The Uttar Pradesh Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) recruitment exam has been postponed once more, extending a chain of delays that has stretched nearly three years and sparked mounting anger among lakhs of aspirants.

The Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission on Monday deferred the written examination under Advertisement No. 01-2022, which was scheduled for December 18 and 19, 2025. A notification issued by the Deputy Secretary said the new dates would be announced later.

For candidates who applied in early 2022, the latest decision feels like yet another setback in a recruitment cycle riddled with cancellations, shifting schedules and administrative upheaval.

A long trail of delays

The recruitment drive for 3,539 TGT posts began in January 2022, drawing 8.68 lakh applicants. Since then, the written exam has been postponed repeatedly.

The first dates — April 4 and 5, 2025 — were pushed to May 14 and 15. Those dates passed too. The Commission later proposed July 21–22, then July 30–31, before announcing December 18–19 as the “finalised” schedule. Now, even those have been rolled back.

Aspirants say the endless postponements have taken a serious toll, impacting age eligibility, finances and mental well-being.

Leadership churn, rising frustration

The delays come amid administrative instability — including the resignation of former Commission Chairperson Kirti Pandey on September 22, formally accepted on September 26.

Candidates, however, say institutional disruptions are no justification for the chronic indecision. Many accuse the Commission of reducing the recruitment process to “tariq pe tariq” — dates issued only to be withdrawn.

Student groups prepare protests

Anger has now spilled into organised mobilisation. Student groups across the state are preparing for large-scale protests, demanding accountability and a firm, final schedule.

Pankaj Pandey, Convenor of the Sanyukt Pratiyogi Chhatra Hunkar Manch, criticised the Commission sharply:
“The Commission is making a joke of the candidates. Students are losing age, time and hope, but the Commission keeps announcing dates without conducting even one exam.”

With thousands stuck in limbo and no fresh schedule in sight, aspirants say the wait has turned from frustrating to unbearable — and they want the state to step in before the three-year delay becomes yet another unresolved recruitment deadlock.