NTA exam calendar December 2026 to March 2027

The National Testing Agency has placed its proposed examination calendar up to March 2027 in the public domain. The public notice is dated 16 September 2026 and says the calendar is meant to help candidates, educational institutions and other stakeholders plan academic and examination-related activities. NTA has also stated that the dates are tentative and can change.

The calendar begins with the December 2026 cycle and continues through March 2027. It gives proposed dates and, where applicable, the duration or buffer dates for an examination. The notice does not treat the calendar as an examination notification. Detailed information bulletins and examination-specific notices will be issued separately at the appropriate time.

December 2026 dates

The calendar lists the Rashtriya Indian Military College examination for 6 December 2026 as a one-day examination. SWAYAM is listed from 8 to 12 December for five days. The Rashtriya Military Schools examination is placed on 13 December for one day. The December cycle section also includes UGC NET and Joint CSIR UGC NET, with their proposed dates shown in the table.

The UGC NET December cycle is listed for 19 December 2026, with 20 and 21 December shown as buffer dates in the calendar table. Joint CSIR UGC NET for the December cycle is listed for 20 and 21 December 2026. These entries belong to the proposed calendar, so candidates should wait for the separate examination notice, application information and other instructions before treating the dates as operational.

January and February 2027 schedule

For January, NTA lists SHRESHTA, described in the table as the National Entrance Test for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas, on 10 January 2027. NIFT Entrance Examination is also listed for 10 January. JEE Main Session 1 is scheduled in two blocks, 22 to 24 January and 28 to 30 January, with 31 January shown as a buffer date. The All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination is listed for 31 January.

The February section lists the Common Management Admission Test on 7 February 2027. It also lists NITTT, the National Initiative for Technical Teachers Training, Part 1, on 26 and 27 February. The calendar gives each of these entries as a proposed date in the month and keeps the wider warning about possible changes at the bottom of the table.

March 2027 dates and buffer period

The March section lists CUET PG 2027 on 1 to 5 March, 8 March, 12 to 20 March and 24 to 25 March. The table gives a 17-day duration and shows 30 and 31 March as buffer dates. NITTT Part 2 is listed for 5 and 7 March. These are the entries printed in the March portion of the NTA calendar.

The public notice says administrative, academic, statutory, logistical or other unforeseen circumstances may lead to changes. This warning applies to the dates and periods in the calendar. Candidates should not use the calendar as a substitute for an admit card, city intimation, application notice, answer key notice or result announcement.

NTA advises candidates to visit nta.ac.in and the respective examination portals regularly for the latest updates. The agency specifically names application schedules, examination city intimation, admit cards, answer keys and results among the information that will be issued through later updates. Candidates preparing a personal timetable can use the calendar as a first planning layer, then replace each date with the examination-specific notice when it arrives.

The calendar also tells institutions when several examination periods may fall close together. That planning value is the reason NTA has published the table before the individual bulletins. It does not remove the need to check the rules for each examination, including the exact application window and eligibility conditions that will be published separately.

The official message from NTA is therefore two-part: a proposed sequence is available through March 2027, and the sequence remains subject to change. Candidates can mark the listed dates for preparation, but should keep checking the NTA website and the relevant examination portal for the notice that turns a proposed date into an examination-specific instruction.