The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous body under Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of India. It was established in November 2017 to conduct entrance examinations, admissions and recruitment. As of 2025, it no longer conducts recruitment examinations. The agency is responsible for conducting numerous national-level exams for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions related to engineering, medicine, management, research and pharmacy.[3][4]
The agency has often been in controversy. Multiple News reports including The Times of India, India Today, Scroll.in[5] have said that the agency has faced issues such as paper leaks, unfair grace marks, and technical or administrative problems at exam centres. Critics have also questioned how the NTA is managed, saying it lacks transparency and public accountability. Because of these problems, many court cases have been filed against it, and the government has announced reviews and possible reforms to improve its functioning.[6][7]
History
The roots of the agency can be traced to the Programme of Action 1992, related to the National Policy of Education 1986, which mentioned conducting national-level common entrance tests to professional and non-professional programmes of study.[8] Its actual start was in 2010 with a report submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) (now the Ministry of Education) by a committee consisting of some of the directors of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), which recommended that the national testing agency be "created by an Act of Parliament". The report mentioned that a statutory agency can ensure independence and transparency in the testing of the magnitude that was being envisaged.[9]
In 2013, the MHRD constituted a seven-member task force to "prepare a blueprint for creating a special purpose vehicle to take the concept of the National Testing Agency (NTA) forward".[10] This follows a decision made in April 2013 to set up the agency.[10]
In 2017, an announcement about the NTA was made by the Finance Minister in the budget speech of 2017, and this was followed by Cabinet approval. The government appointed Vineet Joshi as the first Director-General of the agency.[11]
In December 2024, Dharmendra Pradhan (Union Education Minister) announced that from 2025 onward it will only conduct entrance exams for higher-education institutions and will stop organising recruitment tests. The decision follows a high-level committee’s recommendation and aims to restore trust in the exam system after recurring issues such as alleged paper leaks and administrative glitches.[13]
Administration
The agency is administered by a governing body which includes a chairperson, a secretary and eight or more officials representing different national level institutes.[14]
Budget
The Union Cabinet has granted an initial amount of ₹25 crore (equivalent to ₹35croreorUS$4.1million in 2023) to the NTA[15] to start its operations in the first year.[16] The agency is financed by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.[17]
Exams
Following are the exams conducted by the NTA every year.[18]
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has faced repeated controversies over exam integrity, technical errors, and transparency. Major national exams like NEET-UG, JEE Main, and CUET-UG have seen allegations of paper leaks, technical glitches, and irregularities in question papers and results. The agency has also been criticized for awarding grace marks, sudden changes in scorecards, and frequent legal disputes from aggrieved candidates.[19]
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