CTET September 2026 - Central Teacher Eligibility Test

No. CTET is an eligibility test conducted by CBSE on behalf of the Central Government, and the Information Bulletin states twice that qualifying the CTET does not confer a right on any person for recruitment or employment because it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment. There are no vacancies attached to it, and being allowed to appear does not mean CBSE has verified a candidate's eligibility - that is finally verified by the recruiting agency or appointing authority.

Paper-I is for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes I to V and Paper-II for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII. A person who intends to teach both levels has to appear in both papers. In the bulletin's schedule Paper-II is the morning shift, 09:30 AM to 12:00 NOON, and Paper-I the evening shift, 02:30 PM to 05:00 PM, each of 2:30 hours.

No. For General and OBC (NCL) candidates one paper costs Rs 1000 and both papers Rs 1200, not Rs 2000. For SC, ST and Differently Abled candidates one paper costs Rs 500 and both Rs 600. GST as applicable is charged extra by the bank on top of these amounts. Payment is only by debit card, credit card or net banking; money order, demand draft and IPO are rejected and the fee is never refunded.

Each paper is 150 multiple choice questions for 150 marks in two-and-a-half hours, every question with four alternatives and carrying one mark, with no negative marking. Paper-I is Child Development and Pedagogy 30, Mathematics 30, Environmental Studies 30, Language I 30 and Language II 30, all compulsory. Paper-II is Child Development & Pedagogy 30, then either Mathematics and Science 60 or Social Studies/Social Science 60, plus Language I 30 and Language II 30. Language II must be a language other than Language I, and the main question paper is bilingual in Hindi and English.

A person who scores 60% or more in the TET exam is considered TET pass, under NCTE Notification No.76-4/2010/NCTE/Acad dated 11.02.2011. The bulletin does not set a lower percentage for reserved categories; it says school managements may consider giving concessions to SC, ST, OBC and differently abled persons in accordance with their own reservation policy. Separately, NCTE allows relaxation of up to 5% in the qualifying marks of the minimum educational qualification for those categories, which is a different thing from the 60% exam mark.

For life time, for all categories. There is no restriction on the number of attempts a person may take to acquire a CTET certificate, and a person who has already qualified may appear again to improve the score. CBSE issues the mark sheet to every candidate and the eligibility certificate to successful candidates in digital form in DigiLocker, digitally signed and carrying an encrypted QR code.

In schools of the Central Government such as KVS, NVS and Central Tibetan Schools, and in schools under the administrative control of the UTs of Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and NCT of Delhi. It is mandatory for teachers of classes I to VIII appointed in CBSE-affiliated schools on or after 6th March 2012. Unaided private schools may choose to consider it, while State Government, local body and aided schools consider the State TET unless that State decides not to conduct one.

No. The bulletin states that the option to select an exam city is not available on the online application portal, that the city is allotted by CBSE on a random basis, and that a request to change the allotted city will not be accepted for any reason. Where the exam runs on two days, the date is allotted the same way.

7:30 AM for Paper-II in the morning shift and 12:30 PM for Paper-I in the evening shift, which is 120 minutes before the examination begins. A candidate who reaches the centre after 09:30 AM for Paper-II or after 02:30 PM for Paper-I is not allowed to appear. Candidates with a benchmark disability in blindness, locomotor disability with both arms affected or cerebral palsy, and others with a limitation in writing, may use a scribe and get compensatory time of 50 minutes on producing the original disability certificate or UDID card to the Centre Superintendent.

The OMR sheet and answer keys are displayed on ctet.nic.in for about two to three days, and an answer can be challenged with a non-refundable fee of Rs 1000 per question; the money is refunded only where a subject expert accepts the challenge, and the result is declared on the final answer keys. There is no re-evaluation or re-checking of the result. After the result a candidate may buy a photocopy of the OMR sheet with its calculation sheet for Rs 500 per OMR by demand draft, but records are preserved only up to two months from the declaration of result.

The Information Bulletin prescribes no minimum or maximum age. Eligibility rests entirely on the NCTE teaching qualification, which the bulletin does not reproduce - it directs candidates to ncte.gov.in to ascertain their eligibility and makes each candidate personally responsible for checking it before applying.

The Information Bulletin for this cycle was issued for an examination on 06 September 2026 (Sunday), with 05 September 2026 as an additional day if the number of candidates increased, and the application window ran from 11 May 2026 to 10 June 2026 before 11:59 PM. The exam date shown in the table above comes from a later CBSE public notice, which this bulletin cannot cover. The cycle keeps its original September name.

The last date to submit the online application is 10 June 2026 (Before 11:59 PM). Applications received after this date are not considered.

The online application window opened on 11 May 2026. Eligible candidates can apply through the official portal until the last date.

The exam is scheduled for 12 - 13 December 2026. Admit cards are released closer to the exam date.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is the conducting/recruiting authority for this notification.