What CTET is
The Central Teacher Eligibility Test, conducted by CBSE, is not a job recruitment exam. It is a qualifying certification that establishes a candidate as eligible to be considered for a teaching post in schools run by the central government (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya) and many private schools that recognise CTET. Passing CTET does not itself get you a teaching job; it is the prerequisite that keeps you eligible when a school system actually recruits.
State governments run their own equivalent, generally called a State TET, which is the version relevant if you specifically want to teach in a state government school rather than a central government one. CTET and a State TET are not the same certificate, and a school system recognises the one relevant to it.
Who can apply
There is no upper age limit for CTET, which is unusual among the exams on this site: as a qualifying certification rather than a recruitment exam, it does not carry an age eligibility band at all. Academic eligibility differs by which paper you take.
Paper 1, for teaching classes 1 to 5, needs senior secondary with at least 50% marks and a two year Diploma in Elementary Education, or an equivalent qualification specified in the notification. Paper 2, for teaching classes 6 to 8, needs a bachelor’s degree with a Bachelor of Education, or an equivalent qualification specified in the notification. A candidate who wants to be eligible to teach either age group takes both papers, on the same day, in two separate sessions.
How the exam runs
Each paper is a single objective test of 150 questions in 150 minutes, no negative marking. Paper 1 covers Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I, Language II, Mathematics and Environmental Studies. Paper 2 covers Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I, Language II, and then either Mathematics and Science or Social Studies depending on the subject specialisation the candidate is certifying for.
There is no interview, no physical test and no further stage. A qualifying score produces a certificate, valid for a period specified by CBSE, which you then use when applying to an actual recruitment exam or interview run by a specific school system.
Preparing the application
CBSE specifies the exact photograph and signature requirements in each notification rather than following a fixed year to year standard, so always check the current notification’s dimensions and file size before uploading. The tools on this site can resize your photograph to whatever specific target the notification states.
On exam day
Arrive at least an hour before the reporting time on your admit card, with the printed admit card, a government photo identification matching the name and photo on the admit card, one recent passport size photograph, and a black or blue ballpoint pen. No electronic devices are permitted, and only material issued by the centre may be used during the exam.
What comes after CTET
Passing CTET does not place you in a job. The next step is applying to an actual recruitment process, such as DSSSB for Delhi’s schools, KVS for Kendriya Vidyalaya, NVS for Navodaya Vidyalaya, or a state’s own teacher recruitment exam. Each of those has its own separate application, exam and timeline, entirely distinct from CTET itself.