New Delhi: The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2026 will be conducted on Sunday at 1,300 examination centres across 340 cities in the country. More than 2.73 lakh medical graduates are expected to appear for the examination.
An official said that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) released the NEET-PG 2026 admit cards on its official website on August 26.
A total of 2,73,183 candidates have registered for NEET-PG 2026, which is more than 12.5 percent higher than last year. The official said the examination will be conducted in a single shift.
After qualifying for NEET-PG, doctors can secure seats in various advanced medical courses at government and private medical colleges and pursue postgraduate programmes such as Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Surgery (MS).
Earlier, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda reviewed the preparations for NEET-PG 2026. He directed all stakeholders to ensure that the examination process remains smooth, secure, transparent and technology-driven.
To maintain the integrity of the examination, authorities have put in place extensive security arrangements, including CCTV surveillance, biometric verification, frisking, signal jammers, dynamic computer allocation, live monitoring through central and regional command centres, and the deployment of more than 60,000 examination personnel.
Nadda also appealed to candidates not to be misled by rumours or fraudulent claims related to the examination. He said the final question paper is selected shortly before the examination begins through a highly secure, encrypted and time-bound process. Multiple layers of technical and operational security measures are incorporated into the process.
He advised candidates to rely only on official information issued by NBEMS and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Candidates have also been urged to immediately report any suspicious activity or attempts to use unfair means.
Several changes have been introduced this year with the convenience of students in mind. According to the information available, candidates were allowed to select three states as preferences for their examination centres, with their state of correspondence being mandatory as the first preference.
The examination pattern has also been changed. Under the revised format, candidates will have 210 minutes to answer 180 questions. The change is aimed at ensuring that candidates have more time to answer each question.
