NEET PG 2026 answer key: Check out marking scheme, tie breaker criteria
New Delhi: The answer key for the NEET PG 2026 exam will be released soon. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is expected to release the answer key on its official website a few days after conducting the NEET PG 2026 re-exam scheduled for September 5 for affected candidates.
According to the NEET PG 2026 exam information bulletin, in compliance with the orders dated 29 April 2025 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in SLP No. 9298 of 2018, NBEMS shall publish the answer key of NEET-PG 2026 on its official website.
Along with the correct answer key, the responses marked by the candidates to respective questions asked in NEET-PG 2026 shall also be published. The score given for each of the questions as per the scheme of evaluation detailed in the Information Bulletin of NEET-PG 2026 shall be mentioned too. The candidates shall be able to access the Question ID Numbers, correct answer key to questions and responses marked through their applicant login at the NEET-PG 2026 index page on the NBEMS website.
Each and every question asked in the question paper of NEET-PG 2026 shall be reviewed by faculty members from the concerned speciality area after the conduct of NEET-PG 2026 to re-check for technical correctness of the questions as well as answer keys.
MARKING SCHEME
Allocation of marks for each MCQ shall be as follows-
S.NO | RESPONSE | MARKS |
1 | Correct Response. | 4 Marks. |
2 | Incorrect Response. | 1 Mark shall be deducted. |
3 | Unattempted Question. | Zero. |
During the examination, candidates are given an option to mark any question, whether attempted or not, for review, which means that the candidate has been given an option to go through these questions again before the examination time ends. Candidates may note that such questions which are marked for review shall be evaluated as per the marking scheme mentioned above.
The question paper for NEET-PG 2026 will be divided into five time-bound sections, namely Group A, B, C, D & E. The questions from subjects of the MBBS curriculum shall be distributed across these five sections of 36 questions each. Each section will have 42 minutes of time allotted for the section.
Candidates will be restricted from proceeding to the next section till completion of the allotted time of the previous section and candidates will not be allowed to review the questions/ modify the responses of a section after the completion of the allotted time of that section. Questions of the next section will start automatically after the completion of the allotted time of the previous section.
TIE BREAKER CRITERIA
1 In the event of two or more candidates obtaining the same score, one or more of the following tie-breaking criteria shall be used for resolving the tie. The merit position shall be determined using the following tie-breaker criteria in descending order:
2 A candidate having an overall lesser number of negative responses in the entire question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
3 A candidate having a lesser number of negative responses in Section A of the question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
4 A candidate having a lesser number of negative responses in Section B of the question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
5 A candidate having a lesser number of negative responses in Section C of the question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
6 A candidate having a lesser number of negative responses in Section D of the question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
7 A candidate having a lesser number of negative responses in Section E of the question paper will be placed at a better merit position, i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list.
Candidate securing higher aggregate marks (in percentage) in all MBBS Professional Examinations will be placed at a better merit position i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list. In case of Indian Citizens/ OCI who have obtained their Primary Medical Qualifications from outside India, their FMG Examination marks (in percentage) shall be considered in lieu of aggregate marks (in percentage) in all MBBS Professional Examination. It is to be noted that the aggregate marks in percentage shall be provided by the applicant while submitting her/his application form to NBEMS. The marks shall be provided as an accurate value rounded down to two decimals.
An older candidate will be placed at a better merit position i.e. will get a higher rank in the merit list. In an event it is noted that the information provided in the NEET-PG application form is incorrect and this criterion has been utilized to resolve the tie of the concerned candidate, his/her candidature for NEET-PG shall be cancelled.
