CTET Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

Both papers are offline, OMR-based multiple choice, 150 questions for 150 marks in 2 hours 30 minutes. Every question is worth one mark.

There's no negative marking in either paper.

Paper I: classes I to V

Paper II: classes VI to VIII

In Paper II a candidate chooses one optional block: Mathematics & Science for a maths or science teacher, Social Studies for a social science teacher. Teachers of any other subject may take either.

Qualifying marks

Language I tests proficiency in the medium of instruction; Language II tests communication and comprehension in another language. Both are chosen at application from 27 languages (listed under Application) and can't be changed later.

Child Development & Pedagogy: both papers

Child development in the relevant age band, the concept of inclusive education and understanding children with special needs, and learning and pedagogy. Principles of development, influence of heredity and environment, socialisation, Piaget, Kohlberg and Vygotsky, child-centred and progressive education, intelligence and multi-dimensional intelligence, language and thought, gender as a social construct, individual differences among learners, assessment for and of learning, addressing learners from diverse backgrounds, addressing the needs of children with learning difficulties, how children think and learn, motivation and learning, and the factors that contribute to learning.

Language I

Unseen prose and discourse passages with comprehension, inference, grammar and verbal ability; and pedagogy of language development: learning and acquisition, principles of language teaching, listening and speaking, the role of grammar, challenges of teaching language in a diverse classroom, language skills, evaluation, teaching-learning materials, and remedial teaching.

Language II

Comprehension of two unseen prose or drama or poem passages with questions on comprehension, grammar and verbal ability; and pedagogy of language development on the same lines as Language I.

Mathematics: Paper I

Geometry, shapes and spatial understanding, solids around us, numbers, addition and subtraction, multiplication, division, measurement, weight, time, volume, data handling, patterns and money; plus pedagogical issues: the nature of mathematics, the place of mathematics in the curriculum, language of mathematics, community mathematics, evaluation, problems of teaching, error analysis, diagnostic and remedial teaching.

Environmental Studies: Paper I

Family and friends, food, shelter, water, travel, things we make and do; and pedagogical issues: the concept and scope of EVS, its significance, integrated EVS, environmental studies and environmental education, learning principles, scope and relation to science and social science, approaches to presenting concepts, activities, experimentation and practical work, discussion, CCE, teaching material and aids, and problems.

Mathematics & Science: Paper II

Mathematics: number system, algebra, geometry, mensuration, data handling, and pedagogical issues. Science: food, materials, the world of the living, moving things and people, how things work, natural phenomena, natural resources, and pedagogical issues including the nature and structure of science, natural science aims and objectives, understanding and appreciating science, approaches and methods of teaching, innovation, text material and aids, evaluation, problems and remedial teaching.

Social Studies / Social Science: Paper II

History from the earliest societies to the national movement and beyond, geography including resources and agriculture, social and political life covering diversity, government, the Constitution, parliamentary government, the judiciary and social justice; and pedagogical issues: the concept and nature of social science, class room processes, developing critical thinking, enquiry and empirical evidence, problems of teaching, sources, projects and evaluation.

Paper I: teaching classes I to V

Senior secondary (or equivalent) with at least 50% marks and either passed or appearing in a two-year Diploma in Elementary Education; or senior secondary with at least 45% and a two-year D.El.Ed in accordance with the NCTE Regulations 2002; or senior secondary with at least 50% and a four-year Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed); or senior secondary with at least 50% and a two-year Diploma in Education (Special Education); or graduation with a two-year D.El.Ed.

Paper II: teaching classes VI to VIII

Graduation and either passed or appearing in a two-year D.El.Ed; or graduation with at least 50% and a one-year B.Ed; or graduation with at least 45% and a B.Ed in accordance with the NCTE Regulations; or senior secondary with at least 50% and a four-year B.El.Ed; or senior secondary with at least 50% and a four-year B.A./B.Sc.Ed or B.A.Ed/B.Sc.Ed; or graduation with at least 50% and a one-year B.Ed (Special Education).

Relaxation of 5% in the qualifying marks is allowed to candidates belonging to reserved categories, as per the notification.

Age

No upper age limit and no limit on attempts. You can sit again after qualifying to improve your score.

CTET is a single-stage eligibility test. No interview, no second paper, no merit list.

1. Sit Paper I, Paper II, or both.
2. Score 60% (90 of 150).
3. Receive a CTET certificate, valid for life. The seven-year limit was dropped in 2021 and earlier certificates were extended.

Appointment is up to the school or school system, which runs its own recruitment and decides how much weight to give your CTET score.

CTET pays nothing. It's an eligibility test, and the Bulletin says qualifying would not confer a right on any person for recruitment or employment.

Pay is set by whoever recruits you: KVS on its scale, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti on its own, a private CBSE school on whatever it pays. Classes I to V lead to the Primary Teacher grade and VI to VIII to Trained Graduate Teacher, with the pay level in each recruiter's own advertisement. The Bulletin asks schools to give weightage to the CTET score, so your mark matters beyond the pass.

Apply online on ctet.nic.in (or via the CBSE website). Upload a recent photo and signature, pay, and print the Confirmation Page for your records; it isn't sent anywhere.

