If your result said ‘not qualified’ and you were one or two questions short, this post is for you. You are a lot closer than it feels right now.
The short answer
Missing by 2 marks means most of your preparation worked. Do not start again from zero with a new course or a new pile of notes.
Revise the notes you already have until you can recall them without looking at the options, pick out your five weakest areas from your response sheet, and give Paper 1 the same respect you give Paper 2.
Missing by 2 marks is not the same as missing by 10
Before you change anything, look at the gap honestly. If you missed by around 2 percent, your notes did their job.
Joining a new coaching now usually means sitting through the Anglo-Saxon age and the Elizabethans all over again. That will not help you.
Keep your notes, learn them harder, and add new information to the same pages. Take two or three subjects to a deeper level.
If you missed by 5 percent or more, it is a different situation. Closing a gap of 7 or 8 percent in two months on your own is hard, so you will need more hours and probably some guidance.
Rahul missed by one, two and three questions
Rahul is one of our students. In one attempt he got 85 questions right when 86 were needed.
Before that he missed by three questions, and before that by two. After one of those results he called me, and I told him one thing: revise every note and every booklet at least 10 times.
He did exactly that. He stayed with one set of material instead of jumping to whichever 15-day crash course was trending.
The first time he revised British literature and literary theory, it took him 15 to 20 days. By his last attempt he could revise a whole subject in an hour or an hour and a half.
On that attempt he qualified for Assistant Professor and PhD admission.
His advice to anyone missing by a question or two: stick to one teacher, stick to your material, and do not lose hope. Two years ago he was the student who missed NET by one question.
Rahul’s full interview: four attempts, missed by one to three questions each time, then qualified.
Five traps I see in repeat attempters
1. You recognise the answer but cannot recall it
After two or three attempts everything looks familiar. Derrida, différance, aporia, logocentrism.
You know you have read it. But recognising a name in the options is not the same as pulling it out of memory.
Aim to know the basic content so well that you hardly need to look at the options.
2. Nobody is counting the revisions
How many times have you revised each subject? Most students cannot answer that.
Put a big chart on your wall, write every topic down the side, and make columns R1 to R10. Tick a box each time you finish a revision.
If a topic has not reached R10, it is not ready.
3. You are studying to avoid failure
Shame, guilt and family pressure are heavy, and I understand that. But many repeat attempters are no longer preparing for the exam.
They are preparing so that they do not fail again, and that is a different thing.
You crammed in your first attempt. This time, understand the subject.
4. You have not studied your own mistakes
Open your response sheet and check every wrong answer in Paper 1 and Paper 2. Where you knew the answer and still marked the wrong option, that is carelessness, and carelessness is a weak area too.
Be your own forensic expert.
5. You are ignoring Paper 1
If you get only 30 to 32 questions right in Paper 1, Paper 1 is your weak area, whatever you feel about it. If you do not accept that, the same result comes back.
Competitive exams take time in India. A friend of mine topped his school and still needed four or five years to clear the bank PO exam.
UGC NET is far easier than that, but it is still a competitive exam. Give it the time it needs. Nakul Grover
A 4-week plan for the next attempt
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Days 1 to 3 | Go through your response sheet and list your five weakest topics. |
| Days 4 to 25 | Work on those five with fresh material and take mocks. Keep revising your old notes every day and tick the R1 to R10 chart. |
| Every day | Give Paper 1 at least 30 minutes to an hour. |
| Final days | Only revision. No new topics. |
I explain this plan in detail, separately for first attempters and repeat attempters, in this video:
Strategy for first and repeat attempts (Hindi).
Revise from the questions that actually came. Every UGC NET English previous year question, arranged topic-wise and solved, in a printed set.
See the PYQ bookletFrequently asked questions
I missed UGC NET English by 2 marks. Should I join a new coaching?
Usually not. Your notes got you to within 2 marks.
Revise them until you can recall them without options, and take two or three subjects deeper. If you missed by 5 percent or more, extra guidance makes more sense.
How many times should I revise before the next attempt?
At least 10 times. Rahul missed by one to three questions in three attempts and qualified once he revised every note 10 times.
Keep a wall chart from R1 to R10 so you know where each topic stands.
Is Paper 1 worth extra time if Paper 2 is my main subject?
Yes. Qualifying depends on your total across both papers.
If you get only 30 to 32 right in Paper 1, it is holding your total down.
Start here if you are new: the UGC NET English guide, the syllabus and the free topic-wise PYQs.
