NTA releases NEET UG 2026 category-wise results, qualified candidates decline from 2025

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the category-wise qualifying statistics 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 1,121,185 candidates qualified for admission to undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH, and allied health courses this year, down from 1,236,531 in 2025 and 1,315,853 in 2024.

The decline in qualified candidates coincided with lower participation in the examination. 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.

Among all categories, the UR/EWS category recorded the highest number of successful candidates, with 996,935 qualifiers. However, the figure was lower than 1,101,151 in 2025 and 1,165,334 in 2024.

The qualifying marks for the category ranged between 715 and 213 in 2026, compared to 686 to 144 in 2025 and 720 to 162 in 2024.

The OBC category recorded 81,111 qualified candidates, down from 88,692 in 2025 and 100,876 in 2024. The qualifying score range for OBC candidates was 212 to 177.

The number of qualified candidates in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category also declined to 29,947 from 31,995 in 2025 and 34,420 in 2024. Similarly, 12,452 candidates from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category qualified this year, compared to 13,940 last year and 14,414 in 2024.

Among the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) categories, 480 candidates qualified under the UR/EWS and PwBD category, slightly higher than 472 in 2025 and 473 in 2024. The OBC and PwBD category recorded 185 successful candidates.

The SC and PwBD category saw 64 candidates qualify, up from 48 last year, while the ST and PwBD category recorded 11 qualified candidates compared to 17 in 2025 and 13 in 2024.

The qualifying cutoffs increased sharply across categories in the 2026 re-examination. The minimum qualifying score for the General/EWS category rose to 213 from 144 in 2025. For OBC, SC, and ST candidates, the minimum qualifying score increased from 113 last year to 177 this year.

Although the General/EWS category continued to account for the largest share of successful candidates, its proportion among all qualifiers declined by around 3 percentage points compared to 2025.

No candidate secured a perfect score of 720 in the NEET UG 2026 re-examination, marking the second consecutive year without a full score.

The two candidates who secured All India Rank 1 scored 715 out of 720, which was 29 marks higher than the 686 marks scored by last year's topper.

The last time candidates achieved a perfect score was in 2024, when 17 students scored 720 after the Supreme Court directed a revision of the results. There were also no perfect scorers in 2019, 2022, and 2025.

Despite the absence of a perfect score, top performances improved this year. Nineteen candidates scored above 700 marks, while the top 138 rank holders represented 66 cities across the country, reflecting a wider geographic distribution of high performers, including candidates from smaller states.

According to NTA data, female candidates recorded a higher qualifying rate than male candidates. Around 56.8% of girls who appeared qualified for the examination, compared to 55.1% of boys.