The 41st MH SET is on 25 October 2026: an OMR exam of 150 questions and 300 marks, no negative marking and no JRF. Here is the pattern, the real Paper I unit weightage and a 17-day plan.
Start with Paper I: it is common to all 32 subjects, so every candidate sits it. The 41st MH SET is on 25 October 2026, conducted by Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) as the State Agency for the Government of Maharashtra and accredited by the UGC. It is an OMR exam of 150 questions and 300 marks with no negative marking, so nothing is left blank. Every date and pattern fact here was read off setexam.unipune.ac.in on 8 October 2026; the Paper I unit weightage is our own classification of the official question papers.
MH SET, the Maharashtra State Eligibility Test, qualifies you for Assistant Professor posts only: there is no Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in MH SET, a hard difference from UGC NET. A SET-qualified candidate is eligible for Assistant Professor posts in the universities and colleges of Maharashtra and Goa, the two states this SET covers, and in no other state. It is presently conducted in 32 subjects, and the syllabus is officially the UGC NET and UGC-CSIR-NET syllabus.
Two papers on one day, 150 questions and 300 marks. Every question carries 2 marks, offers four options and is compulsory, and there is no negative marking.
| Paper | Questions | Marks | Duration | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I (all subjects) | 50 | 100 | 1 hour | 10:00 to 11:00 |
| Paper II (your subject) | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | 11:30 to 13:30 |
| Total | 150 | 300 | 3 hours | |
| All questions compulsory. Four booklet codes: A, B, C and D. | ||||
The medium is English and Marathi only, and the English version is final if a translation is ambiguous.
The syllabus is the same, but five differences change how you prepare: no JRF, an offline OMR paper instead of a computer-based test, English and Marathi as the only medium, eligibility that runs in Maharashtra and Goa only, and a fixed unit order in the Paper I booklet.
| What differs | MH SET | UGC NET |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifies you for | Assistant Professor only | Assistant Professor and JRF |
| Mode | OMR, offline pen and paper | Computer-based test |
| Medium of the paper | English and Marathi only | English and Hindi |
| Where it qualifies you | Maharashtra and Goa | Not restricted to one state |
| Paper I unit order | Fixed, five questions per unit | Units interleaved |
So sit your last few mocks on paper, and if your NET notes are in Hindi, move them into English or Marathi: Hindi is a subject in MH SET, never a medium.
The slot order is fixed: question numbers map onto the ten syllabus units in order, five apiece. We classified the four most recent official Paper I papers with an extractable text layer, namely 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2019, question by question, 191 of the 200 questions, and the mapping held in every one. So you can navigate the booklet by number.
| Questions | Unit | Questions | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 to Q5 | Teaching Aptitude | Q26 to Q30 | Logical Reasoning |
| Q6 to Q10 | Research Aptitude | Q31 to Q35 | Data Interpretation |
| Q11 to Q15 | Comprehension | Q36 to Q40 | ICT |
| Q16 to Q20 | Communication | Q41 to Q45 | People, Development and Environment |
| Q21 to Q25 | Mathematical Reasoning | Q46 to Q50 | Higher Education System |
Slots and content are not the same thing: mathematical reasoning overflows into the logical reasoning slots, logical reasoning is falling, and ICT absorbs digital-initiative items such as SWAYAM and MOOC set in the teaching aptitude slots.
| Unit | By slot | By content | What we found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematical Reasoning | 5 | 7 to 9 | Overflows into Q26 to Q30; the hardest block |
| Logical Reasoning | 5 | 1 to 4 | 4 items in 2019 and 2023, only 1 in each of 2024 and 2025 |
| ICT | 5 | 6 to 7 | Absorbs digital-initiative items from other slots |
| Comprehension | 5 | 5 | The only true 5-question set: one passage at Q11 to Q15 |
| Data Interpretation | 5 | 5 | Two linked sets plus one standalone |
So five classical syllogisms a day is a poor use of the days left, while series, coding and direction-and-distance pay far better. Read the comprehension passage first, 10 marks off one text, and practise data interpretation as sets.
The official portal publishes real MH SET question papers and answer keys for 14 past sittings, which is unusual for an Indian exam. Download them, sit one Paper I in 1 hour on paper, mark it against the official key, and log every mistake by unit.
With 17 days between 8 October 2026 and the exam, split them 6, 5, 4 and 2, and run Paper II revision in the evenings.
The admit card is published on 15 October 2026 from 10:00 on setexam.unipune.ac.in, and applications are closed.
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications (all closed) | 2 June 2026 to 3 July 2026, with late fee 13 July 2026 to 23 July 2026, correction 24 July 2026 to 26 July 2026 |
| Admit card | 15 October 2026, from 10:00 |
| 41st MH SET examination | 25 October 2026 |
The exam was postponed from 26 July 2026, so a prospectus PDF still carrying that date is stale. The closed application stage charged Open candidates Rs 800, or Rs 1,300 with the late fee, and SC, ST, PwD, Transgender, Orphan, OBC, DT, NT, SEBC non-creamy-layer and EWS candidates Rs 650, or Rs 1,150 with the late fee. The PwD fee concession needed 40 per cent or more disability with a Maharashtra or Goa domicile, and per UGC directives there is no re-evaluation or re-checking after the result.
Because Paper I is the same paper for all 32 subjects, one series serves every MH SET candidate. Our MH SET Paper I full-length mock series is built to the real slot order: 50 questions in 1 hour, four options, 2 marks each, no negative marking, in English and Marathi. Our MH SET Paper I PYQ-pattern mocks follow the formats we found in the official papers: a comprehension passage at Q11 to Q15, two linked data interpretation sets plus a standalone item, and the mathematical reasoning overflow. Since MH SET uses the UGC NET syllabus, our UGC NET preparation guide walks the same ten units in depth.
Start today: sit one Paper I mock in 1 hour, mark it by unit, and you will know where the remaining 17 days should go.
No. MH SET has no negative marking in either paper. Every question carries 2 marks and a wrong answer scores zero, exactly like an unattempted one, so leaving a bubble blank can only cost you. All 150 questions across Paper I and Paper II are compulsory, which makes marking every single row, with a considered guess where you must, the correct exam-day habit.
No. MH SET qualifies you for Assistant Professor posts only, and there is no Junior Research Fellowship in MH SET. That is a real difference from UGC NET, which awards both. MH SET does use the UGC NET and UGC-CSIR-NET syllabus, so the reading overlaps heavily, but the SET result is an Assistant Professor eligibility and not a fellowship award.
MH SET is an offline OMR exam, taken with pen and paper from a printed question booklet that comes in four codes, A, B, C and D. It is not a computer-based test, which is a real difference from UGC NET. Take at least your last few mocks on paper with a printed answer grid, because shading the right row at speed is its own skill.
The admit card for the 41st MH SET is published on 15 October 2026 from 10:00 on the official portal setexam.unipune.ac.in. The exam itself is on 25 October 2026, after being postponed from 26 July 2026. Download the admit card as soon as it is out and check your name, your subject and your exam centre before exam day.
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Yes. MH SET is conducted for Maharashtra and Goa by Savitribai Phule Pune University, acting as the State Agency for the Government of Maharashtra and accredited by the UGC. A SET-qualified candidate is eligible for Assistant Professor posts in the universities and colleges of Maharashtra and Goa, the two states this SET covers, and in no other state, so MH SET does not stand in for another state's SET.
