New Delhi, November 3, 2026: The National Testing Agency has empanelled more than 5,000 academicians, scientists, researchers, educators, translators and moderators as part of a major overhaul of its examination system, with the agency also building a large question bank aimed at reducing the risk of future paper leaks.
Experts to Handle Multiple Confidential Exam Tasks
The newly empanelled experts will be involved in areas including question paper setting, translation, vetting, moderation, answer-key verification, curriculum mapping, research and psychometric validation.
The NTA says the panel is being built as a long-term resource rather than through one-time recruitment.
Large Question Bank Planned to Prevent Paper Leaks
A central part of the overhaul is the creation of a large internal question bank.
The idea is to ensure that individual subject experts and translators do not know which questions will ultimately appear in a particular examination, reducing the possibility of questions being memorised, reproduced or leaked.
Four-Layer Verification for Experts
Officials said applicants go through a strict multi-stage verification process before being added to the NTA panel.
The first stage checks eligibility, educational qualifications and professional experience. A subject-matter committee then reviews academic standing, research background and previous experience in exam-related work.
Background Checks to Exclude Coaching Links
The agency is also carrying out background checks to ensure that empanelled experts are not associated with coaching institutes or involved in preparing commercial question-bank material for students.
This is intended to reduce potential conflicts of interest in confidential examination work.
Overhaul Follows NEET-UG Paper Leak Controversy
The reforms follow the NEET-UG paper leak controversy earlier this year, which triggered nationwide protests and intense scrutiny of the NTA’s examination-security systems.
As part of the restructuring, the agency had earlier removed around 600 subject-matter experts from its previous panel and shifted its headquarters from Okhla to the Government of India Press building on Minto Road in Delhi.
Empanelment to Continue Throughout the Year
The NTA has not fixed a final deadline for adding subject experts and translators.
Officials said the process will remain open throughout the year so that the agency can continue expanding and strengthening its expert pool.
AI Translation Review Also Part of New System
The agency recently invited experts and translators to help review AI-translated examination material.
The move suggests NTA is also exploring technology-assisted workflows while keeping human verification in place for accuracy and confidentiality.
Focus Shifts to Exam Security
The larger objective of the overhaul is to create a more decentralised and secure question-setting system in which no individual expert has enough information to compromise an examination.
The success of the initiative will be closely watched as NTA continues conducting some of India’s largest entrance examinations.
Source: The Indian Express
Supreme News Network
