NEW DELHI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has granted the Center the status of an “institution deemed to be a university under a distinct 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 diploma, undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG), doctoral and specialist programmes, continuing its essential role in school curriculum development.
The ‘Distinguished Category’ tag recognizes NCERT’s specialized national role, distinguishing it from traditional universities while allowing it autonomy in designing and managing academic programmes, officials said.
Earlier, NCERT conducted UG and PG teacher training programs through its six constituent Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs), affiliated to 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.”
HT has seen a copy of the notice.
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 comes after a process that lasted more than three years. In September 2022, NCERT approached the UGC seeking “university status under a distinct category”. Based on the UGC’s recommendation, the ministry issued a letter of intent (LoI) in August 2023, asking NCERT to meet certain conditions such as enhancing academic and research capabilities, complying with UGC norms, and initiating steps towards starting doctoral programs and innovative academic programmes, within three years.
NCERT submitted its compliance report in November 2025, which was accepted by the UGC expert committee in January 2026 and approved by the committee later in the same month, paving the way for the final notification by the ministry 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 NEP 2020.
The ministry said the institution “shall not engage or engage in any activities of a commercial or profit-making nature,” and that there should be no transfer of funds without prior approval. It also mandates 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 the annual Indian ranking issued by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), and accreditation of digital academic systems such as the Academic Credit Bank (ABC).
