UGC NET June 2026 Political Science Topper Utkarsh Shukla’s Journey to 99.96 %ile & JRF with PW

Utkarsh Shukla’s journey to UGC NET June 2026 Political Science JRF is a story of an unconventional academic path and focused preparation. From a PCM background to History and eventually Political Science, he cleared the exam on his second attempt with 232 marks and a 99.96 percentile.

With PW’s Mission JRF resources, including lectures, books, PYQs and chronology compilations, Utkarsh turned his broad reading into an exam-focused strategy built around stories, timelines, active recall and repeated revision.

How Utkarsh Shukla Started His UGC NET Journey

Utkarsh’s academic journey towards Political Science began after studying PCM until Class 12 and then completing his graduation and postgraduation in History. His interest in reading extended beyond his formal syllabus, and he often connected theories and ideas across different subjects.

For his second UGC NET attempt, he realised that this habit of reading widely needed to be balanced with focused exam preparation. 

“Mera ye second attempt tha aur is baar maine apna sab kuch laga diya tha, kyunki December 2025 ke pattern se mujhe laga ki paper mein bahut kuch mug up karna padega.”

A friend advised him to study according to the paper rather than trying to read everything. This became an important shift in his approach.

“Mujhe realise hua ki main bahut kuch jaanta hoon, but paper mein usko express nahi kar paa raha tha. Isliye maine advice follow ki aur paper ke according padhna start kiya.”

He also decided to focus on one goal at a time instead of simultaneously preparing for different academic targets. By around February–March, he became more serious about completing his Political Science preparation.

How Utkarsh Shukla Tackled the Struggle of Memorisation

The factual nature of UGC NET became one of Utkarsh’s biggest challenges. Instead of memorising individual facts separately, he created connections between events, theories, scholars and political developments.

“Maine general elections ko apna ek map bana liya. Pehle elections ko line se yaad kiya, phir jo stories mujhe pata thi unko usmein fill karta chala gaya.”

His reading of political books and biographies helped him build stories in his mind. He then created a chronological map of Indian general elections and gradually added political events, leaders and other important facts to it. This helped him turn scattered information into one connected story.

“Mere paas ek badi si story ban gayi jo sab ek doosre se connect hoti gayi. Chief Justice yahan the, unhone ye kiya, phir ye event hua, aur aise mujhe sab yaad hota gaya.”

After building these connections, he introduced active recall into his routine. He would set short challenges for himself and try to reproduce information without looking at his notes.

This helped him distinguish between information that felt familiar and information that he could actually recall during the examination.

How PW Helped Utkarsh Shukla Build His Preparation Strategy

Utkarsh had enrolled in PW’s Mission JRF batch for the December cycle. Although he was not very active in attending every class, he systematically compiled the available PW resources on his iPad using GoodNotes.

“Maine saara content apne iPad mein compile kar liya—lecture notes aur PW ki har little-little cheez jo provide ki gayi thi. Maine sab GoodNotes mein organise kar liya.”

He also used PW books, Paper 1 material, PYQs, lectures and chronology compilations according to his requirements. For difficult topics, he repeatedly watched selected lectures instead of trying to consume every available resource.

“Aapki amendments wali class maine kam se kam chaar baar li, kyunki mujhe ek-ek amendment yaad karna tha. Phir notes aur PYQs ko saath mein map karke questions lagata tha.”

Utkarsh also used PW’s chronology compilation to create his own visual timelines. He would draw a long timeline in GoodNotes, add scholars and important events, and revise it regularly.

He used active recall for these timelines as well. For topics such as PUBD, he relied on a PW one-shot lecture and reproduced the summary charts multiple times until he could recall them independently. His overall approach was to use PW resources selectively and repeatedly rather than continuously adding new sources.

PW UGC NET June 2026 Toppers

How Utkarsh Shukla’s Preparation Turned Into a 99.96 Percentile Result

Utkarsh describes his preparation as imperfect rather than perfectly planned. He experimented with different methods, changed his focus, limited his sources and gradually developed a system that worked for him.

“Preparation kaafi imperfect thi. Jaisa log kehte hain na ki maine ye kiya, aise kiya, aisa kuch nahi tha. Main karta gaya aur ultimately ho gaya.”

He expected his score to be around 200–220 marks based on his assessment after the examination, but the final result exceeded his expectations.

“Main 200 marks expect kar raha tha, lekin 232 expect nahi kiye the. Main bas karta gaya, karta gaya, aur ultimately ho gaya.”

Utkarsh eventually scored 232 marks with a 99.96 percentile and secured JRF in UGC NET June 2026 Political Science.

Utkarsh Shukla’s Advice to UGC NET Aspirants 

His final advice to aspirants is also based on his own experience. He believes students should trust their preparation and avoid treating one unproductive day as a reason to stop preparing.

“Agar aapko lagta hai ki aapka nahi hoga, toh ye bahut galat perception hai. Ho sakta hai jo aap kar rahe ho wo sahi hai, bas karte raho.”

He suggests starting whenever possible instead of waiting for the perfect routine. For him, consistency mattered more than following an ideal timetable every single day.

“Aaj 4 baje nahi uthe toh poora din barbaad mat karo. 6 baje uthe ho toh 6 baje se start karo. Rukna mat, karte raho.”

Utkarsh’s journey shows that there is no single perfect preparation formula for UGC NET. Focused sources, active recall, repeated revision and consistency can matter more than having a flawless plan from the beginning.

For aspirants, Utkarsh’s journey offers a practical lesson: preparation does not always have to look perfect to be effective. His success came from gradually finding what worked – connecting facts, actively recalling information, revising relevant material and continuing despite an imperfect plan. The important part was not having a flawless strategy from day one, but continuing to improve the strategy along the way.