The National Testing Agency (NTA) has removed more than 50 staff members and has started filling 10 new professional leadership positions following a series of examination-related disruptions this year, including errors in UGC-NET question papers and NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, officials said on Monday.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) of the Union education ministry, the ten new professional leadership positions being advertised and onboarded include: Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, CISO, GM, Test Security, GM, R&D and Psychometrics, and others.
The move comes a day after the NTA on Sunday announced a re-exam for UGC NET papers in English, Commerce and Sociology after a panel constituted by NTA found errors in the question papers.
Union education minister Pralhad Joshi reviewed the NTA’s corrective measures at a meeting on Monday with higher education secretary Deepti Gaur Mukerjee, NTA director general Abhishek Singh and other senior officials.
The Ministry directed the testing body to implement reforms to the overall system. As part of the measures, NTA will hire domain specialists from the private sector in cybersecurity, psychometrics, question paper design, and other specialised areas.
Further, the education minister has directed NTA to ensure strict compliance with the established exam protocols and to implement a Complete overhaul of the Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems, and device-deposit protocol on a war footing.
The CONOPS framework covers secure procedures for the preparation and delivery of examination question papers. It was introduced following recommendations made in October 2024 by a high-level committee headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan.
For the errors in UGC-NET exam question papers, the education ministry has directed the agency to conduct a “thorough audit” of all examination processes and submit a “report on corrective action” within 30 days, officials said.
The ministry spokesperson told HT that the committee’s detailed findings would remain internal. It said the NTA had started verification as soon as complaints were received after the examinations, which concluded on June 30.
The spokesperson cited a discussion with the UGC on “several levels of checks and verification” and adherence to “due process” as reasons for the delay in deciding on the re-examination.
The UGC NET re-exam for the cancelled three papers will be held on September 9 and 10.
Responding to a question on reimbursement to more than 157,000 affected candidates for additional travel and accommodation expenses for the September 9 and 10 re-examinations, the ministry spokesperson said NTA would, “as far as possible”, allot candidates centres in their preferred cities. The spokesperson didn’t hint that NTA would reimburse the examination fee.
