NEET-PG 2026 gets major overhaul: Centres closer to home, single-shift exam, fewer questions with no change in test duration | India News
NEW DELHI: The Centre has announced a series of changes for the NEET-PG exam to be held later in the month, including expanding the choice of test locations, giving candidates more time to plan travel, and increasing the time available per question.The reforms are aimed at making the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) process more convenient and secure, according to the Union health ministry.Under the revised system, candidates will have to provide preferences for three states for their examination centre. Their correspondence state will be the mandatory first preference, allowing allotment of centres closer to their place of residence.Earlier, examination centres were allotted on a first-come, first-served basis, prompting candidates to submit applications immediately after registrations opened. Those who delayed often found nearby centres unavailable and had to travel to other states.Candidates will now be informed of their allotted test city nearly three weeks before the August 30 examination, giving them more time to arrange travel and accommodation.The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has also revised the exam pattern, reducing the number of questions from 200 to 180 while keeping the total duration unchanged at 210 minutes. The move will provide candidates with more time per question.The exam was earlier conducted with 200 multiple-choice questions carrying a maximum of 800 marks.The ministry said the question paper preparation and delivery process has been strengthened through multiple layers of encryption, secure offline preparation, time-bound finalisation of papers shortly before the examination, and controlled digital decryption at the start of the test.To further strengthen security, Aadhaar-based authentication has been introduced during registration and on the examination day. Iris-based biometric verification will be used where fingerprint authentication fails.NBEMS has also introduced a dedicated email address for reporting impersonation, touting and other unfair practices, while issuing advisories to candidates to improve awareness and vigilance.NEET-PG 2026 will be conducted in a single shift to ensure uniformity in difficulty level and assessment. In recent years, the exam was conducted in multiple shifts due to emergencies or postponements.Union health minister JP Nadda on Saturday reviewed preparations for the examination and directed agencies to ensure a smooth, secure, transparent and technology-enabled process. He assessed the readiness of NBEMS, technology partners and other stakeholders, and stressed the need for a fair and candidate-friendly examination.
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A total of 2,73,183 candidates have registered for the medical entrance test, an increase of over 12.5% from last year. The exam will be held in a single shift across around 340 cities and more than 1,300 centres.Security measures include advance sealing and verification of centres, CCTV surveillance, biometric authentication, candidate frisking, deployment of signal jammers, live monitoring through central and regional command centres, and supervision by independent observers and appraisers.More than 60,000 examination functionaries will be deployed for the smooth conduct of the examination, the ministry said.(With PTI inputs)
