Tapasya Sharma’s UGC NET JRF Journey: How PW Helped Her Score 99.82 %ile After a Long Break

Returning to UGC NET after a long break, a maternity break, and a ticking age limit was Tapasya Sharma's biggest hurdle. Balancing a demanding study routine alongside caring for her young daughter left her with severely limited, fragmented preparation hours.

She cracked the exam by prioritising efficiency over long study hours. By relying exclusively on Physics Wallah’s lectures and notes for Paper 1, focusing heavily on core concepts, and prioritising syllabus revision over extensive PYQs, she secured 204 marks (99.82 %ile) and JRF.

How Tapasya Sharma Restarted Her JRF Journey After a Long Break

Tapasya Sharma’s academic journey had already included a JRF qualification, but circumstances kept her away from continuing that path. After completing her LLB and LLM, she cleared JRF in her first attempt in 2019. However, the COVID period and subsequent admission challenges interrupted her plans for a PhD.

She later entered teaching and eventually took a maternity break. When she decided to return to preparation, the situation was very different from her first attempt.

“So I have done my graduation in Political Science Honours. After that I have done my LLB. I completed my LLB in 2017 which is a long time back now. Then I did my LLM. During my LLM I cleared JRF in 2019 in my first attempt.”

This shows that Tapasya was not starting from zero. Her earlier academic background and first JRF qualification had already given her a strong foundation. However, the gap after her LLM meant that returning to exam preparation required her to reconnect with concepts that she had studied years earlier.

Her decision to attempt the exam again came when she realised that she wanted to make another serious attempt while she still had the opportunity.

“So it was only this year when I decided, ek to JRF ke liye ab age limit bhi, now it was almost wo khatam hi hone wali hai. So I thought ab karna hi hai to ab isi saal karna hai.”

For Tapasya, this was not simply about appearing for another examination. It was a decision to give herself one focused opportunity despite the circumstances. She knew that the next few months would be demanding, especially with a young child at home, but she chose to commit fully to the attempt.

That decision set the tone for the next phase of her preparation: making the most of limited time rather than waiting for ideal conditions.

Tapasya Sharma Prepared Around Her Daughter and Limited Study Hours

The biggest challenge in Tapasya Sharma’s second JRF journey was not a lack of academic exposure but the limited time available for preparation. After her maternity break, she was managing the responsibilities of caring for a young daughter while trying to return to serious exam preparation.

“In January last year I had thought that I will give, but I was not able to study because my daughter was too young and it was very exhausting. I did not have the energy to be able to study.”

This phase meant that Tapasya could not follow the kind of long, uninterrupted study schedule that many aspirants associate with competitive exam preparation. Instead, her preparation had to fit around the time when her daughter was asleep.

“I used to study only when my daughter was sleeping. I didn’t have a lot of time for PYQs honestly.”

Her circumstances made efficiency particularly important. She knew that she had only a few months for focused preparation, so she decided that those months had to be used with a clear purpose.

How PW Helped Tapasya Sharma Focus on Concepts and Paper 1

With limited preparation hours, Tapasya Sharma had to be selective about the resources she used. For Paper 1, she chose to rely primarily on the lectures and notes provided by PW faculty instead of adding multiple books and sources to her preparation.

She specifically highlighted the role of the faculty lectures and notes in making her Paper 1 preparation manageable.

“For Paper One, I had relied only on what the faculty at PW, Nishant sir, they had taught. Other, of course, a lot, matlab koi doosri book nahi, koi doosra source nahi, just their lectures and the notes and it was extremely helpful.”

For someone preparing with limited hours, keeping the number of sources under control helped reduce the time spent deciding what to study. Instead of moving between multiple materials, Tapasya could focus on understanding the content covered in the lectures and revising the accompanying notes.

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For Paper 2 as well, she focused more on completing the syllabus and revising it rather than spending excessive time on PYQs.

“Rather once I completed the syllabus, I spent the remaining time on revision.”

The combination of focused resources, conceptual clarity and targeted revision allowed Tapasya to turn her limited study hours into a structured preparation cycle.

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Tapasya Sharma Turned a Second Attempt Into 204 Marks and JRF

The effort eventually translated into a successful result. Tapasya Sharma cleared UGC NET JRF in Law with 204 marks, proving that a long study gap and limited preparation time did not prevent her from competing successfully.

Her result was especially significant because this was her second JRF qualification, after having cleared it earlier in 2019.

“So then I had to prepare again, this time with a baby and this was the second attempt after 2019 and glad I got JRF again.”

The achievement also reflected the confidence with which she approached the examination. Even before the result, her focus had remained on JRF rather than simply qualifying NET.

“Itna nahi hai ki NET bhi nahi ho payega, but my aim was always JRF.”

Her final score of 204 marks also came in an examination that she described as unpredictable, where she believed that conceptual understanding and sticking to the basics were more useful than trying to memorise every unusual detail.

“It’s actually not that and one joint lesson I would say after this exam is you should stick to the basics.”

For aspirants preparing for UGC NET JRF, her journey offers a realistic reminder: preparation does not always happen under perfect circumstances. A clear goal, an understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, focused resources and consistent use of available time can make a meaningful difference-even when the journey has already been interrupted once.