NEET retest to be held June 21, digital format from next year

NEW DELHI: Govt on Friday announced that the cancelled NEET-UG 2026 examination will be reconducted on June 21, while also unveiling a major structural reform — shifting the country’s largest medical entrance exam to a computer-based testing (CBT) format from 2027 following the latest paper leak controversy.

For the retest — to be conducted on the pen-paper OMR (optical mark recognition) sheet mode — candidates will not have to pay any additional exam fee, while the fee paid for the cancelled May 3 test will be refunded.

Addressing his first press conference since the cancellation of the May 3 examination, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the govt had adopted a “zero tolerance” policy towards examination malpractice.

It would not allow “education mafia” to compromise opportunities for genuine students, he added.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had cancelled the earlier examination after allegations surfaced that parts of the question paper had been leaked before the test. The controversy escalated after a so-called “guess paper”, allegedly containing several actual questions, began circulating among candidates in Rajasthan and other states ahead of the exam.

Pradhan said authorities confirmed within days that some questions had indeed been compromised. “We admit there was a breach somewhere in the chain of command despite implementing the Radhakrishnan committee recommendations. We take responsibility to fix this,” he said.

Calling the cancellation a “difficult but necessary” step, the minister said preserving the credibility and fairness of the admission process was non-negotiable.