The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has granted the Center the status of an “institution deemed to be a university within a distinguished category”, enabling it to offer degree programs independently as part of efforts to promote teacher education and educational research in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
With the new status granted by the Union Ministry of Education, NCERT will now be able to offer higher education programs in education across diploma, undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG), doctoral and specialist levels, continuing its essential role in school curriculum development.
The ‘Distinguished Category’ tag recognizes NCERT’s specialized national role, distinguishing it from traditional universities while giving it autonomy in designing and managing academic programmes, officials said.
Prior to this, NCERT conducted graduate and postgraduate teacher training programs through its six constituent regional education institutes, which were affiliated with local universities in five states. These included Barkatullah University in Bhopal, MDS University in Ajmer, University of Mysore, Utkal University in Bhubaneswar, and Northeastern Hill University in Shillong. RIEs required approval from their affiliated universities to offer new courses.
According to a notification issued by the ministry’s higher education department on March 30, NCERT will also be allowed to set up off-campus and off-campus centers “only in accordance with the norms and guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), from time to time, on the subject.”
The decision to grant university status to the NCERT headquarters in Delhi, along with its six constituent institutions, including the RIEs in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, and the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal, was taken by the ministry “in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956” on the advice of the UGC. This provision allows the Center to declare an institution of higher learning as a deemed university, giving it the autonomy to award degrees subject to user-generated content regulations.
This step follows a process that extended over three years. In September 2022, NCERT applied to the UGC seeking deemed university status under the distinguished category. The committee recommended issuing the Letter of Intent (LoI) in October 2022, following which the ministry issued the LoI in August 2023, asking NCERT to fulfill conditions such as enhancing academic and research capabilities, complying with UGC norms, starting doctoral programs and innovative academic programs within three years.
NCERT submitted its compliance report in November 2025, which was accepted by the UGC expert panel in January 2026 and subsequently approved by the panel, paving the way for the final notification on March 30.
Through the notification, the ministry directed the institution to “initiate research programs as well as doctoral programs and innovative academic programmes” and expand into new areas in line with the New Economic Policy 2020.
The Ministry also specified that the institution “shall not engage or engage in any activities of a commercial and profit-making nature” and that there should be no transfer of funds without prior approval. It also provides for adherence to UGC standards for academic programmes, mandatory accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), participation in annual rankings under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), and accreditation of digital academic systems such as the Academic Credit Bank (ABC).
