NEET 2026 Exam - Dates, Eligibility, Registration, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Admit Card, Counselling

The NEET 2026 Exam is likely to be conducted on May 3, 2026. The exam conducting body is expected to release the official notification by the end of this year. The National Testing Agency will conduct the NEET UG entrance exam in offline mode, in a pen-and-paper format. By analysing the trends of previous years, around 23 lakh students are anticipated to register for the NEET 2026 Exam. The NEET 2026 Application Form will be tentatively released in the first week of February 2026. The NTA will administer the entrance exam in 13 languages. Meanwhile, the NEET 2025 counselling Round 2 dates have been released by the exam authorities.

Meanwhile, the NEET UG counselling Round 2 registration process began on September 4, 2025, and it will conclude on September 9, 2025. Students can register till 12 noon, and then they must pay their registration fees from 3 pm onwards within the deadlines. The seat allotment will be processed from September 10, 2025, to September 11, 2025, while the NEET UG 2025 seat allotment results for round 2 will be out on September 12, 2025. Students must register online on the official webpage and pay the registration fees within the deadlines. Those who fail to register within the deadlines will not be given separate deadlines to register. 

Also Read: How to Improve NEET Score in 2026?

Refer to the table below to understand the nitty-gritties of the NEET 2026 Exam:

Find out all the expected events and timelines for the upcoming NEET 2026 Exam below:

The NEET 2026 exam pattern will remain the same as last year. In 2025, the NTA modified the exam pattern by removing Section B with optional questions in the exam paper. The exam duration was also reduced to 3 hours from 3 hours and 20 minutes. All of the 180 questions in the exam are now mandatory to answer. There will be a positive marking of 4 marks for every correct answer. On the other hand, 1 mark will be deducted for every incorrect response. There is no negative marking for unattempted questions. 

The entrance exam will be conducted in offline mode. According to the NEET 2026 exam pattern, students can appear for the test in 13 language mediums. These include Hindi, English, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi, Assamese, and Urdu. The question paper will be divided into 4 sections for Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology. Each section will comprise 45 multiple-choice questions. For more information, refer to the NEET 2026 Exam Pattern.

An overview of the eligibility criteria to appear for the NEET 2026 Exam has been provided below. To check all the important requirements, refer to the NEET 2026 Eligibility Criteria.

A brief step-by-step guide for NEET 2026 Registration has been mentioned below:

• Step 1: Visit the official website of the NEET 2026 exam and click on the “New Registration” button. 
• Step 2: Enter your name, contact details and date of birth to generate the registration number and password.
• Step 3: Once submitted, an auto-generated email will be sent to the registered email address with the login credentials.
• Step 4: Now, use the login credentials to log in to the registration portal and start filling up your application. 
• Step 5: Enter all important information such as your name, father’s and mother’s names, educational qualification, residential address, category, etc. Select the medium of question paper and the choice of your exam centre during this stage. 
• Step 6: Carefully upload all the required documents in the specified format and size, and pay the application fee to confirm your registration.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) curates the NEET 2026 Syllabus PDF. The syllabus of the NEET UG Exam 2026 consists of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology chapters from the Class XI and XII curriculum of the CBSE Board. Students preparing for the NEET Exam, must keep in mind that 20 units of Chemistry, Physics, and 10 units of Biology are included in the updated syllabus of the NEET 2026 Exam. Check out all the units included in the NEET 2026 Syllabus provided below:

For the full list, go to NEET 2026 Syllabus!

The NEET 2026 Exam Preparation Tips focuses on the strategies to help students secure a good score in the test. Some of the tips and tricks to follow are:

1. Learn the Difficult Topics: Build your preparation strategy by focusing on the difficult chapters from Biology and either Physics or Chemistry simultaneously.
2. Refer to the NCERT Books: A significant portion of the NEET syllabus is derived from Classes 11th and 12th NCERT books. Thus, ensure to follow them thoroughly. 
3. Use Diagrams for Clarity: Incorporate diagrams into your study routine for a better understanding. Diagrams promote active engagement, aid in conceptual understanding, and improve problem-solving skills, especially in Physics.
4. Enhance Memorisation Techniques: Memorisation is essential for mastering chemical equations, diagrams, and formulas required for NEET 2025. Regular review of these notes will aid in effective memorisation over time.

