June 2026. Out of 6,07,151 candidates who appeared across the 84 finalized subjects, 1,47,579 qualified in some category — a qualification rate of roughly 24.3%. That headline number, though, hides how differently things played out subject by subject, which is really the part worth understanding before you go looking for your own result.
What’s Confirmed vs. What’s Still Pending
| Status | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cut-off released | 84 subjects, 28 August 2026 |
| Cut-off pending | English, Commerce, Sociology |
| Re-exam for these 3 subjects | 9–10 September 2026 |
| Reason for re-exam | Reported irregularities in the original English/Commerce/Sociology papers, currently also under separate legal review |
| Total candidates appeared (84 subjects) | 6,07,151 |
| Total qualified across all categories | 1,47,579 (~24.31%) |
| Official website | ugcnet.nta.nic.in |
Worth being precise here: the re-exam for English, Commerce, and Sociology isn’t a routine scheduling matter. It followed reported issues with those specific papers, and a plea challenging the decision has also been taken up separately in Delhi High Court, with NTA asked to respond. None of that changes anything about the 84 subjects whose cutoffs are already final — but if you’re in one of these three subjects, don’t calculate your standing against the 84-subject data below, since your paper and your cutoff are being handled entirely separately.
Understanding the Three Qualifying Categories
UGC NET doesn’t have one pass/fail line. Every candidate’s score gets checked against three separate thresholds:
- JRF and Assistant Professor — the highest bar, qualifying you for both the Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor eligibility
- Assistant Professor and PhD Admission — a lower bar than JRF, giving Assistant Professor eligibility and PhD admission eligibility, but not the fellowship
- PhD Only — the lowest bar, qualifying only for PhD admission eligibility
A candidate can miss the JRF cutoff by a handful of marks and still qualify comfortably for Assistant Professor and PhD, or miss both of those and still clear PhD Only. Check where your score actually lands against all three, not just the headline JRF number most coverage focuses on.
Minimum Qualifying Percentage vs. Actual Cutoff — Why They’re So Far Apart
This is the detail that confuses first-time NET candidates most. UGC’s stated minimum qualifying criterion for JRF is 40% aggregate (both papers combined) for General category, and 35% for OBC-NCL/SC/ST/PwD. On a 300-mark paper, that works out to roughly 120 and 105 marks respectively.
But actual subject cutoffs run far higher than that floor — Political Science’s JRF cutoff, for instance, sits at 222 marks, nearly double the bare minimum. The 40%/35% figures are a hard floor below which nobody qualifies regardless of competition; the actual cutoff is set above that floor based on how many candidates appeared, how they performed relative to each other, and — critically — how many JRF slots UGC has allocated for that subject in that cycle. A subject with fewer available fellowships and heavy competition pushes its cutoff well above the floor; a subject with lighter competition might sit closer to it. Don’t use the 40%/35% figure as your target — use your subject’s actual published cutoff.
Subject-Wise Cut-Off Marks (Unreserved Category)
The figures below are drawn from NTA’s official cutoff data for the Unreserved category. Category-specific figures (OBC-NCL, SC, ST, EWS, PwD) are published separately in the full official PDF for each subject and generally sit lower than the UR figures shown here — check the official cutoff PDF for your specific category rather than assuming a flat percentage reduction from these numbers.
| Subject | JRF | Assistant Professor | PhD Only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persian | 254 | 232 | 208 |
| Geography | 250 | 220 | 188 |
| Arabic | 250 | 218 | 188 |
| Criminology | 246 | 208 | 182 |
| Yoga | 244 | 208 | 172 |
| Arab Culture and Islamic Studies | 244 | 220 | 202 |
| Public Administration | 240 | 216 | 188 |
| Urdu | 240 | 216 | 186 |
| Physical Education | 240 | 192 | 158 |
| Spanish | 242 | 216 | 186 |
| Education | 232 | 206 | 182 |
| Political Science | 222 | 196 | 170 |
| Economics/Rural Economics | 224 | 196 | 170 |
| Psychology | 204 | 180 | 160 |
| History | 190 | 168 | 148 |
| Hindi | 198 | 174 | 150 |
| Sanskrit | 206 | 180 | 152 |
| Computer Science and Applications | 214 | 180 | 158 |
| Management | 214 | 184 | 162 |
| Law | 204 | 178 | 160 |
| Home Science | 220 | 190 | 166 |
| Social Work | 216 | 190 | 166 |
| Library and Information Science | 190 | 168 | 146 |
| Mass Communication | 190 | 168 | 150 |
| Tamil | 188 | 156 | 134 |
| Telugu | 164 | 150 | 132 |
| Kannada | 182 | 164 | 142 |
| Environmental Sciences | 194 | 162 | 142 |
| Statistics | 216 | 178 | 152 |
| Chinese | 158 | 158 | 150 |
| Kashmiri | 150 | 150 | 142 |
This is a partial list focused on higher-volume and commonly searched subjects; the full official dataset covers all 84 finalized subjects. Notice how wide the spread runs — Persian’s JRF cutoff at 254 sits nearly 100 marks above Kashmiri’s at 150. That gap doesn’t mean Kashmiri is an “easier” subject in any absolute sense; it largely reflects how few candidates compete in it against how many JRF slots are typically allocated, versus a subject like Persian where relatively few slots meet unusually strong competition this cycle.
