CTET 2025-26 Notification Out, Exam Date, Eligibility, Apply Online @ctet.nic.in

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is responsible for conducting the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) to determine the eligibility of candidates for teaching posts in Classes 1 to 8 in schools across India. The online form-filling process for the CTET Exam 2025-26 for the February 2026 cycle has started at the official website www.ctet.nic.in. The CTET Exam will be conducted on 8th February 2026 (Sunday), and qualified candidates in the exam will get the CTET certificate, which is valid for a lifetime.

CTET 2025-26 Notification Out

The CTET Notification 2026 (Information Bulletin) for the February 2026 cycle has been released at the official website  www.ctet.nic.in, along with information, including the application process, eligibility criteria, dates, exam structure, syllabus, etc. Candidates can download the notification from the official website of CBSE, or the direct link is also attached here. 

CTET Notification 2025-26 PDF- Click to Check

CTET 2025-26 Exam Summary

CTET Exam consists of two papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2. Paper 1 is held for those candidates who intend to teach the primary classes, i.e., Classes 1 to 5, while Paper 2 is for those who wish to teach classes 6 to 8. Teaching aspirants who fulfill the CTET eligibility criteria have a golden opportunity to make their career in the teaching field. 

CTET February 2025-26 Important Dates

CTET Notification 2026 for the Feb 2026 cycles has been released on the official website along with the complete CTET Exam schedule for registration dates and exam dates. Candidates can submit their CTET Application Form 2025-26 till 18th December 2025 through the official website www.ctet.nic.in. Check important dates from the table below. 

CTET 2025-26 Exam

The Central Teacher Eligibility Test, also known as CTET, is a national-level eligibility test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) twice a year to determine the eligibility of candidates as teachers in Central Government Schools such as KVS, NVS, and others. Applicants interested in advancing their careers in the teaching sector for primary and upper primary classes in government & government-aided schools must qualify for the CTET Exam. Based on their CTET Exam scores, the candidates can apply for vacancies in various government and government-aided schools.

CTET 2025-26 Eligibility Criteria

The Eligibility Criteria are different for selecting candidates for the post of teacher for Classes 1 to 5 and Classes 6 to 8. Let’s have a look at the Educational qualifications required by the candidates for both these sections:

Educational Qualification for Classes 1-5

A candidate who has completed their Senior Secondary or its equivalent exam with a minimum of 50% marks and cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Diploma in Elementary Education (2 years duration) OR

A candidate who has completed Senior Secondary or its equivalent exam securing a minimum of 45% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Diploma in Elementary Education (2 years duration), according to the NCTE Regulations 2002. OR

A candidate who has completed Senior Secondary or its equivalent test with a minimum of 50% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Bachelor of Elementary Education (4 years duration). OR

A candidate who has completed Senior Secondary or its equivalent test with a minimum of 50% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Diploma in Education (2 years duration). OR

A candidate who has a Bachelor’s degree and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Diploma in Elementary Education (2 years duration).

Educational Qualification for Classes 6-8

A candidate who holds a Graduation degree and has passed or is appearing in the final year examination of a Diploma in Elementary Education (2 years duration). OR

A candidate who has completed his/her Graduation degree with 50% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Bachelor in Education. OR

A candidate who has completed his/her Graduation degree with 40% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of Bachelor in Education, according to NCTE regulations. OR

A candidate who has completed Senior Secondary or its equivalent test with a minimum of 50% marks and has cleared or appeared in the final year exam of 4 years duration Bachelor of Elementary Education. OR

A candidate who has completed Senior Secondary or its equivalent exam with 50% marks and cleared or appearing in the final year exam of B.A.Ed/B.Sc.Ed or B.A/B.Sc.Ed. OR

A candidate who has a Graduation degree with 50% marks and has cleared or appeared in a B.Ed program of 1-year duration.

Click to Check Detailed CTET Eligibility Criteria 2026

CTET Application Form 2025-26

Interested teaching aspirants can submit their CTET February 2026 Application Form through the official website of www.ctet.nic.in from 27th November to 18th December 2025 (11:59 pm). The aspirants should keep all the necessary documents handy while filling out the online application forms. It is important to carefully read and follow the guidelines to avoid any discrepancies during the application process. 

CTET Application Form 2025-26 - Click to Apply

CTET Exam 2025-26 Application Fee

A candidate belonging to either the General or OBC category is required to pay Rs. 1000/- (if applying for either Paper I or Paper II) and Rs. 1200/- (if applying for both papers). The same amount is reduced to Rs. 600/- (if applying for either Paper I or Paper II) and Rs. 600/- (if applying for both papers) for candidates belonging to SC/ST category.

Fee Details for CTET Exam are as follows:

Note- GST as applicable will be charged extra by the Bank.

