The re-examination at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Re-exam date | Sunday, 21 June 2026 |
| Reporting time | 11:00 AM |
| Exam time | 2:00 PM – 5:15 PM |
| Duration | 195 minutes (3 hours 15 minutes) |
| Mode | Offline, pen-and-paper, OMR answer sheet |
| Languages | 13 (English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalam, Kannada, Assamese, Odia) |
| Fresh registration | Not required |
| Application fee | No re-payment required; refund option available for candidates opting out |
| Admit card | Re-issued on or before 14 June 2026 via candidate login at neet.nta.nic.in |
| Total candidates affected | Approximately 22 lakh (entire 3 May 2026 cohort) |
Why NEET UG 2026 was cancelled
The 3 May 2026 NEET UG paper was cancelled on 12 May 2026 — nine days after the exam — after the NTA's preliminary investigation established that the question paper had been leaked. A whistleblower informed officials on 7 May 2026 about WhatsApp messages containing identical questions, and within three to four days the NTA was able to confirm that approximately 410 questions had been circulating on WhatsApp groups for between 15 days and a month before the exam. Several of those questions matched the actual paper served on 3 May.
The Union Ministry of Education's stated position on the cancellation was unambiguous: "A wrong candidate through the education mafia cannot steal the rights of another. Our policy is of zero tolerance. Our priority is the well-being of students." The NTA's Director General, Abhishek Singh, separately defended the cancellation as necessary to maintain public trust, stating that "any move short of cancelling exams would signal that those trying to scam the system would have succeeded."
For candidates who choose not to sit the re-exam, the NTA's public notice of 12 May 2026 outlines a refund mechanism for the examination fee. The official refund window and form are available on neet.nta.nic.in.
NEET UG 2026 re-exam: who, what, when, where
- Who must re-appear: All candidates who appeared on 3 May 2026. There is no subset exemption — the cancellation applied to the entire exam, across all centres and all candidates.
- What does not change: The syllabus, exam pattern, marking scheme, and language options remain identical. The NTA has explicitly confirmed there is no syllabus revision for the re-exam.
- City change window: The NTA has opened a correction window allowing candidates to change their exam city for the 21 June re-exam (useful for candidates who travelled home after the 3 May exam). Accessible via the candidate dashboard at neet.nta.nic.in.
- Admit card: A fresh admit card for the 21 June re-exam will be available at the candidate dashboard on or before 14 June 2026. The roll number and application number remain unchanged.
NEET UG 2026 exam pattern
The exam pattern for the 21 June 2026 re-examination is identical to the original 3 May 2026 paper.
| Section | Questions | Marks per Q | Section total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | 45 | +4 | 180 |
| Chemistry | 45 | +4 | 180 |
| Biology — Botany | 45 | +4 | 180 |
| Biology — Zoology | 45 | +4 | 180 |
| Total | 180 | 720 |
- Marking: +4 for every correct answer, −1 for every incorrect answer, 0 for un-attempted.
- Duration: 195 minutes (3 hours 15 minutes).
- Mode: Offline. Candidates mark answers on an OMR sheet.
- Question type: Single best correct option (MCQ).
- No internal choice: every candidate attempts the same 180 questions.
A forward-looking note for next year's aspirants: the Education Ministry has confirmed that NEET will move to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) format from 2027 onwards. The 21 June 2026 re-exam remains offline.
NEET UG 2026 eligibility criteria
| Criterion | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Minimum age (as on 31 December 2026) | 17 years |
| Maximum age | No upper age limit |
| Nationality | Indian citizen, OCI, PIO, NRI, or Foreign National |
| Qualifying exam | 10+2 (Class 12) or equivalent, passed or appearing |
| Compulsory subjects | Physics, Chemistry, Biology / Biotechnology, English |
| Minimum aggregate (PCB) | 50% for General/EWS; 40% for OBC-NCL, SC, ST; 45% for UR-PwD |
| Number of attempts | Unlimited (no cap) |
Candidates currently in Class 12 are eligible to apply provided they pass the qualifying exam before the start of MBBS / BDS counselling.
