NEET 2026: Complete Guide - Re-Exam Date, Eligibility, Syllabus, Pattern & Counselling

NEET Exam Dates 2026

Below is the complete timeline of NEET UG 2026 events. Dates marked as 'Confirmed' are officially announced by NTA. Dates marked as 'Expected' are based on previous year patterns and may change. Due to the exam cancellation, counselling dates are yet to be announced.

NEET Exam Registration 2026

REGISTRATION STATUS: The NEET UG 2026 registration window is now CLOSED. The last date to register was March 11, 2026 (9:00 PM). If you have already registered, no fresh registration is required for the June 21 re-exam. Your existing application remains valid.

• Step 1: Visit the official website of the National Testing Agency at www.neet.nta.nic.in
• Step 2: Click on the “New Registration” tab in the new window.
• Step 3: Read all the instructions carefully.
• Step 4: Click on the Proceed option.
• Step 5: Fill out the registration form by providing all essential details.
• Step 6: Click on the submit button to complete the online registration.
• Step 7: Note down the application number.
• Step 8: Click on ‘click here to login’
• Step 9: Log in using your application number and password.
• Step 10: Fill in the asked details carefully.
• Step 11: Upload scanned copies of required documents and photos.
• Step 12: Select the desired mode of payment to pay the application fees.
• Step 13: Download the NEET Application 2026 form and also take a print of it for further use.

Documents Required During Registration: Before you start the registration process, keep these documents ready in the specified format - Passport-size photograph (JPG, 10-200 KB), Signature (JPG, 4-30 KB), Left-hand thumb impression (JPG, 10-200 KB), Class 10 certificate for date of birth proof, Class 12 marksheet or appearing certificate, Category certificate (if applicable), PwD certificate (if applicable), and a valid government photo ID (Aadhaar/Passport/Voter ID).

NEET Exam Eligibility Criteria 2026

Applicants willing to give the entrance exam need to meet NEET Eligibility criteria 2026 specified by NTA.

• The minimum age of applicant must be 17 years as of 31 December 2026.
• The upper age limit has been removed by National Medical Council.
• Applicants must have completed their 12th or will be completing 12th by 2026 from a recognized board or open school.
• Applicants must have pursued Physics, Chemistry, Biology as their subjects in 12th and passed with minimum 50% in each subject.
• Candidate must be a citizen of India, Non-Resident of India, Person of Indian Origin or Foreign National.

Category-wise Minimum Marks in 12th (Qualifying Marks): This is a crucial detail missing from your original article. Many students get confused about the minimum percentage required. Here is the breakdown:

Additional Eligibility Notes: Candidates who are appearing in Class 12 in 2026 are also eligible to apply, provided they complete the exam before the counselling process begins. There is no limit on the number of attempts for NEET. Students from open schooling or NIOS are also eligible. Foreign nationals and OCI cardholders can apply but must meet the same academic criteria.

NEET Exam Application Form 2026

NEET Exam Application Form 2026 will be released at www.neet.nta.nic.in, tentatively in the first week of March. The application form filling is completely online based. Applicants have to fill all the necessary details like personal details, educational details and make a choice for language. Applicants also have to upload their recent photograph, signature and Aadhar card. Make sure to have all these documents in the correct format. During the process they have to select the exam center where they wish to appear for the exam. There is total 543 cities in India and 14 cities abroad which have various exam centers

Application Timeline for 2026: The application window opened on February 8, 2026 and closed on March 11, 2026 (extended from the original March 8 deadline). The correction window was available from March 10-12, 2026 for candidates who needed to fix errors in their application.

Document Format Specifications: Make sure your uploads meet these exact specifications to avoid application rejection:

NEET Exam Application Fee 2026

At the last stage of NEET Exam Registration process 2026, applicants have to pay the application fee. Only then the application will be accepted and further processed. The fee varies according to the category:

Important: For the re-exam scheduled on June 21, 2026, NTA has confirmed that no extra examination fee will be charged. Students who already paid during the original registration do not need to pay again. Payment can be made online through Net Banking, UPI, Credit Card, or Debit Card. After successful payment, download and save the confirmation page as proof of registration.

NEET Exam Pattern 2026

NEET UG 2026 has reverted to a flat 180 mandatory questions format. There is NO optional Section B. All questions are compulsory. The exam duration is 3 hours (180 minutes), not 3 hours 20 minutes. If your article shows the old Section A + B pattern, students will prepare with the wrong strategy.

Key Points for Students:

• All 180 questions are mandatory. There is no choice or optional section.
• Each correct answer gets +4 marks. Each incorrect answer deducts 1 mark.
• Unattempted questions carry zero marks. Do NOT mark extra answers.
• The exam is conducted in offline mode using OMR sheets. Use blue or black ballpoint pen only.
• The question paper is available in 13 languages. You must choose your preferred language at the time of application.
• NEET 2026 score is valid for 1 year only. You cannot use the same score for next year's admission.
• The re-exam on June 21 will follow the exact same pattern.