The NTA conducts a mock test every year before the NEET entrance exam. It is to help students track their progress and reflect on their exam performance. The NTA will conduct the NEET 2026 Mock Test about a month before the entrance exam. The NEET Mock Test papers will be directly uploaded on the official website of NTA NEET 2026. The NEET Mock Test papers usually vary in difficulty level from easy to difficult, depending on the syllabus and previous year's trends.

The NEET 2026 Admit Card will be released on the official NTA website a few days before the exam day. The admit card will be released in a PDF format, typically 5-7 days prior to the exam date. It is essential to note that only students who have completed their exam registration following the eligibility guidelines will be eligible to download their NEET 2026 admit card. To download the PDF, you must visit the official website, click on the direct admit card link, and log in to the exam portal by using your registration number and password. 

After downloading the NEET 2026 admit card PDF, students must print out the document and affix a recent postcard-sized photograph (4"x6") in the designated space. It must be signed by the Student's parent/guardian, with the candidate leaving their signature blank. It is mandatory to carry the admit card to the designated exam centre for entry. Without it, no student will be allowed entry to the exam hall. The NEET 2026 admit card PDF also serves as an important document for verification during the NEET counselling process.

The NEET 2026 Answer Key will be released shortly after the entrance exam has been conducted. The document will be released in PDF format online. The NTA will release the NEET 2026 Answer Key in two formats, Provisional and Final. Once the Provisional NEET 2026 Answer Key is released, students will be given a timeframe to raise objections against it. A nominal fee of INR 200 per challenge/objection needs to be paid to raise their query. The NTA will analyse the objections and publish the Final NEET 2026 Answer Key with the revised answers. The NEET 2026 Response Sheet will be released along with the Final NEET 2026 Answer Key.

How to Calculate Final Score using NEET Answer Key?

Candidates can follow the below-given steps to calculate the final score using the NEET Answer Key listed below. 

• Step 1: Download the official NEET answer key from the main website.

• Step 2: Cross-check the marked answers and calculate the total number of right responses and wrong answers.

• Step 3: Assign +4 for the correct answer and deduct -1 for wrong answers.

• Step 4: Subtract the total marks calculated from the maximum marks, i.e., 720.

• Step 5: Calculate NEET UG score 2026 = (4 x no. of correct answers) – (1 x no. of incorrect answers)

NEET Response Sheet 2026 contains all recorded responses by the students who have appeared in the entrance exam, allowing them to reflect on their performance in the NEET UG Exam by comparing their responses with the NEET Answer Key 2026. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will publish the NEET Response Sheet 2026 in May, tentatively. Also known as the NEET OMR Sheet 2026, the NEET 2026 Response Sheet also plays an important role in helping students to calculate the expected NEET UG Score.

The NTA will release the NEET 2026 Result in a PDF format online. The result will be released along with the cutoff data. The NTA usually releases the result a month after the entrance exam is conducted. Therefore, the NEET 2026 Result is likely to be released by June 3, 2026. Some of the important details mentioned on the NEET 2026 Result are the student’s subject-wise and total marks, percentile, and the All India Rank (AIR). Those who clear the NEET 2026 Result will be further eligible to participate in the counselling rounds.

How to Download NEET UG Result 2026?

The steps to download the NEET UG Result 2026 are mentioned below:

• Step 1: Visit NTA's official website i.e., neet.nta.nic.in
• Step 2: Scroll down to the section named as "Candidate's Activity"/
• Step 3: Click on 'NEET (UG) 2026 Score Card'.
• Step 4: A new login page will appear.
• Step 5: Enter login credentials like Application Number, Date of Birth and Security PIN.
• Step 6: NEET UG 2026 results will be displayed. Save it as a PDF and take a printout for future use.

The NEET 2026 merit list will be released online in a PDF format. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will release the NEET 2026 Merit List for the 15% All India Quota seats on behalf of the NTA. The state-wise NEET 2026 Merit Lists for the 85% State Quota seats will be released by the respective state counselling bodies on behalf of the MCC. The NEET 2026 Merit List will feature the names of students who have secured high scores in the entrance exam. Based on the merit list, the MCC and state authorities will conduct the NEET counselling process. 

