NEET PG 2026: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is set to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2026 on August 30. As per official information, a total of 2,73,183 candidates have successfully registered for the NEET PG 2026, representing an increase of over 12.5 per cent compared to the previous year. The examination will be conducted in a single shift across approximately 340 cities and over 1,300 examination centres, significantly enhancing accessibility for candidates across the country, the medical board stated.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on August 1 reviewed the preparedness for the NEET to ensure the smooth, secure, transparent and technology-enabled conduct of the examination. According to a report by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), he was briefed on examination logistics, candidate facilitation measures, the security architecture and the technology-driven interventions introduced for the NEET exam.
Nadda urged candidates not to be misled by rumours or fraudulent claims relating to the examination. He highlighted that the final question paper is selected through a highly secure, encrypted and time-bound process shortly before the commencement of the examination, with multiple layers of technological and operational safeguards ensuring its confidentiality until the scheduled start time.
Any claim of prior access to the question paper by anyone is therefore entirely false and intended to mislead candidates, the minister stated. He advised aspirants to rely only on official communications issued by NBEMS and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and to promptly report any suspicious activities or attempts at unfair practices.
The medical board has introduced some student-centric reforms this year, check details below.
- Expanded choice of test locations given to students, requiring them to select three state preferences, with the correspondence state as the mandatory first preference, facilitating allotment of centres closer to their place of residence.
- Test city intimation will be issued nearly three weeks before the examination, enabling candidates to plan their travel and accommodation well in advance.
- The examination has been rationalised to 180 questions to be answered in 210 minutes, providing candidates with more time per question while maintaining the overall examination duration.
- Aadhaar-based authentication has been incorporated both during application and on the examination day.
According to official information, comprehensive security arrangements are put in place for the examination, including advance sealing and verification of examination centres, CCTV surveillance, biometric authentication, candidate frisking, deployment of signal jammers, dynamic compute, live monitoring through central and regional command centres, and real-time supervision by independent observers and appraisers.
More than 60,000 examination functionaries will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination, the PIB reported.
The end-to-end question paper preparation and delivery process has been further reinforced through multiple layers of encryption, secure offline preparation, time-bound finalisation of the question paper shortly before the examination, and controlled digital decryption only at the scheduled commencement of the test, as per the report.
