Teaching Exams 2026: CTET and Teacher Eligibility Tests, Pattern, Dates and Preparation

Teaching exams at a glance

A Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) decides who is eligible to be appointed as a school teacher of Classes I to VIII. It is not a recruitment exam. Under sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) laid down the minimum qualifications for teachers of Classes I to VIII by its notification of 23 August 2010. One of them is passing a TET conducted by the appropriate Government in accordance with NCTE's guidelines. NCTE issued those guidelines on 11 February 2011.

NCTE's guidelines give three reasons for the test. It brings national standards and a benchmark of teacher quality into recruitment. It pushes teacher education institutions and their students to raise their standards. It signals that the Government lays special emphasis on teacher quality.

A TET gives a certificate, not a job. The CTET bulletin says qualifying CTET does not confer a right to recruitment or employment, as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment. Teaching posts are filled later through separate recruitment.

GK24 covers one teaching exam so far: the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET). The table below is as per the CTET-September 2026 Information Bulletin of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and its public notices up to 14 September 2026.

CTET and recruitment

The CTET-September 2026 bulletin lists where CTET applies.

• Schools of the Central Government, such as Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS) and Central Tibetan Schools.
• Schools under the administrative control of the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the NCT of Delhi.
• Unaided private schools, which may choose to consider CTET.
• Schools affiliated to CBSE, where teachers of Classes I to VIII appointed from 6 March 2012 must pass CTET or a TET conducted by the appropriate Central or State Government under NCTE's guidelines.

The bulletin says school managements should give weightage to CTET scores in recruitment. This covers government, local body, government-aided and unaided schools. They may also consider concessions for SC, ST, OBC and differently abled candidates under their own reservation policy. CTET itself does not lower the 60% mark for any category.

State TETs

States conduct their own TETs. The bulletin says schools owned and managed by a State Government or local bodies, and aided schools, consider the TET conducted by that State Government. A State Government can also consider CTET if it decides not to conduct a State TET. NCTE's 2011 guidelines add that such schools may also accept a TET certificate awarded by another State or UT with legislature. The same guidelines say the appropriate Government should conduct a TET at least once every year.

NCTE's amendment of 9 June 2021 covers the validity of all TET certificates. A TET qualifying certificate for appointment now remains valid for life, unless the appropriate Government notifies otherwise. The change applies from 11 February 2011. Before it, validity was capped at seven years.

Recruitment is a separate step

A CTET or State TET certificate lets a candidate compete for teaching posts. The bulletin says the minimum qualifications of teachers follow NCTE's regulations and the recruitment rules of the Government where the school is situated, or of KVS or NVS. State boards such as DSSSB recruit teachers. Each recruitment has its own notification, pattern, eligibility and dates, and the recruiting agency verifies eligibility finally.

How CTET is structured

As per the CTET-September 2026 bulletin, CTET has two papers. Paper I is for a person who intends to teach Classes I to V. Paper II is for Classes VI to VIII. A person who intends to teach at both levels takes both papers.

All questions are multiple-choice, with four options and one most appropriate answer. Each question carries one mark. There is no negative marking. Each paper lasts 2 hours 30 minutes. The test is offline: answers are marked on an OMR sheet with a blue or black ball point pen. The main question paper is bilingual (Hindi/English). Language I and Language II are chosen from 27 languages.

Paper I (Classes I to V)

Paper II (Classes VI to VIII)

In Paper II, a Mathematics and Science teacher takes Mathematics and Science. A Social Studies/Social Science teacher takes Social Studies/Social Science. Any other teacher may take either.

Questions follow the NCERT syllabus of Classes I to V for Paper I and Classes VI to VIII for Paper II. Their difficulty can go up to the Secondary stage in Paper I and the Senior Secondary stage in Paper II. Much of every subject is pedagogy. In Paper I, 15 of the 30 Environmental Studies questions are on pedagogical issues. In Paper II, 20 of the 60 Social Studies/Social Science questions are. CTET has no general awareness or current affairs section.

CTET dates

CBSE's notice of 25 August 2026 says 21 editions of CTET have been held so far. The 22nd edition is the current one. Its dates are as per the bulletin and the notices of 8 May, 25 August and 14 September 2026. The status column is as of 24 September 2026.

The notice of 8 May 2026 first fixed the exam for 6 September 2026. It gave the end of October 2026 as a tentative result date. On 25 August 2026 CBSE reopened applications. It cited a Supreme Court judgment that stressed a reasonable opportunity for eligible teachers to acquire the prescribed TET qualification. Candidates who had already applied did not need to apply again. The notice of 14 September 2026 then set 12 and 13 December 2026. CBSE allots each candidate's city and date, and the bulletin says requests to change them are not accepted. No new result date has been announced. State TETs follow their own calendars, and this page does not list them.

Where GK24 helps a teaching aspirant

GK24 is a general knowledge and current affairs site. It does not teach Child Development and Pedagogy, the languages, Mathematics or the pedagogy questions. Together these make up most of each CTET paper. The table below is GK24's guidance, not part of the bulletin.

Daily current affairs are not tested in CTET. In GK24's view they still help in two ways. First, they keep a teaching aspirant aware of education-policy news, such as teacher eligibility, schools and schemes for students. Second, a recruitment exam or interview held after the TET is separate from CTET. If that recruitment has a general awareness part or an interview, daily current affairs help there. Check its own notification for the pattern.

How to prepare with GK24

This plan is GK24's guidance for the content parts of CTET only. It works alongside the NCERT textbooks and the bulletin syllabus, not in place of them.

1. Choose your paper first. Paper I needs Environmental Studies. Paper II needs Social Studies/Social Science or Mathematics and Science. Your GK24 reading follows that choice.
2. Read the NCERT chapter, then the GK24 note. For Paper I, read the geography, general science and environment notes. For Paper II Social Studies, read Indian history, geography and the Indian polity notes on the Constitution, Parliament and the judiciary.
3. Take the topic quiz after each note. Reread only the parts you got wrong, and track your accuracy by subject.
4. Solve previous-year questions on the CTET page. They show how facts from history, geography, polity and science are framed. Add the answer keys CBSE publishes after each edition.
5. Study pedagogy alongside. Half of Environmental Studies in Paper I and a third of Social Studies in Paper II is pedagogy, which GK24 does not cover.
6. Give current affairs about ten minutes a day. CTET does not test it, so keep it short and focus on education and environment items.
7. Keep the last weeks for full papers. With the exam on 12 and 13 December 2026, finish content revision early and practise full 150-question papers in 2 hours 30 minutes.