The All India Quota (AIQ) merit list consists of the names of the students, their All India Rank, Scores Obtained and gender. It does not consider the student’s category as the merit list is AIQ. It also displays the number of students who registered vs the number of students who have appeared for the NEET UG exam. On the contrary, the state-wise NEET merit lists will feature the student’s category and personal details along with their NEET score and state-wise toppers. Students can either visit the official website to download the merit list or refer to the direct download link to be provided on this page. 

The NEET 2026 Cutoff will be released along with the exam results. It varies every year depending on the exam statistics. The NEET 2026 Cutoff will be released category-wise. It is mandatory for all appearing students to secure the minimum cutoff to qualify the exam. The NEET 2026 cutoff is determined by the following factors: Previous year’s trends, total number of students registered and appeared for the entrance exam, overall performance of the students in NEET, etc.  

Expected NEET 2026 Cutoff

The expected NEET 2026 Cutoff has been provided below for your reference:

The NEET 2026 Counselling will be conducted in 4 rounds primarily. If seats remain vacant after that, a special stray vacancy will be conducted. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) conducts the NEET counselling for the 15% AIQ seats. The respective state authorities will conduct the state-wise NEET counselling for the 85% State Quota seats. Students who are featured on the merit list must register for the counselling sessions online and submit the required documents for verification. A counselling fee must be paid to confirm their participation. 

Through the NEET 2026 Counselling, the following seats will be filled:

• 15% MBBS/BDS Seats of States
• 100% MBBS Seats of AIIMS across India
• 100% MBBS/BDS Seats of BHU
• All India Quota of JIPMER (Karaika/Puducherry)
• All India Quota seats of DU/ AMU/ ABVIMS/ VMMC
• All India Quota Seats of ESIC
• AIQ Seats of Faculty of Dentistry (Jamia Millia Islamia)

The NEET UG 2026 Choice Filling is a part of the counselling process. During this stage, students are required to enter their list of desired colleges for admission. The options are to be submitted in order of preference and seats will be allocated accordingly. In the NEET 2026 Choice Filling process, students can submit multiple options based on the seat availability and course. This process will be conducted separately for each round of counselling.

The NEET 2026 Seat Allotment process is an important step in the Counselling process. The NEET 2026 Seat Allotment List PDF is released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on behalf of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to allocate seats across the top medical colleges to eligible students. The NEET MBBS Seat Allotment List is prepared based on the preferences filled in by the candidates during the choice-filling round. The choices filled during the choice-filling rounds for NEET UG Seat Allotment 2026, along with the student's NEET All India Rank, play a pivotal role in determining the student's seat allotment results. The DGHS and MCC carefully analyze the students’ ranks and preferences to ensure a systematic and transparent allocation of seats.

Transparency is a crucial aspect of the MBBS and BDS seat allocation through the NEET Counselling 2026 process. Once the NEET 2026 seat allotment list is finalized, it is officially published on the NEET website. Students can view this list to ascertain the medical college and course they have been allocated. By providing comprehensive details of the allotted seats, the NEET 2026 Seat Allotment process allows students to make informed decisions about their future. Moreover, the NEET Seat Allotment 2026 process is designed to offer equal opportunities to all students in the field of medical science. It operates with principles of equity, ensuring that deserving students are granted admission to their preferred medical colleges. By considering both merit and personal choices, the process maximizes the chances of students securing seats in institutions that align with their aspirations.

Candidates are offered seats based on the following reservation criteria set by the authorities.

The NEET question paper is divided into four parts based on each subject. The subjects are Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology. Each part comprises Section A with 45 compulsory questions. The NEET 2025 Question Papers for all sets have been released by NTA on its official website. Aspirants can refer to the NEET 2025 question paper or NEET Previous Years’ Question Papers for better understanding and to chalk out a preparation plan.

Various colleges are registered as NEET 2026 Participating Medical Colleges. Students can find the detailed highlights along with the details regarding the NEET participating colleges below.

Top Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET 2026 Exam Scores: NIRF Ranking 

A NIRF ranking is released by the Ministry of Education every year that comprises the top medical colleges in India. Aspirants can refer to the table given below: 

NEET 2026 Best Medical College & Seats

Students can refer to the table below to check the approximate number of MBBS seats that are offered by the top government colleges across the country.

Here are the details of the conducting authority in case candidates have any doubts or they want to resolve a discrepancy.

National Testing Agency (NTA)

Address: C-20 1A/8, Sector 62
IITK Outreach Centre, 
Noida-201309

Email: ntanationaltestingagency@gmail.com