What the Overall Numbers Show
| Category | Candidates Qualified |
|---|---|
| JRF and Assistant Professor | 4,241 |
| Assistant Professor and PhD Admission | 45,904 |
| PhD Only | 97,434 |
| Total Qualified | 1,47,579 |
Look at the shape of this distribution before assuming JRF is where most successful candidates land. Barely 4,241 out of 6,07,151 appeared candidates — well under 1% — cleared the JRF bar. The overwhelming majority of successful candidates, over 97,000, qualified only for PhD admission eligibility. If your own result shows PhD Only qualification rather than JRF, that’s not an unusual outcome — it’s where the large majority of everyone who qualifies at all ends up landing.
How to Check Your Subject and Category-Wise Cutoff
- Visit the official portal, ugcnet.nta.nic.in.
- Look for the “Cut-Off Marks 2026” or Result-related link under Latest Updates.
- Download the cutoff PDF, which is organized by subject.
- Within your subject’s section, locate your specific category — Unreserved, OBC-NCL, EWS, SC, ST, or the relevant PwD sub-category.
- Compare your scorecard total against the three thresholds (JRF, Assistant Professor, PhD Only) listed for your subject and category.
Clearing a cutoff on paper doesn’t automatically translate into a fellowship seat, either — JRF award is additionally subject to the number of fellowships sanctioned for that cycle and subject, so a qualified JRF candidate should still track further UGC/CSIR communication on actual award status rather than assuming qualification alone secures the fellowship.
important links |
|
| Download Full Cut Off Marks PDF | click here |
| Check Result / Download Scorecard | click here |
| Official Website (NTA UGC NET) | click here |
| firstjob24 jobs | click here |
| join whatsapp channel | click here |
| susbscribe on youtube | click here |
FAQs
Q1. I appeared for the Sociology paper. Why can’t I find my cutoff in the released list?
Sociology, along with English and Commerce, is being re-examined on 9–10 September 2026 due to reported issues with the original papers. Your result and cutoff will be released separately after the re-exam concludes, not as part of the 84-subject batch announced on 28 August.
Q2. I scored above the 40% minimum qualifying mark UGC mentions, but I still didn’t qualify. Why?
The 40% (General) / 35% (reserved) figure is only the absolute floor below which no one qualifies — it isn’t the actual cutoff. Actual subject-wise cutoffs, based on competition and available JRF slots, typically run well above this floor. Check your specific subject’s published cutoff, not the general minimum percentage.
Q3. Does qualifying for JRF guarantee I’ll receive the fellowship?
Qualifying means you’ve cleared the cutoff for JRF eligibility — actual fellowship award still depends on the number of fellowships sanctioned for your subject in this cycle. Track further communication from UGC/CSIR on award status separately from your qualification result.
Q4. Are the cutoff figures the same for every category within a subject?
No. The figures in this article reflect the Unreserved category specifically. OBC-NCL, EWS, SC, ST, and PwD category cutoffs are published separately for each subject in the official PDF and are generally lower — check the specific figure for your category rather than estimating from the UR numbers.
Q5. Why is there such a big gap between subjects like Persian (254 JRF cutoff) and Kashmiri (150)?
This largely reflects the ratio of competing candidates to available JRF slots in each subject for this specific cycle, not a difference in exam difficulty. A subject with heavy competition against few fellowship slots pushes its cutoff higher; lighter competition keeps it closer to the qualifying floor.
Disclaimer: Cut-off figures, candidate statistics, and dates above are drawn from NTA’s official UGC NET June 2026 result and cut-off release dated 28 August 2026. No figures are estimated. Cut-offs for English, Commerce, and Sociology remain pending as of 6 September 2026, with the re-exam scheduled for 9–10 September 2026 — check the official source for updates: ugcnet.nta.nic.in.
