NEET 2026: Exam Date, Registration, Syllabus, Pattern, Eligibility, Admit Card, Cutoff
Course: MBBS
If you've been searching for NEET 2026 details expecting the usual "exam date, registration open" kind of update, here's the thing — NEET UG 2026 isn't upcoming anymore. It's already happened, and it's been one of the more chaotic cycles in recent years. The exam was conducted, cancelled, held again, and results are out. Right now, the whole process has moved into counselling, with seats actually being allotted as we speak. So instead of a generic date list, here's what actually happened this year, and where things stand today.
What Happened With NEET 2026
NEET UG 2026 was originally scheduled for May 3, 2026, after registrations closed in March. But the exam ran into serious trouble. Reports of a question paper leak and irregularities surfaced from several states, and the National Testing Agency, backed by the Government of India, took the unusual step of cancelling the entire exam.
A re-examination — officially called Re-NEET UG 2026 — was held on June 21, 2026. Candidates who had already registered didn't need to apply again, and the application fee from the original attempt was refunded in full. NTA also gave students an extra 15 minutes this time around (195 minutes instead of the usual 180) to make up for time lost to attendance checks and other formalities on exam day.
The result for this re-exam came out on July 16, 2026, and that's the result students are working with now.
NEET 2026 Timeline, Start to Finish
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Notification released | February 8, 2026 |
| Registration window | February 8 – March 11, 2026 |
| Original exam date (later cancelled) | May 3, 2026 |
| Re-exam announced | May 15, 2026 |
| Re-NEET UG 2026 conducted | June 21, 2026 |
| Result declared | July 16, 2026 |
| Counselling Round 1 registration | August 5, 2026 |
| Round 1 seat allotment result | August 20–22, 2026 |
| Reporting to allotted institutes | August 22–31, 2026 |
| Round 2 and further rounds | Expected September–October 2026 |
Who Was Eligible
The eligibility rules for NEET haven't really changed year to year, so this is still useful even though the exam is already over — it's the baseline for anyone repeating next year too.
Candidates needed to have passed (or be appearing in) Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology, and English. On marks, General category candidates needed at least 50% aggregate in PCB, while SC/ST/OBC candidates needed 40%, and General-PwD candidates needed 45%.
On age — and this trips a lot of people up because of outdated information floating around — the minimum age is 17 as of December 31 of the admission year. There's no upper age limit at all. That cap was removed by the National Medical Commission back in 2022, so people of any age can sit for NEET as long as they clear the academic bar. There's also no cap on the number of attempts.
The Exam Pattern — And a Change Worth Knowing About
This is where a lot of NEET content online is simply out of date, so it's worth being precise here. For the last few years, NEET followed a Section A/Section B format — each subject had 35 compulsory questions plus 15 optional ones, out of which you only had to attempt 10. That optional section is gone starting NEET 2026. The National Medical Commission had flagged issues with the old format (mainly that it let students dodge harder topics) and directed NTA to drop it. So the paper has effectively gone back to its older, pre-2021 structure — every question is now compulsory.
| Subject | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Physics | 45 | 180 |
| Chemistry | 45 | 180 |
| Botany | 45 | 180 |
| Zoology | 45 | 180 |
| Total | 180 | 720 |
A few other things worth knowing about the format: it's still a pen-and-paper, OMR-based test, not computer-based. Each correct answer gets you 4 marks, and each wrong one costs you 1 mark — questions you skip entirely aren't penalised. The exam runs for 180 minutes under the standard format (the June re-exam got a slightly longer 195-minute window), and it's available in 13 languages including English, Hindi, and most major regional languages.
If you're prepping using last year's mock tests, keep this change in mind — there's no more picking your best 10 out of 15 in each subject. Every question counts now, which does raise the stakes a bit.
Syllabus
NEET still draws its syllabus from the NCERT Class 11 and 12 textbooks, so nothing revolutionary here, but it's worth laying out section by section.
Physics covers mechanics, thermodynamics, electrodynamics, optics, modern physics, and waves. Chemistry is split across physical chemistry (mole concept, thermodynamics, equilibrium), organic chemistry (hydrocarbons, biomolecules), and inorganic chemistry (periodic table, coordination compounds). Biology — which combines Botany and Zoology — carries the biggest chunk of the paper and includes diversity in living organisms, cell structure, genetics and evolution, human and plant physiology, reproduction, ecology, and biotechnology.
Result and Cutoff — Already Out
The result landed on July 16, 2026. Close to 20 lakh candidates appeared out of roughly 22.79 lakh who had registered, and just over 11.21 lakh candidates ended up qualifying — a qualification rate of around 56%.
At the top of the merit list, two candidates tied for AIR 1: Aryan Gupta from Punjab and Panshul Bansal from Haryana, both scoring 715 out of 720.
Here's the category-wise qualifying cutoff NTA released along with the result:
| Category | Qualifying percentile | Marks range (out of 720) |
|---|---|---|
| General / EWS | 50th percentile | 715 – 213 |
| OBC / SC / ST | 40th percentile | 212 – 177 |
| General-PwD | 45th percentile | As notified by NTA |
One thing worth clearing up, because it confuses a lot of first-time aspirants: this qualifying cutoff is not the score you need to actually get a medical seat. It's just the bar that gets you into counselling in the first place. The real cutoff — the one that decides whether you land a government MBBS seat — is set separately by MCC based on how many candidates apply for how many seats, and it's considerably higher. Going by current trends, something in the range of 550+ marks is looking like a reasonably safe score for a General category candidate chasing a government MBBS seat through the All India Quota, with the bar somewhat lower for reserved categories.
Where Counselling Stands Right Now
Counselling for NEET is split between the Medical Counselling Committee, which handles the All India Quota (15% of seats), Deemed and Central Universities, AIIMS, JIPMER, and AFMC, and the individual states, which run their own process for state quota seats.
As things stand in the last week of August 2026: Round 1 registration ran from August 5 to 15, choice filling and locking wrapped up by August 18, and the provisional seat allotment result came out on August 20, with the final result following on August 22. Candidates who got a seat in this round now have until August 31 to report to their allotted institute. Round 2 registration is expected to open around August 25, with further rounds and a stray vacancy round likely stretching into September and October.
Given how many times MCC has revised its own schedule this year, anyone still in the process should keep checking mcc.nic.in directly, along with their state's counselling website if they're going through the state quota route, rather than relying on a fixed date from any single source.
A Few Quick Questions People Keep Asking
Why was NEET UG 2026 held twice? The original exam on May 3 was cancelled after reports of a paper leak and other irregularities in a few states. NTA conducted a re-exam on June 21 instead.
Did students have to register again for the re-exam? No. Everyone who had registered for the original May exam was automatically carried over, and the fee they'd already paid was refunded.
What's the qualifying cutoff this year? 715–213 marks for General/EWS (50th percentile), and 212–177 marks for OBC/SC/ST (40th percentile).
Is counselling still going on? Yes. Round 1 has just wrapped up as of August 22, and Round 2 is expected to start within a few days. If you haven't secured a seat yet, keep an eye on the Round 2 schedule.