CTET 2025-26 Selection Process

Candidates appearing for the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) will be shortlisted on the basis of their score in the CTET Exam. CTET is an eligibility test only which means, qualifying for CTET does not guarantee jobs to the aspirants. They have to apply for recruitment at different schools based on the available vacancies which require CTET Certification for which the candidates must score more or equal to 60% marks in order to get selected.

CTET 2025-26 Exam Pattern

CTET 2026 Exam will be conducted in two phases:

1. Paper I
2. Paper-II

Paper I is conducted for candidates who have been looking forward to becoming teachers for Class 1 to 5 and Paper II is conducted for candidates who aspire to become teachers for Class 6 to 8. Candidates also have the option to apply for both Paper-I and Paper II. Questions asked in both Paper I and Paper II are Objective Multiple Choice Questions. A candidate is required to score a minimum of 60% to qualify CTET Exam. One major thing to note is that the CTET score is now valid for a lifetime as announced by CBSE.

Let’s have a look at the detailed CTET Exam Pattern:

CTET Paper I Exam Pattern

Nature and standard of questions

• The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on the educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.

• The Test items in Language I will focus on the proficiencies related to the medium of instruction.

• The Test items in Language II will focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities.

• Language II will be a language other than Language I. A candidate may choose any one language as Language I and other as Language II from the available language options and will be required to specify the same in the Confirmation Page.

Opt for two languages in which you wish to appear for CTET. The List of languages and code are as follows:

• The Test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will focus on the concepts, problem-solving abilities and pedagogical understanding and applications of the subjects. In all these subject areas, the test items will be evenly distributed over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject prescribed for classes I-V by the NCERT.

• The questions in the test for Paper I will be based on the topics prescribed in the syllabus of the NCERT for classes I - V but their difficulty standard as well as linkages, could be up to the Secondary stage.

Check CTET Paper I & II Exam Pattern

CTET 2025-26 Syllabus 

The revised CTET Syllabus 2026 has been released by CBSE. When preparing to attempt for upcoming CTET, the detailed Syllabus is the first and foremost step for a candidate to begin with. The syllabus is lengthy and revolves around Child Development and Pedagogy, which is one of the most important parts of the CTET exam. Other sections asked in CTET 2026 include Mathematics, Science/Environmental Science, and Languages. Besides these, the candidate has to be prepared with any 2 languages (from the list mentioned in the notification)

Syllabus For CTET Paper-I: This covers topics of Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I & II, Mathematics, and Environmental Science.

Syllabus For CTET Paper-II: The CTET Paper 2 Syllabus 2026 covers topics of Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I & II, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The candidate has to choose one from Maths/Science or Social Studies as per their respective subjects.

Read the Complete CTET Syllabus 2026 (Paper I + Paper-II)

CTET Paper 2 Syllabus 2026 - Click to Check

CTET 2025-26 Certificate Validity

The validity of the CTET certificate for an appointment has been revised, and now the certificate will remain valid throughout life. The revised validity has been made effective from 2011 as announced by the Education Minister, and the candidates whose certificates are expired can get their new certificate with no expiry. It has been declared that the States and UTs will be responsible for revalidating or re-issue TET certificates to the candidates whose period of 7 years has already expired (after 2011). Earlier, the validity of the CTET certificate was for 7 years (from the date of issue).

Download CTET Previous Year Question Paper

CTET Teacher Salary 2025-26

Candidates after qualifying the CTET 2026 Exam will be eligible to apply for teaching jobs for Classes 1 to 8 in Central Government Schools such as NVS/KVS and other Schools etc. The basic salary of teachers CTET qualified teachers is between Rs. 9300 to Rs. 34800 as the basic pay. The net in-hand salary of a CTET-qualified teacher ranges from Rs. 35000 to Rs. 50000 per month.

CTET 2025-26 Key Points

In the press release, it is also noted that "within the existing syllabus of CTET and structure of the question paper, the question papers will be developed to assess less of factual knowledge and more of conceptual understanding, application, problem-solving, reasoning, and critical thinking, focusing on the following aspects:

1. To assess the teacher's understanding of teaching their respective subject.
2. To assess the futuristic teacher's pedagogic content knowledge.
3. To understand their knowledge of the relevance of the subject in the school curriculum.
4. Some questions will be added to assess the planning of teaching-learning experiences.
5. The question paper will be focused on the assessment methodologies specific to the concept.
6. A sample blueprint or sample question papers will be released by CBSE to make it easy for the candidates to understand the revised format

CTET 2025-26 Exam Centre 

Common Teacher Eligibility Test will be conducted in the following cities, and the candidates have to make a choice for 4 exam centres at the time of registration from the list below. The first preference will be given to the chosen exam centre; in case of unavailability, the CBSE can allot any exam centre.