NEET UG 2026: Dates, Registration, Syllabus, Eligibility, Exam Pattern, etc.

NEET UG 2026: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG 2026) is a single, national-level entrance exam for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other medical courses across India. The exam is expected to be held on the first Sunday of May 2026, following the usual schedule, and the application form will be available online at neet.nta.nic.in. Every year, lakhs of medical aspirants appear for this exam. NEET UG 2026 will be conducted in offline mode (pen and paper) in 13 languages across India and abroad.

In this article, you will get complete details about NEET UG 2026, including the expected exam date, eligibility criteria, application form, syllabus, exam pattern, cut-off, and counselling process.

Quick Facts

Name of Examination	National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET)
Conducted by	National Testing Agency (NTA)
Level of NEET Examination	National-level
Category	Undergraduate
Mode of Exam	Offline Mode (Pen, Paper)
Duration of Examination	200 minutes (03 hours 20 Minutes)
Timing of Examination	02:00 PM to 05:20 PM (IST)
Courses in which admission is through NEET	MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BSMS, BUMS and BHMS, Nursing
Colleges in which admission is through NEET	All Medical Colleges in India
Total Number of Questions	200 Multiple Choice Questions
Languages available for the Examination	English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi

NEET UG Application Form Dates

The National Testing Agency (NTA) is expected to announce the NEET UG 2026 application form dates on neet.nta.nic.in. Below are the tentative important dates.

Event	Date
Online Submission of Application Form	First week of February, 2026
Last Date for Fee Payment	First week of March, 2026
Correction Window	First week of March, 2026
City Intimation Announcement	Last week of April, 2026
Admit Card Release	First week of May, 2026
Date of Examination	First week of May, 2026
Duration of Examination	180 minutes (03 hours) from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM IST
Display of Recorded Responses and Answer Keys	To be announced Post-Exam
Declaration of Result	Second week of June 2026

How to Apply in NTA NEET UG 2026?

A step-by-step guide to filling out an application form is provided below.

• Registration: Go to neet.nta.nic.in, register with a phone number and email. Get the NEET UG application number.
• Form Completion: Log in, fill in personal, and academic details in the form.
• Document Upload: Upload scanned photographs, signatures, and required documents according to NEET UG 2026 specifications.
• Fee Payment: Pay the application fee via Debit/Credit card, net banking, or UPI.
• Confirmation Page: Save and print the NEET UG confirmation page after completing all steps.

Application Fees (Category-wise)

The NEET application fees differ for different categories, which must be paid when submitting NEET-UG. Aspirants may check in the table below the requisite application fee for the NEET-UG application form submission for General, SC, ST, OBC or other category fees.

Category	Fees
General	INR 1,700/-
General-EWS/ OBC-NCL*	INR 1,600/-
SC/ST/PwD/Transgender	INR 1000/-
Outside India (Fees in ₹)	INR 9500/

*OBC-NCL (Other Backward Classes)-NCL (Non-Creamy Layer) as per the Central List of Other Backward Classes available on the National Commission for Backward Classes. The candidates on this list (available on http://www.ncbc.nic.in/ ) may mention OBC-NCL in the Category Column. State-listed OBC-NCL Candidates not in OBC-NCL (Central List) must choose General.

Eligibility Criteria

The NEET UG 2026 eligibility criteria include minimum and maximum age requirements, educational requirements, subjects studied in the qualifying exam, status of the qualifying exam, category, and nationality. Aspirants can go through the requirements below, which are mandatory for them to be eligible for NEET. Let’s look at the eligibility criteria for appearing NEET exam given below.

Parameters	Eligibility criteria
Nationality	Candidates eligible for NEET 2025 include: Indian Nationals Foreign Nationals NRI PIO OCI
Age requirement for NEET	Aspirants applying for NEET UG must have completed a minimum of 17 years of age at the time of admission as of 31 December 2026.
Minimum Qualification	Candidates must have passed 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology, and English as core subjects from a recognized board.
Minimum marks required in the qualifying examination	General – 50%, OBC/SC/ST – 40%, PWD – 45%

Exam Pattern

The NEET (UG)-2026 exam pattern consists of two sections in each subject.

• Section A: 35 questions (all compulsory)
• Section B: 15 questions (attempt any 10)

In total, candidates will answer 180 questions, each carrying 4 marks, with -1 mark for every wrong answer. The overall number of questions and exam duration remain unchanged.

Syllabus

NEET UG 2026 syllabus will be based on a standard syllabus prescribed by the NMC (National Medical Commission). It will be prescribed after reviewing various state syllabi and CBSE, NCERT & COBSE. You may gather the basic Class 11 Syllabus and Class 12th Syllabus.

For NEET (UG)-2026, the National Medical Commission of India (NMC) recommends a syllabus for admission to MBBS/BDS/ BAMS/ BSMS/ BUMS/BHMS courses across the country after review of various State syllabi as well as those prepared by CBSE, NCERT, and COBSE. This establishes uniformity across the country, considering the relevance of different areas in medical education.

