NEW DELHI: Students with four-year undergraduate degrees can now directly appear for NET and pursue PhD, according to University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Jagadesh Kumar.

To pursue a PhD with or without a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), the candidates will require a minimum of 75 per cent marks or equivalent grades in their four-year undergraduate course.

So far, a candidate for the National Eligibility Test (NET) needed a master’s degree with a minimum of 55 per cent marks. “The candidates with four-year undergraduate degrees can now directly pursue PhD and appear for NET. Such candidates are allowed to appear in a subject in which they want to pursue a PhD irrespective of the discipline in which they have obtained the four-year bachelor’s degree,” Kumar said.

“The candidates having passed a four-year or eight-semester bachelor’s degree programme should have a minimum of 75 pc marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed,” the UGC chairman said.

A relaxation of 5% marks or its equivalent grade may be allowed for those belonging to SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), differently-abled, economically weaker sections and other categories of candidates as per the decision of the UGC from time to time, he added.