Centre orders NTA to audit exam processes, tighten security protocols

Education Minister Pralhad Joshi has asked the testing agency to overhaul its examination processes and security architecture and submit a report on corrective action taken

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to undertake a complete overhaul of its examination processes and ensure strict compliance with established protocols, amid continuing scrutiny of the agency, following recent examination-related issues.

 

Joshi held a meeting with the secretary of Department of Higher Education, director general of NTA and other senior officials to review the steps taken by the testing agency to reform its examination system.

 

The agency informed the minister that more than 50 staff members had been removed and that it was hiring professionals for key leadership and specialised functions. Ten new leadership positions, including chief technology officer, chief finance officer, chief information security officer and general manager-level roles for test security, research and development and psychometrics, have been advertised and are being filled, it said.

 

“The minister directed that strict compliance be ensured of the established exam protocols and also directed that a Complete overhaul of Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems, device-deposit protocols be implemented on war footing,” the ministry said in a post on X.

 

He also asked the agency to conduct a thorough audit of all examination processes and submit a report detailing corrective action taken. Joshi took charge as the education minister last month after the former minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following weeks of student protests across the country.

 

NTA is also bringing in domain specialists from the private sector for cyber security, psychometrics, question-paper design and other specialised areas.

 

The overhaul comes after a series of controversies surrounding the conduct of examinations administered by NTA, which has faced questions over examination security and its handling of irregularities.

 

The agency has faced allegations of a question-paper leak in NEET-UG 2026, following which the examination was cancelled and a re-test held. It also faced fresh controversy over the UGC-NET June 2026 examination, with candidates raising concerns over the integrity of the paper. On August 16, NTA ordered re-tests in English, Commerce and Sociology after an expert committee found multiple errors and repeated questions. The agency also faced technical and logistical problems during CUET-UG 2025, including delays and issues at examination centres.

 

These incidents led to intense scrutiny and backlash on social media with affected students highlighting the stress and financial damage incurred due to re-examinations of such high-stakes, highly competitive national examinations. It also led to protests by affected students breaking out across the country.

 

The agency initially came under particularly intense scrutiny following the controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024, after allegations of question-paper leaks and other irregularities. The Supreme Court, while hearing the matter, directed NTA and the Centre to disclose details of the leak, including how and where it occurred, the chain of custody of question papers and steps taken to identify beneficiaries.

 

The NTA, established in 2017 as a specialised agency to conduct entrance examinations for higher education institutions. It conducts several of the country’s largest competitive examinations, including NEET-UG, the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main), the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT).