Why was NEET 2026 cancelled?
Short answer
Because the question paper leaked. The National Testing Agency cancelled the 3 May 2026 exam on 12 May after a 'guess paper' circulating in coaching centres before the exam was found to overlap with the real paper — reportedly up to 120 of 180 questions. The case went to the CBI and a re-exam was held on 21 June 2026.
Verified · 4 cited sources
NEET-UG 2026 was held on 3 May 2026 for about 2.27 million candidates — the single entrance test for every MBBS and BDS seat in India.
In the weeks before it, a document circulated through WhatsApp and coaching-centre channels, most visibly around Sikar in Rajasthan, presented as a 'guess paper' or high-probability question bank. Guess papers are ordinary, legal coaching material, which is what made the format effective.
After the exam, comparison showed the overlap was far too close to be coincidence — reported as high as 120 of the 180 questions, concentrated in Chemistry and Biology. The Rajasthan Special Operations Group examined the circulating paper and confirmed the match.
The NTA cancelled the examination on 12 May 2026 with government approval and referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation the same day. Unlike 2024, when the Supreme Court declined to cancel NEET-UG because the leak was found to be confined to Patna and Hazaribagh and tainted candidates could be separated from untainted ones, a document circulating widely in advance made that separation impossible.
CBI arrests ran upstream to people with legitimate advance access — a Latur coaching institute owner, a Pune school headmistress engaged by the NTA as a subject expert, a professor with NTA translator access, and others, with around 45 people detained in Latur and Nashik. All are accused facing trial, not convicted. Investigators also concluded the 2025 NEET paper had been compromised by the same network; that exam was not cancelled and its results stand.
The re-exam was held on 21 June 2026 with paper setters sequestered, question papers moved by the Indian Air Force, and Telegram blocked nationwide from 16 to 22 June. Results came on 16 July: about 110,000 qualified, 58 per cent of them women. Attendance had fallen from 96.72 to 87.72 per cent — more than 270,000 candidates who sat in May did not sit the retest.
- Exam held 3 May 2026 for about 2.27 million candidates; cancelled 12 May
- A pre-circulated 'guess paper' matched up to 120 of 180 real questions
- CBI took over the same day; arrests included NTA subject experts and translators
- Re-exam 21 June 2026 under Air Force paper transport and a national Telegram block
- Over 270,000 candidates who sat in May did not sit the retest
Go deeper
People also ask
Sources & provenance
Facts verified
- 1.2026 NEET controversy NewsWikipediaUsed for: Exam and cancellation dates, candidate numbers, guess-paper overlap, named arrests, retest security, results and attendance
- 2.NEET UG exam cancelled 2026 amid paper leak case NewsTestbookUsed for: The Rajasthan SOG guess-paper match and the CBI arrests
- 3.Supreme Court refuses to cancel NEET-UG 2024 ResearchSupreme Court ObserverUsed for: The 2024 reasoning that the breach was confined and tainted candidates separable
- 4.National Testing Agency OfficialNTAUsed for: The conducting body, its notices and its candidate grievance channel
Dates, candidate and attendance figures, the guess-paper overlap and the named arrests come from the sources cited. Every person named as arrested is an accused facing trial, not convicted, and the CBI investigation and prosecutions were still in progress when this page was last reviewed. The finding that the 2025 paper was also compromised is an investigative conclusion that has not been tested in court, and no action has been taken on the 2025 results.
Facts on this page are taken from the sources listed above — Government of India ministries and departments, statutory authorities, regulators such as the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and TRAI, state governments and official statistical releases. Comparisons, judgments and "which option suits whom" conclusions are AI-assisted analysis written over those sources; they are marked in the text and listed as an AI-analysis entry in the sources, not attributed to any authority. Fees, slabs, limits and processing times change, often at the start of a financial year on 1 April; figures are current as of the review date shown and should be confirmed with the responsible department before you rely on them. A great deal of Indian administration is state administration — where a rule differs by state, this site says so.