UGC NET Home Science official syllabus guide

UGC NET Home Science syllabus 2026

Home Science Paper II is a single subject paper sat after the common Paper I. Its syllabus has ten units, and only the first two (food science and food service management, and nutrition and dietetics) are about food. The other eight cover textiles, apparel, resource management, housing, human development, family studies, communication and extension, and each unit ends with a research-methods topic.

Exam pattern and marking

• Paper I — 50 questions, 100 marks (teaching and research aptitude, common to all subjects)
• Paper II — 100 questions, 200 marks (Home Science)
• 3 hours (180 minutes) for both papers together, with no break; computer-based
• 2 marks per correct answer, no negative marking; all questions compulsory

Home Science (subject code 12) syllabus

Unit I: Food Science and Food Service Management

• Food science and nutrition; physical and chemical properties of food; objective and subjective quality evaluation
• Effect of cooking and processing on nutrients; food preservation; pigments and additives
• Food standards, microbiological safety, HACCP, packaging
• Food service — menu planning, food cost analysis, institutional food service (hospitals, educational and special institutions)
• New product development and nanotechnology; research methods: concept, scope and ethics

Unit II: Nutrition and Dietetics

• Food groups, balanced diet, food pyramid; macro- and micronutrients, requirements and deficiencies for Indians
• Public health, community and sports nutrition; nutrition in emergencies; nutrition through the life span
• Nutritional assessment; national nutrition policies, programmes and food security
• Clinical and therapeutic nutrition, diet counselling; research designs

Unit III: Textiles

• Fibre, yarn and weave classification and identification; manufacture and properties of natural and man-made fibres
• Fabric construction, finishes, dyeing and printing; traditional Indian textiles
• Textile testing and quality control; eco-friendly textiles and effluent treatment; technical and nano textiles, upcycling

Unit IV: Apparel Designing

• Body measurement and anthropometry; sewing machines and tools; design elements and principles
• Fashion terms, cycles, theories and forecasting; pattern making, draping and alteration
• Apparel manufacture and quality testing; clothing care, labels and selection

Unit V: Resource Management and Consumer Issues

• Management concepts and functions, motivation, decision making; family resources, time and energy management, work simplification
• Natural resource management and SDGs; money management, budgeting and savings; human resource management
• Consumer rights, behaviour, protection and legislation; entrepreneurship; sampling techniques

Unit VI: Housing and Interior Design

• Design fundamentals and colour; space planning, house plans and building regulations; housing finance
• Green buildings, energy efficiency and auditing; energy resources and conservation
• Product design, ergonomics and work-place design; furniture, furnishings and wall/window treatments; data-collection tools

Unit VII: Child / Human Development

• Growth and development principles; prenatal and neonatal care; theories of development
• Early childhood care and education; family, peer and cultural influences; children with special needs and children at risk
• Adolescence, adulthood and ageing; research variables

Unit VIII: Family Studies

• Marriage and family dynamics; family welfare programmes; domestic violence and conflict resolution
• Parent and community education; single-parent families, family crisis and therapy
• Human, child and women's rights, gender roles; counselling; well-being; data analysis and statistics

Unit IX: Communication for Development

• Communication process, models, barriers and theories
• Development concepts and models; diffusion of innovation, mass media, social marketing, development journalism
• Advocacy and behaviour-change communication; traditional, modern and new media; ICT for development; parametric and non-parametric tests

Unit X: Extension Management and Community Development

• History and principles of extension; programme planning, monitoring and evaluation
• Extension methods and audio-visual aids; curriculum development and Bloom's taxonomy; non-formal and adult education
• Training and capacity building; community development, Panchayati Raj and NGOs; participatory methods; development programmes in India; report writing

Source: UGC NET syllabus — Home Science (code 12), English ↗. Source: UGC NET subject syllabi (UGC) ↗. Source: NTA Information Bulletin, UGC NET June 2025 (pattern) ↗. Checked 2026-09-26. The examining authority's current document remains definitive and should be verified before planning examination preparation.

Section weight by year

Section marks are calculated from each available UGC NET Home Science paper. The table records how marks were distributed in each year represented on this site.

Counted from the question banks on this server. Where our reproduction of a paper is short of the official total — figure-dependent questions we cannot carry — the exam page says so against that paper.

Changes in examination pattern

These changes are derived from comparisons of consecutive papers for the same post and do not represent an official announcement.

See every UGC NET Home Science mock test on the site — full papers, sectional tests, cut-offs and eligibility.