NTA invites applications for three-year Subject Matter Expert panel, check eligibility

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has opened applications for academicians, educators, researchers, scientists and other subject specialists to join its three-year panel of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The last date to submit the Expression of Interest (EoI) is Oct 9, 2026.

Selected experts will support various confidential academic functions associated with NTA examinations, including question development, translation, review, moderation, answer-key verification, curriculum mapping and examination research.

According to the NTA, experts may be assigned one or more responsibilities based on their subject specialization and the agency's operational requirements.

The panel will be involved in developing questions according to specified formats, difficulty levels and curriculum requirements for NTA examinations.

Experts may also review questions prepared by other specialists for conceptual accuracy, syllabus alignment, language clarity, difficulty levels, quality of distractors and fairness.

Answer-key verification and resolution of candidate challenges will form another part of the assignment. Experts may examine objections submitted against provisional answer keys and provide reasoned responses based on the relevant subject matter.

The NTA will also involve empanelled specialists in maintaining its secure question item banks. Their responsibilities may include tagging and calibrating questions, removing overexposed items and adding new questions to the banks.

Subject experts may additionally participate in committees responsible for syllabus reviews, examination schemes and policy inputs. Their work can also include curriculum mapping, preparation of test specifications and blueprints, pilot studies and research related to examination quality.

NTA SME eligibility and restrictions

Serving or retired faculty members, professors, school educators, researchers and other domain specialists with demonstrated expertise in their respective subjects can apply for empanelment.

The NTA has imposed several restrictions to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the examination process.

Applicants must not be directly or indirectly associated with candidate-coaching organizations, test-preparation companies, coaching institutes, online or offline tutoring platforms or private entities involved in preparing candidates for NTA or similar entrance examinations.

Applicants must also not have authored, co-authored, contributed to, edited or endorsed commercially published preparation material, mock tests, question banks or sample papers for NTA examinations or similar entrance examinations during the previous five years.

“The applicant must not have any active or recent commercial relationship with any candidate-facing test-preparation entity in the last three years, and no immediate family member of the applicant (spouse, children, parents, siblings) should be appearing for any NTA examination in the years for which the applicant is empanelled…,” it said.

The agency will conduct background and integrity checks before selecting applicants for the SME panel.

NTA SME panel: Confidentiality requirements

Experts selected for the panel will have to sign a comprehensive Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) at the time of empanelment. They will also be required to reaffirm the agreement before beginning each assignment.

The NTA has further stated that empanelled experts must not enter into commercial associations with candidate-coaching entities for two years after their last assignment, in accordance with the agency's cool-off requirements.

NTA SME application process

Eligible applicants can submit their Expression of Interest through the official NTA website, nta.ac.in, by Oct 9, 2026.

The empanelment comes as the testing agency continues to revise its examination and question-paper processes.

The Centre has also established a High-Powered Task Force led by Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms concerning the conduct, security, design and governance of public examinations, including those administered by the NTA.

The task force is examining areas such as examination security, technology, infrastructure, accessibility and inclusion.

NTA Director General Abhishek Singh had also recently said that the agency is examining the possibility of extending its examination expertise beyond India and exploring potential cooperation with other countries, including BRICS nations.

Speaking on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Singh said the immediate priority is to strengthen India's examination systems before pursuing cross-border examinations.

He also cited China's Gaokao as an examination system whose practices and question-paper technology could be studied and potentially shared.