A total of 1,770,714 of the 1,994,661 registered candidates (88.77%) appeared for the Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET-2026), conducted across 60 districts from July 2 to 4. During the examination, AI-enabled surveillance identified 44 impersonators, Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESSC) chairman Prashant Kumar said on Saturday.
Kumar said the upper primary level examination was held in two shifts on July 2 and the first shift on July 3. Of the 1,211,459 registered candidates, 1,057,055 (87.25%) appeared for the examination.
The primary level examination was conducted during the second shift on July 3 and the first shift on July 4. Of the 783,202 registered candidates, 713,659 (91.12%) took the examination. Female candidates accounted for 87% attendance in the upper primary level examination and 90.85% in the primary level examination.
On Saturday (July 4), the examination was conducted at 955 centres across the state during the first shift. Of the 379,316 registered candidates, 334,775 (88%) appeared.
Commission members, along with retired IAS and IPS officers, were appointed as observers in all 60 districts. They visited examination centres throughout the test to inspect arrangements. The examination was monitored from an AI-integrated control command room at the UPESSC headquarters, where the chairman, members, secretary, controller of examinations and deputy secretary tracked activities through AI-enabled cameras installed at the centres.
“With the help of AI-based software used to identify suspicious candidates, 44 impersonators were caught while appearing in place of actual candidates—14 on July 2, 11 on July 3 and 19 on July 4. In addition, one candidate was caught using a mobile phone to cheat inside an examination hall on July 3,” Kumar said.
All such individuals have been handed over to local police for further legal action. Barring these incidents, the examination was conducted smoothly, transparently and fairly across all designated centres, he added.
