NEET Results – Joint Toppers Lead as Over 11.21 Lakh Candidates Qualify Nationwide
NEET Results –More than 11.21 lakh candidates have successfully qualified in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, with the National Testing Agency (NTA) announcing the results late on Thursday night. Female candidates accounted for over 58% of all successful aspirants, highlighting their strong representation among this year’s qualifiers. The re-examination was conducted after the original test held in May was cancelled due to allegations of a paper leak.
Punjab and Haryana Students Share the Top Rank
Punjab’s Aryan Gupta and Haryana’s Panshul Bansal secured the highest position in the country by scoring 715 out of 720 marks each. According to the NTA, 19 candidates achieved scores of 700 or above, while 1,492 candidates obtained at least 650 marks. The agency also reported that 138 candidates crossed the 690-mark threshold, with nearly 99% of them falling within the 17 to 19-year age group. More than 93% of these high scorers were appearing for NEET-UG for the first time, representing 66 cities across India.
Re-Examination Conducted Across India and Overseas
The NEET-UG 2026 re-test took place on June 21 at 5,440 examination centres located in 551 Indian cities and 14 international locations. Nearly 20 lakh candidates participated in the examination. The re-test became necessary after the original examination conducted on May 3 for over 20 lakh students was cancelled following allegations of a question paper leak.
Qualifying Cut-Offs Revised Across Categories
For candidates in the unreserved category, the qualifying cut-off was fixed at the 50th percentile, corresponding to scores between 715 and 213. A total of 9,96,935 candidates from this category qualified. For candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the qualifying benchmark remained the 40th percentile, with scores ranging from 212 to 177. The NTA stated that 81,111 OBC candidates, 29,947 SC candidates, and 12,452 ST candidates met the qualifying criteria. The agency also noted that the cut-off marks increased across every category compared with previous assessments.
Top Rank Holders Represent Multiple States
The first 17 rank holders, all of whom scored above 705 marks, belong to eight different states. These include Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. Uttar Pradesh recorded the largest number of successful candidates overall, with more than 1.7 lakh qualifiers. At the other end of the list, Lakshadweep reported 43 successful candidates.
Southern States Register Strong Performances
Among candidates from southern India, Tamil Nadu’s Venkatapathi Velayudham emerged as the highest-ranked student from the region with a percentile of 99.99915, securing the 12th All India Rank. Telangana’s Veeriahgari Sahyu followed closely with the same percentile and the 13th national rank. Karnataka topper Vaishnavi Das secured the 20th All India Rank with a percentile of 99.9979, while Andhra Pradesh’s Namala Prerana finished 36th nationally with an identical percentile. Odisha’s Satwik Patnaik claimed the state’s top position and ranked 40th across the country, while Kerala’s leading candidate, Neeraj B, secured the 89th national rank with a percentile of 99.9955. Except for Kerala, the leading candidates from the southern states and Odisha belonged to the General category.
Category-Wise Qualification Figures Released
The NTA reported that 2.91 lakh qualified candidates belong to the General category, while 5.12 lakh are from the Other Backward Classes (Non-Creamy Layer). In addition, 1.59 lakh successful candidates belong to the Scheduled Castes category, 63,716 to the Scheduled Tribes category, and 95,026 to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The results also include 3,666 Persons with Benchmark Disabilities and 303 Persons with Disabilities.
Scorecards Available on Official Website
Candidates can access their individual scorecards through the official NEET website after the NTA released the final answer key earlier on Thursday. NEET-UG remains India’s largest undergraduate medical entrance examination and serves as the primary admission pathway for MBBS, BDS, and several other undergraduate medical programmes offered by government and private institutions across the count