NEET UG 2026 Results: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the category-wise qualifying data for the NEET UG 2026 re-examination, showing a decline in the number of candidates qualifying across all major categories compared to the previous two years. A total of 11,21,185 candidates qualified for admission to undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH, and allied courses in 2026, down from 12,36,531 in 2025 and 13,15,853 in 2024.
The drop in qualified candidates comes alongside a decline in overall participation. Around 20 lakh candidates appeared for the NEET UG 2026 re-examination, compared to 22.09 lakh in 2025 and 23.33 lakh in 2024, contributing to the lower number of successful candidates this year.
The UR/EWS category continued to account for the highest number of qualified candidates, with 9,96,935 candidates clearing the examination in 2026. However, this was lower than 11,01,151 qualifiers in 2025 and 11,65,334 in 2024. The qualifying marks range for the category was 715-213 this year, compared to 686-144 in 2025 and 720-162 in 2024.
The OBC category recorded 81,111 qualified candidates, down from 88,692 last year and 1,00,876 in 2024. The qualifying marks for OBC candidates ranged from 212 to 177.
Similarly, the number of successful candidates in the SC category fell to 29,947, compared to 31,995 in 2025 and 34,420 in 2024. The ST category also witnessed a decline, with 12,452 candidates qualifying this year against 13,940 last year and 14,414 in 2024.
Among the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) categories, 480 candidates qualified under the UR/EWS & PwBD category, marginally higher than 472 in 2025 and 473 in 2024. The OBC & PwBD category recorded 185 qualified candidates, while 64 candidates qualified under SC & PwBD, up from 48 last year. The ST & PwBD category had 11 successful candidates, compared to 17 in 2025 and 13 in 2024.
Cut-Off Marks Witness Sharp Increase
The 2026 re-examination also saw a significant rise in qualifying cut-offs across categories. The minimum qualifying score for the General/EWS category increased from 144 in 2025 to 213 in 2026. For OBC, SC, and ST candidates, the minimum qualifying marks rose from 113 last year to 177 this year.
Despite having the largest share of qualified candidates, the participation of the General category among all qualifiers declined by around 3 percentage points compared to 2025.
No Perfect Score This Year Either
Like last year, no candidate secured a perfect score of 720 in NEET UG 2026. The two All India Rank 1 holders scored 715 out of 720, which is 29 marks higher than last year's topper, who had secured 686 marks.
The last time candidates achieved a perfect score was in 2024, when 17 students scored 720 following the Supreme Court-directed revision of results. There were also no perfect scorers in 2019, 2022, and 2025.
Even without a perfect score, the examination witnessed stronger performances at the top end. Nineteen candidates scored above 700 marks, while the top 138 rank holders came from 66 different cities, reflecting a broad geographical spread of high performers, including students from smaller states.
The NTA data also showed that girls recorded a higher qualifying rate than boys, with 56.8% of female candidates qualifying compared to 55.1% of male candidates.
