- NTA says Abu Dhabi city change was made through candidate's own login
- The exam body says Abu Dhabi was reflected thrice in the candidate's account activity
- The testing agency shifted the centre to Nagpur after a June 19 request
NEET Re-Test 2026: Amid criticism over the allotment of an Abu Dhabi examination centre to a Nagpur candidate for the NEET UG 2026 re-test, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said its records show that the city change was made through the candidate's own registered login during the correction window.
The clarification came after NEET aspirant Abdullah Mohammad Talib's admit card showed Abu Dhabi, UAE, as his examination centre for the June 21 re-examination, despite his claim that he had opted for centres in Nagpur, Wardha and Bhandara. The development raised questions over the allotment process a day before the test.
In a statement, the NTA said it had reopened the examination-city correction window after rescheduling NEET (UG) 2026 to June 21 to help candidates revise their preferred city choices.
Also Read | After Abu Dhabi Centre Row, NTA Allots Nagpur Venue To NEET Candidate
Highlighting the scale of the exercise, the agency said, "Around 3.2 lakh candidates used the correction window, and NTA allotted the preferred examination city to over 99.5% of them."
On the Nagpur candidate's case, the agency said, "NTA's web-activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate's own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern."
Reference the issue with regard to allotment of a centre in Abu Dhabi to a candidate in Nagpur, NTA would like to state the following:
— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) June 20, 2026
Following the rescheduling of NEET (UG) 2026 to 21 June, the National Testing Agency reopened the examination-city correction window to assist…
The agency further said it had observed three instances linked to the candidate's account. "NTA has observed that on 3 occasions, one - the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate's credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi," the statement said.
Also Read | Student In Nagpur, Exam Centre In Abu Dhabi: NTA's NEET Glitch Before Retest
According to the NTA, it later received an informal request from the candidate's side on the evening of June 19, just 48 hours before the examination, seeking a change of centre to Nagpur.
"Despite the Abu Dhabi centre being chosen by the candidate, the NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19 (just 48 hours before the exam) to change the centre to Nagpur. NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate's father on 19th evening itself to help them complete the formal process," the agency said.
The NTA said it accepted the request and changed the examination centre.
Describing its approach, the agency said, "The NTA's priority is that no candidate misses the examination over an administrative doubt."