NTA Full Form

NTA Full form is the National Testing Agency. It is an autonomous testing organization which has been set up to conduct, supervise and manage the national level entrance exams such as JEE, UGC NET, CUET etc. Through these entrance exams the candidates can take admission to respective colleges after the declaration of the result. NTA carries out the process of releasing notification, exam dates, allocation of the centers, supervision of exam centers and management to conduct the exams peacefully.

What is the Full Form of NTA?

The National Testing Agency, full form of NTA, is a central government agency that was established in November, 2017 and was recognized by the Council of Ministers to administer and supervise admission tests for  taking admission to educational institutions. As per current report, NTA is in charge of administering the various examinations such as Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main), the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG), the National Eligibility Test (NET), the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) and the Common University Entrance Entrance Test (CUET). The origins of the National Testing Agency can be traced back to the National Policy of Education, 1986, which was responsible for conducting the national-level exams for professional and non-professional programs of study. In addition to conducting the exams, the NTA also declares the result date and results on the website. The candidates can refer to NTA’s website to get the detailed information about the exams conducted by the authority.

History of NTA

In general, NTA was begun in 2010 with a written proposal that few of the IIT directors submitted to the government, recommending that the ‘NTA’ must be established by an Act of Parliament. In order to create a blueprint for the development of NTA, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) formulated a team consisting of seven members in 2013. Later, during the 2017 budget presentation by the then Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, a statement about NTA was discussed in the Parliament, which was then approved by the cabinet, resulting in the formation of NTA. To start the NTA operations, the Union Cabinet has granted the initial amount of INR 25 crore to function effectively.

Eligibility Criteria of NTA

The NTA releases various eligibility criteria separately for all the exams on the official website. It is advised for the candidate to check the eligibility criteria once before appearing for any of the exams conducted by NTA. There are various parameters which the candidate must fulfill to be able to sit for the exam such as educational qualification, age limit etc. During the time of admission, if any candidate is found to violate the eligibility criteria will be disqualified from the admission process. The eligibility criteria is different for both undergraduate and masters courses. After qualifying the eligibility criteria, the candidates can fill the application process of the respective exams.

Roles and Responsibilities of NTA

Apart from being an agency for testing services and preparations, the NTA is also in charge of several other duties. Some of the primary and significant duties of NTA are listed below:

• All the exams conducted by NTA will also include practice examinations for understanding the model of exams which is a kind of mock exam or solving model test papers. Only those individuals who have already registered to take a particular exam will be allowed access to these mock exams conducted by NTA before the actual exam.
• The NTA authority also provides well-structured and informed lectures on subjects such as chemistry, physics, biology and mathematics for those candidates who are preparing to appear for national-level exams.
• With regard to the exam participation by students with disabilities or are physically challenged, NTA ensures they also have a fair advantage in the exams by providing special seating arrangements.
• NTA also makes potential investments in building and application of innovative technology to increase test administration efficiency and smooth conduct of tests for the future.
• To ensure smooth and fair conduct of exams, NTA ensures strict maintenance of protocols in the exam centers.
• The members of the National Testing Agency visit the centers a few days prior to the exam date to ensure the arrangements are done carefully without any loopholes.
• During the exam, NTA maintains strict vigilance by installing CCTVs in the exam hall, corridor and premise if not present.
• While appearing for the exam, the identification of the candidates are verified and are recorded in NTA’s details. If all the details and students' photographs are matched, then the candidates are approved to take the exam. 

How Does the NTA Manage Exam Process?

In any of the national level examinations, there are set rules and procedures for the exam to be conducted. After releasing the official notification, the candidates must keep on checking the official websites for recent updates and should not miss any official notifications. For each update, NTA releases notifications. To understand the process of conducting exams by NTA, the candidates must read the points mentioned below to have clarity. The following are the general steps to undertaken by candidate in any exam conducted by NTA:

• FillingouttheApplicationForm- The candidate should fill the application form completely and avoid any errors in providing details.
• ReleaseoftheAdmitCard- After the successful filling of the form and completion of registration process, the NTA released admit cards a few days prior to the exam. The candidate must access and download a copy of the Admit Card for the test from the NTA’ s official website i.e nta.nic.in.
• AttendingtheExam– After obtaining the admit card, the candidates must attend the exam in person at the test center assigned to you by carrying the important documents required in the exam hall/
• ReleaseoftheExamResult- After the exam is over, NTA releases response sheet and answer sheet. The students can check and raise any objections if there. Later, the result of the particular exam is released by NTA and the candidates can download the scorecard from the website.

List of Exams Conducted by the NTA

The NTA conducts various entrance examinations at the national level. The list of exams conducted by NTA are:

• All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE)
• Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Entrance Test
• Banaras Hindu University Entrance Test
• Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) CMAT
• Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for Under-Graduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) commonly known as CUET UG and CUET PG
• Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT)
• All India Entrance Exam for Admission (AIEEA) conducted by ICAR
• IGNOU PhD and OPENMAT (MBA) Entrance Examination
• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Examination
• Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examination (JNUEE)
• Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE Main) and JEE Advanced
• National Council for Hotel Management Joint Entrance Examination commonly known as NCHM JEE exam
• National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate (commonly known as NEET UG)
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research National Eligibility Test (CSIR NET)- known as CSR NET
• University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET)
• UGC NET