NEET exam in CBT mode not possible this year: NTA

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing demand for an online Computer-Based Test (CBT) format for NEET 2026, especially after the cancellation of the examination over the alleged paper leak controvers, a senior official of the National Testing Agency (NTA) has said that conducting the medical entrance test fully online is not possible at present.

Citing inadequate technical infrastructure and the huge number of candidates, the official said that over 22 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year, making it difficult to conduct the test completely online on the lines of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and other competitive exams.

The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, on May 12, 2026, the NTA cancelled the examination after the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group found a “guess paper” which contained more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny, described as a "guess paper", reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions reportedly appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

On May 15, 2026, the agency announced that the re-examination would be held on June 21, 2026, following approval from the Government of India.

Also read- NTA to conduct NEET 2026 re-exam on June 21

Speaking to TNIE, the official said, "This year, 22.05 lakh candidates appeared for the examination out of the 22.79 lakh who had registered. Over 22 lakh aspirants is an extremely large number. To conduct the examination online for all candidates successfully, it would take nearly 20 days continuously. It is not feasible to implement it this year."

Traditionally, NEET-UG has been conducted in pen-and-paper mode across India and abroad, and the same format has been followed in previous years.

However, several doctors’ associations, including the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (FORDA), have urged the government to shift NEET-UG to a computer-based format similar to JEE Advanced. In a recent letter to PM Modi, the association demanded the immediate transition of NEET UG from the current pen-and-paper format to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) model similar to JEE Advanced.

Apart from the association, several parents and teachers have also demanded the same. TNIE reported that a similar demand was also raised after the question paper leak incident in May 2024.

A High-Level Committee headed by former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan was constituted on June 22, 2024, after the earlier controversy to suggest measures for ensuring a foolproof examination process.

The committee recommended structural reforms, enhanced examination security systems, institutional coordination mechanisms, and standard operating procedures to prevent future breaches in both pen-and-paper and computer-based examinations. Among them, conducting the examination entirely online was among the key recommendations made by the committee. 

A senior official said, “At present, the number of aspirants who can take the examination online at one time ranges between one lakh and 1.5 lakh. The existing system does not have the capacity to handle more than that. A complete shift to online mode could be considered from next year if substantial technological upgrades are implemented."

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