The bank adds GST. Pay by debit card, credit card or net banking only; the fee is never refunded. Both papers cost only ₹200 more than one.

• Enter your name, parents' names and date of birth exactly as on your Class X certificate.
• The correction window is offered once; in the September 2026 cycle it closed on 10 September 2026. After that nothing can be changed.
• If the payment doesn't show as successful: a failed card payment is refunded within a week and you must pay again; an unsuccessful net banking payment didn't go through, so pay again.

Your two languages

Language II must differ from Language I. Pick from these 27:

Under the CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws, teachers appointed from 6 March 2012 to teach classes I to VIII in CBSE-affiliated schools must have qualified CTET or a State TET run under NCTE guidelines.

So for a state government school you probably need your state's TET; for KVS, NVS or a CBSE school, CTET. CBSE runs it through its CTET Unit, CBSE Integrated Office Complex, Sector-23, Phase-1, Dwarka, New Delhi; the qualifying standard is set by the National Council for Teacher Education.

You can't choose your exam city. CBSE allots it at random and won't change it for any reason. Where the exam runs over two days, the date is allotted at random too. For the December 2026 exam, your city and date appear on the CTET portal 15 days before.

The papers are in different shifts, so you can sit both. Keep the exam days free until you know where you're going.

CTET usually runs twice a year. The 22nd edition (September 2026 cycle) has been rescheduled:

The new dates are from CBSE's public notice of 14 September 2026. The previous cycle, CTET February 2026, closed its answer key and OMR window on 15 March 2026 and declared the result at the end of March, about six weeks after the paper. Watch the public notices on ctet.nic.in for changes.

Download the e-Admit Card from the CTET portal; for the December 2026 exam it's released two days before. Nothing is posted.

Check it against your Confirmation Page straight away. If your particulars, photo or signature differ, contact the CTET Unit immediately. The centre and date on the card are final.

Bring the printed e-Admit Card, your original photo ID, and a copy of the Confirmation Page.

The pass mark is 60% (90 of 150), fixed by NCTE Notification No. 76-4/2010/NCTE/Acad of 11 February 2011. CBSE issues the certificate against that standard; any concession for SC, ST, OBC or differently abled candidates is given by the recruiting school under its own policy.

The certificate is valid for life for all categories, replacing the old seven-year validity. There's no limit on attempts, and you can sit again after passing to improve your score.

After the exam CBSE publishes a tentative answer key with a paid challenge window, scanned images of your OMR sheet, and in recent cycles a calculation sheet, then the result. Duplicate marks sheets and certificates are available under e-Services on ctet.nic.in, for a fee.

CTET has no competitive cut-off, only a fixed pass mark:

It's the same for both papers and every category, and everyone who reaches it qualifies. Your score still matters, because schools are asked to weight it in recruitment: a 90 and a 130 are both passes, but they don't compete equally. Treat 60% as the floor.

1. Answer every question. There's no negative marking, so a blank is always worse than a guess.
2. Study pedagogy across the whole paper. Child Development & Pedagogy is 30 marks on its own, and every other section has pedagogy questions too. Subject knowledge alone won't get you through.
3. Answer as a teacher. Questions ask how a child of a given age learns and how a teacher should respond; the right option is usually the child-centred, inclusive, non-punitive one.
4. Use NCERT textbooks for the subject sections, but aim higher than the class level: Paper I topics come from the classes I to V syllabus, yet the Bulletin says their difficulty and linkages can reach the secondary stage.
5. Practise on real papers. CBSE posts past CTET question papers (December 2018 to February 2026) on its Archive page, with the previous final answer keys.
6. Choose Language I and Language II carefully. Together they're 60 of the 150 marks. Make Language I the one you teach in and are strongest in.
7. Paper II: pick Mathematics & Science or Social Studies early; it's another 60 marks.

CBSE publishes past CTET question papers, from December 2018 to February 2026, on the CTET Archive page, along with the previous final answer keys. After each exam it also posts the tentative key and your own OMR images for a short window, so download them while they're up. The syllabus and the notes on question standard are in the current Information Bulletin.

• CTET: applications and every public notice
• CTET September 2026 Information Bulletin (PDF)
• Public notice: exam dates for the 22nd edition (PDF)
• Previous year question papers
• Previous year final answer keys
• Central Board of Secondary Education
• National Council for Teacher Education, which sets the 60% standard: ncte.gov.in
• NCERT, whose syllabus and textbooks the subject questions follow: ncert.nic.in

Does passing CTET get me a teaching job?

No. It makes you eligible to apply; the school or school system recruits separately.

Is there negative marking?

No, in neither paper.

How long is the certificate valid?

For life.

What are the qualifying marks?

60%, or 90 of 150, for every category. Any concession for SC, ST, OBC or differently abled candidates is given by the recruiting school, not by CBSE.

Are previous papers available?

Yes. CBSE posts past CTET question papers and final answer keys on ctet.nic.in under Archive.

Is there an age limit or attempt limit?

No. You can also sit again after passing to improve your score.