It is the eleventh hour, and a few aspirants of the University Grants Commission - National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) 2024 are worried because they are unable to complete the registration process. Today, December 10, is the deadline for registrations. 

According to the notice dated November 19, 2024, released by the exam conducting agency National Testing Agency (NTA), the registrations for the exam began on November 19. The exams are scheduled to be held from January 1 to 9, 2025. 

Today is the last day to register and owing to the issues a few aspirants are facing, they have been demanding the commission to extend the deadline. 

What are their issues?

Speaking to EdexLive, an aspirant from Karnataka, Raju* (name changed), said, "I have been trying to register since November 28, but the website has not been functioning properly. Initially, I wasn't receiving the email OTP (one-time password), which was the problem. But once this was resolved, the application itself was not working."

"After logging in and filling the details, the website froze. It kept re-loading and I wasn't able to apply," Raju, who is a working professional, said and emphasised, "I have been trying since this morning, but have made no progress. I work as a freelancer for an institute, offering IT (Information Technology)-related support. These glitches are eating away my time." Further, he added that a few of his friends faced similar issues. He claims that the server is the main problem.

Another aspirant Ravi* (name changed) from Hyderabad shared, "On around November 26, when I started the registration process by logging in and filing the form, the website kept redirecting me to the homepage, restricting me from proceeding to the next page. However, the next day I could pay the fee and register successfully."

"But when I was trying to help my friends register, we were facing the same technical issue. Despite multiple attempts, the registrations were not successful. I have been trying to help my friends register for the past two days, but the same issue is recurring," said Ravi. 

Ravi, who will attempt the exam for the second time this year, claimed, "The exam fee is not being utilised for the maintenance nor for the purpose of conducting the exam." He recalls that the 2023 examination was conducted smoothly without any hassle. "Every year, there is an uptick in the number of candidates appearing for the exam, yet no measures are being taken to conduct the exam without any challenges," he told EdexLive. 

A former teacher from Kerala, who assists aspirants with the registration process, on condition of anonymity, said, "The UGC-NET December 2024 application process is facing significant issues. The website is extremely slow, many students and applicants are not receiving the email OTP required for verification, and the site keeps auto-refreshing." 

Further, urging the NTA and UGC to extend the deadline, the former teacher highlighted the website being slow is a persisting issue.