The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous body and a premier testing organisation established by the Government of India. It is registered as a society under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, and functions under the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education. The NTA was formally established in November 2017 following Cabinet approval. Its origin traces back to the Programme of Action 1992, which was linked to the National Policy of Education 1986 and advocated for a national-level common entrance test. The agency was created to solve the problem of multiple agencies, such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), being burdened with conducting major entrance examinations.
The NTA's mechanism involves conducting efficient, transparent, and standardised entrance examinations for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions. It operates by adopting modern technology, including the transition to Computer-Based Tests (CBT), and employs secure digital systems for test delivery and result processing. The agency is governed by a Governing Body and led by a Director-General. The NTA connects to the entire higher education ecosystem by conducting major national-level exams like the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG), the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG/PG), and the UGC-NET. A recent change announced is that from 2025 onward, the NTA will focus exclusively on entrance exams for higher education and will stop organising recruitment tests. Following recent controversies, the government has also constituted a high-level panel to review the NTA's functioning and recommend reforms in the examination process and data security protocols.