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Teaching

CTET preparation

Central Teacher Eligibility Test for Classes 1–8.

24 free guides·Conducted by Central Board of Secondary EducationOfficial website

About the CTET exam

CTET, the Central Teacher Eligibility Test, is conducted by CBSE. Under NCTE rules, passing a teacher eligibility test is one of the minimum qualifications for teaching Classes 1 to 8. Paper I is for Classes 1–5 and Paper II for Classes 6–8, and you can take one or both. Which schools and posts require it is up to NCTE and each employer, so check their rules too.

CTET has no merit list and no fixed number of passes. Each paper has 150 one-mark questions in two and a half hours, with no negative marking. You pass at 60 per cent, which is 90 marks; any concession for reserved categories is at the employer’s discretion. The certificate is valid for life. More than half of each paper tests pedagogy: how children learn and how a teacher should respond, not just the right answer to a sum.

Read the Start here guides first: the pattern, eligibility, choosing between the papers, the syllabus, qualifying marks, a three-month plan and how to use NCERT textbooks. Then go subject by subject, starting with Child Development and Pedagogy. It appears in both papers, and its ideas help with every pedagogy question. On the day, attempt every question, because a blank earns nothing.

CTET exam pattern at a glance
PapersPaper I (Classes 1–5), Paper II (Classes 6–8)
Each paper150 one-mark MCQs in 2½ hours
Negative markingNone
Pass mark60% (90 of 150); concessions for reserved categories at the employer’s discretion
ValidityLifetime; no limit on attempts

Patterns change. Confirm details in the latest notification on the official website.

Start here

New to CTET? Read these first, in this order.

  1. 1The CTET exam pattern explainedTwo papers, 150 questions each, two and a half hours, and no negative marking. How CTET is structured section by section, how much of it is really pedagogy, and what that means for how you prepare.
  2. 2CTET eligibility: Paper I and Paper IICTET eligibility follows the minimum qualifications set by NCTE. The usual routes for each paper, where B.Ed stands for primary teaching after the 2023 Supreme Court ruling, final-year candidates, attempts, and how to check your own case.
  3. 3Paper I or Paper II, or both?Primary, upper primary, or both? How the two CTET papers differ in content, pedagogy and difficulty, which one matches your qualification and the jobs you want, and how to prepare for both without doubling the work.
  4. 4The CTET syllabus, analysedThe CTET syllabus lists content and pedagogy for every section, with a fixed number of questions for each part. A topic-by-topic breakdown of CDP, the languages, Mathematics, EVS, Science and Social Studies, and the ideas that tie them together.
  5. 5Qualifying marks, validity and what CTET is forCTET is a pass-or-fail eligibility test with a lifetime certificate. The 60% rule and where it comes from, concessions for reserved categories, which schools require CTET, how results and certificates are issued, and why a higher score can still help.
  6. 6A three-month CTET planTwelve weeks is a practical window for CTET. A week-by-week plan that starts with Child Development and Pedagogy, builds subject pedagogy on top of it, and ends with timed previous papers, with checkpoints to tell you if you are on track.
  7. 7Using NCERT textbooks for CTETCTET content questions come from the NCERT syllabus for Classes 1–8, and its pedagogy questions reflect the thinking behind those textbooks. Which books to read for each section, how to read them as a teacher, and what to note.

Subject by subject

Strategy

Guides on the pattern, eligibility, Paper I versus Paper II, qualifying marks, study plans, NCERT books, previous papers and language choice. The bulletins now refer eligibility questions to NCTE and employer rules, so check both before you register.

All 12 Strategy guides

Child Development & Pedagogy

30 questions in both papers, all pedagogy. They cover child development (Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, socialisation, heredity and environment), inclusive education, and learning and pedagogy. Most questions describe a classroom situation and ask what a child-centred teacher should do.

All 12 Child Development & Pedagogy guides

Latest CTET guides

CTETChild Development & PedagogyIndividual differences among learners: sources and responsesNo two children learn in exactly the same way. The kinds of individual differences, where they come from, how a teacher finds them out, and how to plan a differentiated lesson, with CTET-style scenarios and practice MCQs. 7 min read·29 Sept 2026CTETChild Development & PedagogyGender as a social construct: roles, stereotypes and the classroomSex is biological; gender roles are learnt. How children pick up gender ideas, three theories that explain it, where bias hides in schools and textbooks, and what a teacher can do, with CTET-style scenarios and practice MCQs. 7 min read·28 Sept 2026CTETChild Development & PedagogyLanguage and thought: Piaget, Vygotsky, Chomsky, SkinnerDoes thought shape language, or language shape thought? What Piaget, Vygotsky, Chomsky, Skinner and Bruner each say, the stages of early language, the Sapir-Whorf idea, and what it all means for classroom talk and the home language. 6 min read·27 Sept 2026CTETChild Development & PedagogyIntelligence: IQ, Gardner, Sternberg and beyondIs intelligence one ability or many? From Binet's first test and the IQ formula to Spearman, Thurstone, Gardner, Sternberg and emotional intelligence, with what each view means for a diverse classroom and CTET-style questions. 8 min read·25 Sept 2026CTETChild Development & PedagogyChild-centred and progressive educationProgressive education puts the child's experience, interests and activity at the centre of learning. Its roots from Rousseau to Montessori, John Dewey's ideas, Indian educators, what the RTE Act and NCF 2005 say, and CTET-style questions. 6 min read·25 Sept 2026CTETChild Development & PedagogyKohlberg's stages of moral developmentLawrence Kohlberg traced how moral reasoning develops through three levels and six stages. Piaget's groundwork, the Heinz dilemma, each stage with sample reasoning, Gilligan's critique, and how to classify statements in CTET questions. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026