Around 1.1 million out of nearly two million candidates qualified for nearly 137,000 MBBS seats and other undergraduate dental, AYUSH and allied programmes after clearing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG examination 2026, according to results announced by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Thursday night.
Event Context
The highest score of 715 out of 720 was obtained jointly by Aryan Gupta of Punjab and Panshul Bansal of Haryana. Among the top 10 NEET-UG 2026 rank holders, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar and Maharashtra each had two candidates, while Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had one each.
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The results draw the curtains on a tumultuous examination season that saw the NEET-UG cancelled over a leak of multiple question papers, a nationwide uproar, and a re-examination held on June 21. A total of 138 candidates scored above 690 marks out of 720. “Of the 138, a total of 99% are between 17 and 19 years of age and over 93% appeared for NEET (UG) for the first time,” NTA said, adding that results were declared in time so that the “medical-admission and counselling calendar for candidates stays on track.”
NTA has a history of announcing NEET-UG results late at night. In 2024, it declared the original NEET-UG results at around 10 pm on June 4, released the results of the re-test conducted for 1,563 candidates on the evening of June 30, and issued revised scorecards at around 8:30–9 pm on July 26 after the Supreme Court directed it to revise the results by withdrawing marks awarded for a disputed Physics question.
This year, the agency announced the NEET-UG 2026 results at around 10:30 pm on July 16. A total of 19 candidates scored above 700 and 1,492 candidates scored 650 and above. “A total of 10,160 candidates scored 600 and above and 90,780 candidates scored 500 and above,” NTA said.
Match Outlook
Women outshone men, with 58% of the qualified candidates being female. The majority of the top-performing candidates were between 17 and 19. “Women also qualified at a higher rate than men: 56.8 per cent of women who appeared qualified, as against 55.1 per cent of men,” NTA said in a statement.
