The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday cancelled the 2026 undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) following allegations of a paper leak, and announced that the examination would be conducted again on a later date.
NEET-UG, held on May 3 this year, is the country’s largest medical entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses.
The decision came after the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group launched an investigation into claims that a “guess paper” circulated before the exam contained questions closely matching the actual question paper.
According to media reports quoting Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group Additional Director General Vishal Bansal, around 120 questions in the chemistry section allegedly matched those in the circulated material.
More than 45 people have been detained in Rajasthan as part of the probe, reports said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NTA said the cancellation followed preliminary findings by law enforcement agencies which suggested that the integrity of the examination process may have been compromised.
The Centre has referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation, the agency added.
“The NTA will extend full cooperation to the CBI and provide all records and material required for the investigation,” the statement said.
The agency clarified that candidates would not have to register again for the re-examination. Existing application details and preferred examination centres would remain unchanged.
It also said no additional examination fee would be charged and that fees already paid by students would be refunded.
The cancellation comes despite the NTA stating on Sunday that the May 3 examination had been conducted under “full security protocol”.
The controversy has renewed scrutiny of the conduct of competitive examinations in India. The 2024 NEET-UG exam had also faced allegations of paper leaks and irregular grace marks, leading to protests across several states and hearings in the Supreme Court.