NEET UG 2026 FAQ: 25 most-asked questions, answered

NEET UG 2026 has 180 questions total - 45 each in Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology. Botany + Zoology together form the Biology section (90 questions / 360 marks). All questions are compulsory single-best-answer MCQs. Maximum score: 720.

720 marks (180 × 4). NTA also publishes a normalised percentile alongside the raw score; MCC AIQ counselling primarily uses your raw NEET score for ranking.

NEET UG 2026 has been rescheduled to Sunday, 21 June 2026. It is held once per year as a single sitting. Confirm details in NTA's information bulletin on neet.nta.nic.in.

No. NEET UG is conducted as a single sitting per year. There is no second-session retry; if you want to improve, you wait for next year's cycle.

3 hours 20 minutes (200 minutes). NTA extended the duration from 3 hours in earlier cycles to accommodate the 180-question paper and OMR fill-in time.

+4 for correct, −1 for incorrect, 0 for unattempted. Marking multiple options on the OMR for the same question also counts as incorrect (−1). Skip if you don't know - blind guessing is negative-EV.

Yes. NEET UG has no upper age limit and no restriction on number of attempts. As long as you have passed (or are appearing in) Class 12 with PCB and meet the percentage rules, you are eligible.

Yes. NEET has no pass-year window like JEE Main. Earlier-batch candidates are eligible as long as the 12th certificate is from a recognised board with the required subjects (PCB).

50% aggregate in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology together for General candidates (45% for PwD, 40% for SC/ST/OBC). You must also have passed each individual subject and English in 12th.

They lead to different careers. NEET = MBBS / BDS / AYUSH / Vet (medicine track). JEE Main = NIT / IIIT / GFTI engineering, with JEE Advanced as the gateway to IITs. The PCB vs PCM subject split makes parallel prep impractical - pick early.

Visit neet.nta.nic.in → register an account → fill the online application form → upload photo, signature, Class 10 certificate, and category certificate (if applicable) → pay the fee online.

General: ₹1,700. EWS / OBC-NCL: ₹1,600. SC / ST / PwD / Third Gender: ₹1,000. Foreign-centre candidates: ₹9,500. Figures based on the 2024-2025 fee schedule; verify the exact 2026 amount in the NTA bulletin.

NTA typically releases the result within 4-6 weeks of the exam date. The result includes your raw score, NEET percentile, and All India Rank (AIR).

There are two counselling tracks. MCC (Medical Counselling Committee) runs the 15% All India Quota (AIQ) for all government and central institutions, plus the 100% AIIMS / JIPMER / Deemed Universities counselling. The remaining 85% state quota is handled by each state's admission authority.

General: 50th percentile (around 160 marks). OBC / SC / ST: 40th percentile (around 130 marks). PwD: 45th percentile (around 145 marks). The qualifying percentile is fixed; the equivalent raw mark fluctuates year-on-year based on paper difficulty.

Indicative bands (General, recent years): 600+ for top government colleges via AIQ, 550+ for mainstream state government colleges, 500+ for many state quota MBBS seats. SC / ST / OBC closing scores are lower per category reservation.

Approximately 1.1+ lakh MBBS seats and 27,000+ BDS seats across India, plus AYUSH and BVSc, are filled exclusively through NEET UG via AIQ + state counselling.

Yes. 85% of MBBS / BDS seats in state government and state-quota private colleges are reserved for state-domicile candidates, allocated by each state's counselling authority. The remaining 15% goes to AIQ via MCC.

Yes. NTA designates 500+ test centres across India and a small set of international centres (Doha, Dubai, Kathmandu, Riyadh, etc.). You select preferred cities during application; final allocation depends on availability.

Aim for at least 20-25 full-length 3h 20min mocks across the last 4 months. Mix full-length mocks with subject-wise timed sessions (especially Physics and Organic Chemistry) for weak topics. Analyse every mock - mistakes left unanalysed compound.

Yes, NTA has retained the rationalised NCERT-based NEET syllabus released for 2024. The Physics, Chemistry, and Biology syllabi closely follow NCERT Class 11 + 12. Verify the latest syllabus PDF on neet.nta.nic.in.

NTA has removed the upper age limit for NEET UG. Minimum age is 17 years as of 31 December of the year of admission. No restriction on number of attempts.

AIQ (All India Quota) is 15% of government college seats - any Indian candidate can apply regardless of domicile, allocated by MCC. State quota is 85% of state government college seats - only reserved for that state's domicile candidates, allocated by the state's authority.

No. Since 2020, NEET UG is the only entrance to all MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and BVSc programmes in India - including government, deemed, and private medical colleges. AIIMS, JIPMER, and ESI hospitals also admit through NEET.

NTA does not allot seats directly - all allotments run through MCC / state counselling. If anyone offers "guaranteed MBBS seat", "management quota", or "donation seat" outside the official process, treat it as fraud. Report via the contact channels on neet.nta.nic.in and mcc.nic.in.

