At 5:40 p.m., the gates of the CM Shri School on Pandara Road, New Delhi, finally opened.

Parents who had spent hours outside the centre rushed forward, scanning faces in the crowd. Students emerged slowly, clutching transparent pouches and admit cards.

Many looked exhausted, the afternoon heat visible in flushed faces and sweat-soaked foreheads. Some wore slight, uncomfortable grins as they stepped out to find themselves greeted not only by anxious parents but also by clusters of television cameras, microphones and reporters waiting for their first reactions.

For the more than 22 lakh students who sat for the re-NEET examination on June 21, the day marked the end of another chapter in a journey that has stretched far beyond preparation and revision. Following allegations of a paper leak in the May 3 examination and its subsequent cancellation, candidates found themselves preparing once again for the country’s largest medical entrance test.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the re-examination at over 5,400 centres across 551 cities. The exam was held from 2:00 p.m. to 5.15 p.m., with an additional 15 minutes to ensure that administrative formalities, such as attendance and verification, did not cut into candidates’ question-answering time.

Yet for many students, the extra time was hardly enough. “The Physics questions were very long, you had to read them twice to understand what they were asking; they felt like JEE Mains questions”, said Priyanka Mishra, a second-time candidate.

Students repeated a common refrain: the paper was lengthy, Physics was difficult, and time ran out quickly. Umme Ammara, who travelled from Bahadurgarh for her second attempt, said she was forced to leave questions unanswered. “The paper took too much time. Physics was definitely tougher than the May exam,” she said.

If there was one thing students seemed prepared for, it was difficulty. A month of uncertainty had created an expectation that the re-examination would not be easy. Barira, who travelled nearly one-and-a-half hours from Old Delhi to Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Najafgarh, said many candidates had predicted a tougher paper from the moment the re-test was announced.

The anticipation of a difficult paper had become part of the preparation itself. She further claimed that ever since the 2024 paper leak, students have come to expect tougher papers after controversies.

Outside centres, the wait was equally long. At the Pandara Road venue, cooling centres set up by the Delhi government offered parents respite from the afternoon heat, with seating arrangements, coolers, water and lemonade. Elsewhere, families found themselves searching for shade.

Parents at some centres in Najafgarh said they were asked to leave waiting areas after examination gates closed at 1.30 p.m. Several spent the afternoon at nearby Metro stations or under whatever shelter they could find.

Candidates described security arrangements as among the strictest they had experienced. Ayesha Siddiqui, who appeared at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Daulatpur, said students at her centre were required to remove their footwear despite following NTA guidelines on permitted dress. “Most of us ended up giving the exam barefoot,” she alleged. She further claimed that she had worn the same footwear back on May 3, during the exam.

Ms. Siddiqui said she expected to score above 550 marks but questioned whether she wanted to continue participating in a system repeatedly disrupted by controversy. “I might look at studying MBBS abroad instead,” she said. “At some point, you start wondering how much more time you can spend on this.”

However, not everyone left disappointed. Mitun Sheoran emerged from his centre with a smile. Contrary to what many students reported, he found Physics manageable and Chemistry comparatively harder. “It was easier than I expected,” he said, estimating that the cutoff could reach 600 marks.

As students filtered out of centres across Delhi on Sunday evening, conversations quickly turned to expected scores, answer keys and cutoffs. But beneath those discussions was another sentiment shared by many candidates: relief.

With rumours of another possible leak circulating online in the run-up to the examination, some candidates said they worried that months of preparation could once again go to waste. “There was always a fear that something might happen again and we’d be asked to reappear,” said one student, on condition of anonymity.

Sunday’s paper may not have ended the anxiety over results, but it finally brought an end to the waiting. For now, the debates over paper difficulty, cutoffs, and fairness will continue. The examination itself, however, is over.