Highly Recommended Books

The table is related to NEET UG 2026 recommended book; the candidates must follow these books for exam preparation.

Subject	Essential Books for NEET UG
Physics	NCERT Physics Part 1 and Part 2 texts for Classes XI and XII, Concepts of Physics by HC Verma, Objective Physics by DC Pandey, Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker, Fundamentals of Physics by Pradeep, Problems in General Physics by IE Irodov
Chemistry	NCERT Chemistry textbooks of Class XI and XII, Physical Chemistry by OP Tandon, Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyd, ABC of Chemistry for Classes 11 and 12 by Modern, Concise Inorganic Chemistry by JD Lee, Dinesh Chemistry guide and practise books by VK Jaiswal, MS Chauhan and N Awasthi for Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry portions respectively.
Biology	NCERT Biology texts of Class XI and Class XII, Biology Vol 1 and Vol 2 by Trueman, Objective Biology by Dinesh, Objective Botany by Ansari, Pradeep Guide on Biology, GRB Bathla publications for Biology

Preparation Tips

There are given Important Tips related to NEET UG 2026.

• Firstly, know all the details about the officially prescribed syllabus for the examination.
• Practice mock tests & previous year’s question papers.
• Make a proper timetable for your preparations.
• Consider books and study materials for good preparation.
• Stay stress-free & healthy while preparing for exams.

Caste Certificate Proforma for NEET

A caste certificate is not required while filling out the NEET application form. It will be needed during the admission procedure once you get allotted a college. You will need your valid caste certificate and domicile if admitted through State quota counselling and to know me about the caste certificates.

Admit Card

The registered candidates can download the admit card for NEET UG 2026 online. The students’ names, exam centre addresses, timings for the exam and other details will be stated on the admit card of NEET UG 2026. All students must bring the admit card to the examination centre and a passport-size photograph. Failure to present the admit card at the exam centre of NEET will make the candidates ineligible to attempt the exam.

• No candidate will be allowed to appear at the Examination Centre on the Date and Timing other than that allotted to them in their Admit Card.

Dress Code

Due to many applicants, the NTA follows strict policies to maintain the discipline and fairness of the NEET UG Exam. Among the essential policies is the dress code for NEET UG. NEET dress code allows you to wear light-coloured denim pants and half-sleeve t-shirts; the size of the shirt buttons should be medium. However, in case candidates come in cultural/ customary dress at the Examination Centre, they should report at least an hour before the last reporting time, i.e. 12.30 pm, so that there is enough time for proper frisking without any inconvenience to the candidate while maintaining the sanctity of the examination.

NEET UG Exam Centres

Candidates can view the complete list of NEET UG 2026 Exam Centres by clicking the link.

City Code	State	District	City
1101	Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT)	South Andaman	Port Blair
1211	Andhra Pradesh	Guntur	Amaravathi
1212	Andhra Pradesh	Anantapur	Anantapur
1213	Andhra Pradesh	West Godavari	Bhimavaram
1214	Andhra Pradesh	Prakasam	Chirala
1215	Andhra Pradesh	Chittoor	Chittoor

Exam Day Guidelines

The Examination Centre will be opened two (02) hours before the commencement of the test. No candidate shall be allowed to enter the Examination Centre after 1:30 pm. Therefore, candidates must ensure they leave home well in advance, considering all facts like traffic, location of the centre, weather conditions, etc. Candidates are expected to take their seats immediately after the opening of the Examination Hall for more information about the NEET UG 2026 Dress Code for males and females.

Answer Key

The important answer key for NEET UG 2026 has been released. The NEET-UG answer key will be published online through the official website. Aspirants will have an opportunity to challenge the answer key online. All correct answers to the questions asked in the offline NEET UG entrance examination will be included in the answer key. Students have to pay Rs. 1000/- per answer challenged.

Result 2026

According to Official instructions, the National Testing Agency (NTA) releases the NEET result 2026 on https://exams.nta.ac.in. The result will be released via online mode through the website. Students can check their results by entering their roll number and other required details. The scores secured by the candidates in the NEET 2026 exam will be available in the result. NEET has to be downloaded by the candidates since it will be required during the NEET admission process.

NEET UG Cutoff

To pass NEET UG 2026, candidates need varying minimum marks based on exam difficulty, seats available, and total test-takers. General category needs 50%, General-PH 45%, and reserved categories 40%. NEET counselling releases merit lists for candidates eligible for counselling rounds. NEET UG 2026 cut off will be the minimum entry requirement for preparing different merit lists.

NEET UG Counselling

NEET UG 2026 counselling will start about a month after the results. It includes two types: 15% All India Quota (AIQ) seats managed by MCC and 85% State Quota seats handled by state medical councils.

The AIQ for NEET counselling 2026 includes the following:

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