NEET-PG 2026: Centres closer to home, fewer questions, single shift — key changes explained

The Union health ministry has announced a series of reforms for the NEET-PG 2026 examination, aimed at making the postgraduate medical entrance test more convenient, secure, and candidate-friendly. The changes include expanded choices for test centres, more time to plan travel, and a revised exam pattern with fewer questions.

Under the revised system, candidates will be required to choose three states as their preferred examination locations. The state of their correspondence address will be the mandatory first preference, which means candidates are likely to get centres closer to their place of residence. Earlier, centres were allotted on a first-come, first-served basis, forcing many candidates to apply immediately after registration 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 examination, which is scheduled for August 30. This gives them sufficient time to arrange travel and accommodation.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has also revised the question paper pattern. The number of multiple-choice questions has been reduced from 200 to 180, while the total duration remains unchanged at 210 minutes. This gives candidates more time per question. The exam will now be conducted in a single shift to ensure uniformity in difficulty level and assessment, unlike previous years when multiple shifts were used in certain circumstances.

The ministry has strengthened the question paper preparation and delivery process through multiple layers of encryption, secure offline preparation, time-bound finalisation shortly before the examination, and controlled digital decryption at the start of the test.

To further enhance security, Aadhaar-based authentication has been introduced during registration and on the examination day. Iris-based biometric verification will be used in cases where fingerprint authentication fails. The ministry has also set up a dedicated email address for reporting impersonation, touting, and other unfair practices, along with advisories to raise candidate awareness.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda reviewed the preparations on Saturday and directed agencies to ensure a smooth, secure, transparent, and technology-enabled process. He assessed the readiness of NBEMS, technology partners, and other stakeholders, emphasising the need for a fair and candidate-friendly examination.

A total of 2,73,183 candidates have registered for NEET-PG 2026, an increase of over 12.5% from the previous year. The exam will be held 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 test, the ministry said.