NEET-UG Re-Exam on June 21, Govt Announces Shift to CBT Mode from 2027

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the NEET-UG re-examination on June 21 and said the exam will shift to Computer- Based Test (CBT) mode from next year as part of reforms aimed at ensuring transparency.

Pradhan assured the students that they would not let malpractice happen again in the examination and said the government's topmost priority was the future of students.

Addressing a press conference, the Education Minister admitted that questions had gone out under the guise of "guess papers".

"The process began on the morning of May 8 and continued through May 8, 9, 10 and 11. When we got clarity and were confirmed that questions had gone out this time on the basis of the leaked paper, we made a decision on May 12 in the interest of the students,” he said.

“We did not want any deserving candidate to be deprived of their rights because of the conspiracy of education mafias," he added.

"After the irregularities that surfaced last time, the Radhakrishnan Committee had been constituted, and we implemented its recommendations word for word for both 2025 and 2026. Despite that, this incident occurred. Hence, our first decision was to cancel the examination," he said.

How is the government ensuring accountability in NEET-UG and NTA after the leak row?

The Union Minister defended the NTA and said the agency remained fully accountable.

"NTA is fully accountable... The NTA is in the hands of an able person... It has been formed with the recommendation of the Supreme Court and conducts examination of nearly 1 crore students each year... We will ensure 0 errors in the NTA," he said, while adding that the issue should be viewed as a challenge related to the examination process rather than any individual institution.

The Education Minister also announced reforms, including refunding fees paid by students and waiving charges for the upcoming examination. "We will return the fees of the students. Zero fees in the upcoming examination," Pradhan said.

He further announced that from next year, the NEET examination will be held in CBT mode as part of efforts to strengthen the examination process and prevent irregularities.

Pradhan further said the NTA will allow students to choose their preferred examination city again.

"A large number of students appear for this examination every year. The NTA will issue a detailed public notice by this evening with complete information. Prima facie, the NTA has decided to give students one week to choose their preferred examination city again, because many candidates may have left the city where they appeared for the previous exam," Pradhan said.

(With inputs from ANI)