NEET UG 2025 qualifying cutoff — your reference point
Since the NEET UG 2026 result is yet to be declared, the most recent verified reference is the NEET UG 2025 official qualifying cutoff released by NTA on 14 June 2025:
| Category | Qualifying percentile | Cutoff mark range | Candidates qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| UR / EWS | 50th | 686 – 144 | 11,01,151 |
| OBC-NCL | 40th | 143 – 113 | 88,692 |
| SC | 40th | 143 – 113 | 31,995 |
| ST | 40th | 143 – 113 | 13,940 |
| UR-PwD / EWS-PwD | 45th | 143 – 127 | 472 |
| OBC-PwD / SC-PwD / ST-PwD | 40th | 126 – 113 | 281 combined |
The 2025 UR cutoff topped out at 686 marks. There was no perfect 720 score in 2025 — a notable shift from 2024, when grace marks awarded multiple toppers a perfect score and triggered the controversy that led to a Supreme Court hearing.
NEET UG qualifying cutoff — 4-year trend (2022 to 2025)
| Year | UR / EWS (50th percentile) | OBC-NCL / SC / ST (40th percentile) | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 715 – 117 | 116 – 93 | Conventional distribution |
| 2023 | 720 – 137 | 136 – 107 | Cutoffs creep upward |
| 2024 | 720 – 162 | 161 – 127 | Grace-marks controversy; cutoffs spike |
| 2025 | 686 – 144 | 143 – 113 | No perfect score; UR top drops to 686 |
Reading the trend: the lower bound of the UR qualifying band is the bare-minimum marks needed to qualify NEET (i.e. clear the 50th percentile). It has climbed from 117 in 2022 to 162 in 2024, then settled to 144 in 2025. For 2026 planning, treating around 150 marks as a realistic floor for the General qualifying cutoff is sensible — but the actual cutoff for the re-exam will be known only after the result is declared.
A critical distinction — qualifying cutoff vs admission cutoff
Many first-time candidates confuse two very different numbers:
- Qualifying cutoff (the table above) — the marks needed to be declared NEET-qualified and eligible to participate in counselling. For UR, this has hovered between 117 and 162 over four years.
- Admission cutoff — the marks needed to actually secure an MBBS seat in a government, deemed, or private medical college. This is dramatically higher — typically 600+ marks for a General-category candidate to secure a government MBBS seat in any major state, and 650+ for top-tier government colleges like AIIMS Delhi or JIPMER.
The qualifying cutoff is a floor; the admission cutoff is the real competitive bar. We cover the marks → rank → college conversion in detail in our follow-up guide on Bangalore medical college cutoffs.
What to do in the days before the re-exam
For candidates who already prepared for the 3 May exam, this is a recovery and revision window, not a re-learning one. A practical schedule:
- Weeks 1–2 (late May to early June): Full-length mock tests every alternate day. Identify subject-wise weak areas using mock analytics. Don't introduce new chapters.
- Week 3 (8 – 14 June): Concentrated revision of NCERT Biology (Class 11 + 12) — historically the highest-yield subject for NEET. Re-attempt the last 5 years of NEET papers (2020 – 2024) under timed conditions.
- Final week (15 – 20 June): Light revision only. Shift sleep schedule to 11 PM – 7 AM to match the 2:00 PM exam time. Check admit card on 14 June and verify exam city + reporting time. Carry only what the admit card lists — black/blue ballpoint pen, original photo ID, and the admit card itself.
NEET UG 2026 — official sources to bookmark
- NTA NEET official portal: neet.nta.nic.in — for the admit card, all official notices, the result, and the answer key
- NTA helpdesk: 011-40759000 / neetug2026@nta.ac.in
- All India Quota (15%) counselling: mcc.nic.in (Medical Counselling Committee, DGHS)
- Karnataka State Quota (85%) counselling: cetonline.karnataka.gov.in (KEA)