Every CSIR-NET Life Sciences previous year paper on Lesson Basket, typed out in full with NTA’s final answer key and a worked solution for every question. 11 papers, 1,595 questions, all free and without login.
Each paper below has its own page. Every question from Part A (General Aptitude), Part B and Part C appears in the order it was set, tagged with its CSIR-NET syllabus unit, with a Show answer button under it. Answers come from the National Testing Agency’s final answer keys, matched to each question by NTA’s own question ID, so the answer you see is the one NTA used for scoring.
CSIR-NET Life Sciences question papers with answer keys and solutions
| Paper | Exam date | Shift | Changes in NTA’s final key |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | 28 July 2025 | Morning (9 am–12 pm) | Q63: two options accepted, Q100 dropped, Q123: two options accepted |
| December 2024, Shift 1 | 1 March 2025 | Morning (9 am–12 pm) | Q97: two options accepted |
| December 2024, Shift 2 | 1 March 2025 | Afternoon (3 pm–6 pm) | Q38: two options accepted, Q58 dropped |
| June 2024, Shift 1 | 26 July 2024 | Morning (9 am–12 pm) | Q129: two options accepted |
| June 2024, Shift 2 | 26 July 2024 | Afternoon (3 pm–6 pm) | None |
| December 2023, Shift 1 | 26 December 2023 | Morning (9 am–12 pm) | Q70: two options accepted, Q92 dropped, Q98: two options accepted |
| December 2023, Shift 2 | 26 December 2023 | Afternoon (3 pm–6 pm) | Q8: two options accepted, Q22: two options accepted, Q126: two options accepted |
| June 2023, Shift 1 | 6 June 2023 | Morning (9 am–12 pm) | None |
| June 2023, Shift 2 | 6 June 2023 | Afternoon (3 pm–6 pm) | Q44: two options accepted, Q50 dropped |
| February 2022, Shift 1 | 17 February 2022 | First shift | Q88: two options accepted, Q121 dropped |
| February 2022, Shift 2 | 17 February 2022 | Second shift | Q29 dropped, Q126 dropped |
Which units these papers tested
We tagged all 1375 Part B and Part C questions in these papers with their syllabus unit. Across these papers, System Physiology – Plant, Ecological Principles and Fundamental Processes carried the most questions, while Diversity of Life Forms carried the fewest.
Unit counts, paper by paper
The number of Part B and Part C questions from each unit in each paper. Each paper has 125 of them (50 in Part B, 75 in Part C). A unit that is heavy in one paper can be light in the next, which is why it pays to practise more than one paper.
| Unit | Jun 25 | Dec 24 S1 | Dec 24 S2 | Jun 24 S1 | Jun 24 S2 | Dec 23 S1 | Dec 23 S2 | Jun 23 S1 | Jun 23 S2 | Feb 22 S1 | Feb 22 S2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Physiology – Plant | 12 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 131 |
| Ecological Principles | 10 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 129 |
| Evolution and Behavior | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 127 |
| Fundamental Processes | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 126 |
| System Physiology – Animal | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 116 |
| Molecules and their Interaction Relevant to Biology | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 111 |
| Methods in Biology | 11 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 110 |
| Inheritance Biology | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 108 |
| Cellular Organization | 9 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 99 |
| Developmental Biology | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 96 |
| Cell Communication and Cell Signaling | 5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 95 |
| Applied Biology | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 64 |
| Diversity of Life Forms | 6 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
| Total | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 1375 |
Practise one unit at a time
Every question from these papers is also sorted by syllabus unit, on 13 unit-wise pages. Each one lists its unit’s questions by subtopic and solves 16 of them step by step.
Exam pattern in every paper
| Part | Questions | Answer | Marks each | Wrong answer | Max marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: General Aptitude | 20 | 15 | 2 | −0.5 | 30 |
| B: Life Sciences | 50 | 35 | 2 | −0.5 | 70 |
| C: Life Sciences | 75 | 25 | 4 | −1 | 100 |
| Total | 145 | 75 | 200 |
The exam lasts 3 hours. Part C questions are analytical and carry the most marks, so most of your score comes from the 25 you choose to answer there.
How to use previous year papers
- Start with the most recent paperIt reflects the current style of questions best. Attempt it in one 3-hour sitting before you check any answers.
- Score it the way NTA doesAdd 2 or 4 marks for each correct answer and subtract 0.5 or 1 for each wrong one. Track that number from paper to paper.
- List your mistakes by unitEvery question carries a unit tag. Units where you lose marks in more than one paper are where to revise first.
- Do the other shift a week laterTwo shifts of the same session make a fair before-and-after check once you have revised your weak units.
More papers
We are adding older CSIR-NET Life Sciences papers to this list. Each one is checked against NTA’s final key before it goes up, so a paper appears here only when its answers can be verified.
Keep going
Source: question papers of the Joint CSIR-UGC NET (Life Sciences, subject code 703) and the National Testing Agency’s final answer keys for each session. Question text is reproduced for practice; any transcription error is ours, and NTA’s documents are the authority.
