The National Testing Agency (NTA) published the December session’s CSIR NET 2024 Provisional Answer Key. The examination was held in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode from February 28 to March 2, 2025, at 326 examination centers in 164 cities across the country, covering 2,38,451 candidates. The provisional answer key can be downloaded from the official website, csirnet.nta.ac.in
Answer Key Challenge Process
Those who are unhappy with the provisional answer key can challenge it from March 11 to March 14, 2025. They must pay a non-refundable processing fee of INR 200 per challenged question. The fee is payable online through Credit Card, Debit Card, Net Banking, or UPI. NTA will not accept any other mode of challenge.
How to Download the CSIR NET 2024 Answer Key
Candidates can follow these steps to download the answer key:
| Step No. | Action |
| 1 | Visit the official website at csirnet.nta.ac.in. |
| 2 | Navigate to the Latest News section on the homepage. |
| 3 | Click on the link titled ‘Joint CSIR NET 2024 Dec Provisional Answer Key Download’. |
| 4 | The answer key will open as a PDF containing the questions and their provisional answers. |
| 5 | Save and download the file for reference. |
How to Challenge the CSIR NET 2024 Answer Key
| Step No. | Action |
| 1 | Visit the official website at csirnet.nta.ac.in. |
| 2 | Log in using your application number, date of birth, and security pin. |
| 3 | Click on ‘View Question Paper’ to review marked responses. |
| 4 | Select ‘Click to view/Challenge Answer Key’ to proceed. |
| 5 | The system will display Question IDs in sequential order. |
| 6 | Select one or more Option IDs to challenge the answer. |
| 7 | Upload supporting documents, if necessary, by selecting ‘Choose File’. |
| 8 | Click ‘Save your Claims and Pay Fee’ or ‘Modify your Claims’ to make changes. |
| 9 | Review the displayed challenges before proceeding to payment. |
| 10 | Pay the INR 200 per question processing fee using Debit Card, Credit Card, or Net Banking. |
NTA will go through all objections with the assistance of subject matter experts. The agency will accordingly modify the answer key if any challenge is discovered to be valid. The revised answer key will be utilized in order to finalize the exam results. NTA will not individually inform candidates about the acceptance or rejection of challenges. The final answer key will be final.
