Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday that the students will get a week to choose the preferred city for NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. He added that the admit cards for the retest would be issued by June 14.

The medical entrance exam will be re-conducted on June 21 after being cancelled due to allegations of paper leak. 

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While addressing a press conference, he said that the admit cards would be issued via the official National Testing Agency (NTA) website. To download their admit cards, students need to have their application number and login credentials handy. 

Further, he said that fresh registration would not be required for the retest as existing candidate data, exam centres and application details would be carried forward. Pradhan also mentioned that no additional fee would be charged from the candidates. 

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Going ahead, he said that the NEET examination would be conducted as a computer-based test (CBT) instead of OMR from next year. 

"One important point I wanted to mention is that, from next year, the root issue will be addressed. The NEET examination will be conducted as a computer-based test instead of OMR."

Calling CBT "comparatively better" than OMR, he said that it is a bit more protected. "Cybercrime has become a big world in itself. There are challenges, however, we will have to trust the system of our country."

Besides giving key updates on the NEET retest, Pradhan defended the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying it is in the hands of a "capable person". 

"It has been formed with the recommendation of the Supreme Court and conducts examination of nearly 1 crore students each year... We will ensure 0 errors in the NTA." He added that the NTA has implemented the Radhaswamy Commission report thoroughly for the last two years. 

“We have said that we work on zero tolerance. For the last two years, we have implemented the Radhaswamy Commission report thoroughly,” he said. Pradhan added that the Centre's approach will be the same, i.e., removing anti-social elements and ensuring that the next exam will be devoid of the "paper leak mafia". 

He also stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting an independent investigation and will ensure that those involved are given the harshest punishment. 

Published on: May 15, 2026 11:34 AM IST