NEET UG to be computer based from next year, says govt after paper leak row

Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) will be conducted in a computer-based format starting next year.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) will be conducted in a computer-based format from next year. The Union Education Ministry also announced earlier in the day that the cancelled NEET (UG) 2026 will be re-conducted on June 21. 

 

The NEET (UG) 2026, which was conducted on May 3, was cancelled on Tuesday, after allegations of a paper leak and the circulation of a “guess paper.” 

 

The education minister said that the Centre has adopted a "zero error, zero tolerance" policy for entrance exams and that no deserving candidate would lose an opportunity because of the “education mafia."

 

 

The National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled NEET UG after reports emerged that portions of the paper had been leaked before the exam. The agency said that it received information on May 7 that a "guess paper" reportedly contained actual questions from the test. Pradhan said that the authorities verified within “three to four days” that questions had indeed been compromised.

 

The minister said, "We admit that there was a breach somewhere in the chain of command despite implementing the Radhakrishnan committee’s recommendations, and we take responsibility to fix this."

 

Addressing the doubts over NTA, Pradhan said that the agency "is in the hands of an able person," and added that the government will "ensure zero errors" in the agency.

 

"The root cause of this was OMR, and therefore, from the next year, the exam will be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode," Pradhan said during his briefing.  OMR, or Optical Mark Recognition, is the paper-based answer sheet system used in NEET-UG. Its physical, pen-and-paper format creates multiple points of human handling — from printing and packaging to transport and storage — increasing the risk of leaks before the examination begins.

 

Talking about the re-test, the education minister said, "On the day of the cancellation, the NTA had declared the return of the fees of the students. There will be zero fees for the upcoming examination." 

 

He said that the NTA has decided to give students one week to choose their preferred examination city again. "Keeping students’ convenience and time constraints in mind, the NTA has decided to extend the examination duration by 15 minutes. The exam, which was scheduled from 2 pm to 5 pm, will now continue till 5.15 pm," he further said, and added that the admit card for re-test will be issued by June 14.