New Delhi, April 3 -- The Centre has declared the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) an "Institution deemed to be University under distinct category", in a move aimed at strengthening teacher education and educational research in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. With the new status granted by the Union ministry of education, NCERT will be able to offer higher education programmes in education from diploma, Undergraduate (UG), Postgraduate (PG) levels to doctoral and specialised courses, while continuing its core role in school curriculum development. Officials said the "distinct category" tag recognises NCERT's specialised national role, setting it apart from conventional universities while allowing it the autonomy to design and run academic programmes. Prior to attaining the status, NCERT was offering graduate and post-graduate programmes for teachers' training and capacity building at its six constituent units or Regional Institute of Education (REI) centres in affiliation with local universities across five states in the country. According to a notification issued by higher education department of the ministry on March 30, NCERT will also be allowed to start off campuses, off-shore campuses "only in accordance with the norms and guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), from time to time, on the subject." HT has a copy of the notification. The decision to grant deemed to be university status to NCERT headquarters in Delhi along with its six constituent institutions, including RIE in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, and the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal, was taken by the ministry "in exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956" on the advice of the UGC. The section empowers the central government, on the advice of the commission, to declare that an institution of higher learning (other than a university) is deemed to be a University which will gain the autonomy to award degrees and are subjected to UGC regulations. The move follows a more than three-year process. In September 2022, NCERT had approached UGC seeking 'deemed to be university status under distinct category.'. The UGC had recommended issuance of a Letter of Intent (LoI) in October 2022, following which the ministry issued the LoI in August 2023, asking NCERT to meet certain conditions. NCERT submitted its compliance report in November 2025, which was accepted by a UGC committee in January 2026 and later approved in the same month, paving the way for the final notification by the ministry on March 30....