NEET-UG 2026 is cancelled after paper leak

13 MAY 2026

The National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) conducted on May 3, 2026 after evidence emerged that the paper was leaked.
The NTA is expected to announce the schedule for the re-test in 7 to 10 days.
The re-test will be conducted in the “minimal possible time”, NTA Director-General Abhishek Singh said.
No new registration will be required, and no fee will be charged for the re-test; in fact, the NTA has promised to refund fees already paid.
Almost 22 lakh students appeared for this year’s NEET-UG, which is the gateway examination for admission to undergraduate medical programmes across the country.
Four days after the exam was held, on May 7, 2026, a whistleblower’s message led investigators to a a handwritten “guess paper”, which included a significant number of questions in the question paper.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case to probe the alleged paper leak under Prevention of Corruption Act and Public Examination Prevention of Unfair Means Act, 2024.
One suspect has been arrested from Nashik after receiving a request from the Rajasthan Police about an accused involved in the paper leak.

NEET (National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test)

The NEET is a nationwide entrance exam for admission to over 10 undergraduate medical courses in India.
It is one of the world’s largest entrance exams with 20-24 lakh candidates taking it annually for over 2.5 lakh seats across all courses.
In 2013, NEET-UG was conducted for the first time.
In 2014-15, admissions to medical courses temporarily went back to separate State and private medical entrance exams, but a year later the Supreme Court revived NEET.
The exam is now conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which took over from the Central Board of Secondary Education in 2019.