Note: The validity of NEET Exam 2026 scores is only for 1 year. One cannot apply with the same scores next year. No marks will be given to the extra attempted questions. Be careful to attempt only those questions you are sure of. The exam is conducted in 13 different languages. English and other regional languages. The choice of the language has to be made at the time of NEET 2026 application form submission.

NEET Exam Syllabus 2026

The NEET UG 2026 syllabus was finalized by the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) under NMC, as per Public Notice No. U-14023/19/NEET dated December 22, 2025. There are 50 units in total: 20 Physics, 20 Chemistry, and 10 Biology. The syllabus is based on NCERT Class 11 and Class 12 textbooks.

Deleted / Reduced Topics for NEET 2026: As per the NMC syllabus update (December 2025), several chapters have been removed or reduced. Do not waste time studying these. Deleted topics include: Hydrogen (Chemistry), Polymers (partially), Chemistry in Everyday Life, Reproduction in Organisms (Biology), and Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production. Environmental Issues and Mineral Nutrition have reduced scope.

NEET Exam Counselling 2026

Every year approximately 17-18 lakh students appear for NEET exam 2026. Only those students who have scored above NEET Cutoff are eligible for NEET counselling for medical colleges. Every year the cutoff varies according to the level of the question paper. According to the cutoff decided an All-India merit list is prepared by MCC which ranks the students on various criterias:

• Reservation: EWS are given a higher rank if the scores are same
• Age: The elder the candidate higher the rank
• Number of attempt : The candidate with more number of attempts are ranked above if the scores are same
• Marks scored in biology: In cases where all the other criterias remain same in two competing candidates , then they give priority to the candidate having majority marks in biology.

NEET Exam Counselling 2026 will start in August for both All India Quota and State Quota. Candidates can apply for State Quota only if he or she possesses a State Domicile Certificate issued by the government. In medical colleges 85% seats are reserved for state quota and the rest 15% seats are left for All India Quota. Candidates have to undergo a process of choice filling of colleges in the medical counselling website of their own state (for State Quota) and https://mcc.nic.in/ (for All India Quota). The process of choice filling is very crucial as this decides whether one is eligible for the specific college. Make sure to go through the previous year’s closing rank of the colleges you are willing to apply.

Important Update for 2026: Due to the NEET UG 2026 exam cancellation and re-exam scheduled for June 21, the counselling timeline will be delayed. Based on previous patterns, counselling is now expected to begin in August 2026 instead of the usual July timeline. Students should use this additional time to research colleges, understand seat matrices, and prepare their choice list.

Types of NEET Counselling:

• All India Quota (AIQ) Counselling - conducted by MCC for 15% seats in government colleges + 100% seats in central/deemed universities
• State Quota Counselling - conducted by respective state authorities for 85% seats in state government colleges
• Deemed/Central Universities Counselling - for AIIMS, JIPMER, AMU, BHU, DU, and other central institutions
• Private Medical Colleges - some states conduct separate counselling for private college seats

NEET Counselling Documents 2026

Once you apply for counselling, the candidate has to get their documents verified at their nearest help center.
The required documents are:

• NEET Admit Card 2026
• NEET score Card 2026
• Birth Certificate
• Class 12th marksheet
• Class 10th marksheet
• Identity Proof
• Domicile certificate (for state quota)
• Caste certificate (if applicable)
• Disability certificate (if applicable)
• Additional Documents (commonly missed):
• 8 passport-size photographs (white background, taken within last 6 months)
• Gap certificate (if there is a gap year between 12th and admission)
• Transfer Certificate from last attended institution
• Migration Certificate (if applying to a college in a different state)
• Freedom Fighter Certificate (if claiming reservation under this category)
• Income Certificate (for EWS reservation)
• Non-Creamy Layer Certificate (for OBC candidates)

Approximately by the end of September all the rounds of counselling are conducted and the seats are filled. The academic year in a medical college starts tentatively in the mid of September but again this varies from college to college.

NEET 2026 Cutoff & Previous Year Trends

Understanding the NEET cutoff is essential for setting your target score. The cutoff determines whether you qualify to participate in the counselling process. There are two types of cutoffs to know:

• Qualifying Cutoff: The minimum marks you need to score in NEET to be eligible for the counselling process. This is set by NTA based on percentile.
• Admission Cutoff: The last rank at which a particular college offered admission in a given round. This varies from college to college and year to year.

What score should you target? For a government medical college (MBBS) seat under General category through All India Quota, you typically need 600+ marks (out of 720). For top-tier institutions like AIIMS New Delhi, the cutoff is usually 700+ marks. For private medical colleges, 450-550 marks may suffice depending on the institution.

NTA will release the NEET 2026 cutoff along with the result, which is expected in July 2026 (after the June 21 re-exam).