Yes. NEET UG places no restriction on number of attempts and no upper age limit since the 2022 NMC notification. A candidate who misses or under-performs in NEET UG 2026 can sit NEET UG 2027 on the same footing as a fresh 17-year-old applicant, provided they continue to meet the Class 12 PCB and percentage rules. The decision to drop a year is therefore an opportunity-cost question (12 months of dedicated prep vs. taking an alternate UG admission this year), not an eligibility question. Use the gap year only if you can commit 8-10 hours of focused daily prep across 12 months and have a clear diagnosis of which chapters cost you marks in the 2026 attempt.

No. The National Medical Commission removed the upper age limit for NEET UG in March 2022, following a Supreme Court direction. Prior to 2022, the cap was 25 years for General candidates (with a 5-year relaxation for SC / ST / OBC and PwD). After 2022, there is no upper age cap and no maximum number of attempts. The only age restriction is the minimum of 17 years on or before 31 December of the year of admission. Working professionals switching careers, late-graduating students, and long-term droppers are all eligible to write NEET UG with the same rules as fresh school-leavers.

NTA calculates each candidate's NEET percentile as the percentage of candidates in the All India pool who scored at or below the candidate's raw mark. The formula is: percentile = (number of candidates with marks less than or equal to the candidate / total candidates appeared) x 100. The top candidate gets a 100 percentile, the bottom candidate around 0. Percentile is the percentile within that year's cohort, so the same raw score can map to different percentiles in different years depending on overall paper difficulty and the candidate pool size. The qualifying percentile thresholds are fixed (50th percentile General, 40th reserved) - the raw mark equivalent of those thresholds is what fluctuates year to year.

MCC (Medical Counselling Committee) is the central authority under the Directorate General of Health Services that conducts counselling for the 15% All India Quota (AIQ) seats in government MBBS / BDS colleges, plus 100% of seats at AIIMS, JIPMER, ESIC, AFMC, deemed universities, and central government medical institutions. MCC counselling runs in four rounds: Round 1 (tightest cutoffs), Round 2 (upgrades + vacated seats), Mop-up (open-rank), and Stray Vacancy (residual seats). Candidates register on the MCC portal, fill college / course choices in preference order, and accept the seat allotted in each round. Freeze, float, and upgrade options let candidates either lock the current allotment or wait for a better seat in subsequent rounds.

All India Quota (AIQ) is 15% of seats in all government medical colleges across India (excluding state-only institutions), pooled and allocated centrally by MCC based on NEET All India Rank. State quota is the remaining 85% of seats in state government medical colleges, allocated by each state's counselling authority. AIQ is open to any Indian candidate regardless of domicile, so the closing rank is set by national-level competition. State quota is restricted to state-domicile candidates (typically 10 + 12 in the state, or a state domicile certificate), so closing ranks within state quota are usually more lenient for home-state candidates. Central institutions like AIIMS, JIPMER, and ESIC do not have state quota - they fill 100% through MCC AIQ.

No. NEET UG eligibility requires both: (1) successful completion of Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology / Biotechnology, and English from a recognised board, and (2) qualification in NEET UG itself. A candidate appearing in Class 12 may apply provisionally and write NEET UG, but admission to any MBBS / BDS / AYUSH programme requires submitting the actual Class 12 pass certificate at MCC or state counselling document verification. A candidate who writes NEET UG but fails Class 12 cannot take admission against any NEET-based allotment. The Class 12 result therefore acts as a confirmatory gate after the NEET ranking gate.

Mandatory documents to carry to the NEET UG exam centre: (1) printed NEET admit card with the candidate's declaration form, signed in the presence of the invigilator; (2) one passport-size photograph identical to the photo uploaded with the application; (3) original government photo ID (Aadhaar card preferred; PAN card, passport, or driving license also accepted); (4) PwD certificate from a designated NMC disability assessment board, if claiming PwD reservation; (5) scribe documentation if approved for a scribe. Banned items include all electronic devices (phones, smartwatches, calculators, earbuds), pens (NTA supplies the official pen at the centre), notebooks, charts, food other than a small transparent water bottle, jewellery, full-sleeve shirts, and footwear with thick soles. Centre frisking is strict; carry only the listed essentials.

No, not since 2020. AIIMS Delhi and the other AIIMS institutions earlier conducted their own AIIMS UG entrance exam, separate from NEET. Following the National Medical Commission Act 2019, all MBBS admissions across India - including AIIMS, JIPMER, and ESIC - were brought under a single common entrance via NEET UG starting from the 2020 admission cycle. The standalone AIIMS UG entrance and JIPMER UG entrance were both discontinued. All 19 AIIMS institutions now admit MBBS candidates through NEET UG only, with seats allocated by MCC under the central counselling system. AIIMS Delhi typically closes its General-category MBBS allotment within the top 50 to 60 All India Ranks each year.