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NEET-UG 2026: Qualifying Cutoff at Record 213, Number Clearing Exam Drops by 1.15 Lakh

Published on: 18 Jul 2026, 12:50 AM

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced the results for NEET-UG 2026, with the qualifying cutoff for unreserved (UR) and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates rising to a record 213 marks, up from 144 in 2025. This 69-mark increase has led to a decline in the total number of candidates qualifying for medical admissions, which fell from 12.37 lakh last year to 11.21 lakh—a drop of 1.15 lakh.

According to NTA data, registrations for the exam remained nearly unchanged at 22.8 lakh, compared to 22.76 lakh in 2025. However, the number of candidates who actually appeared fell sharply to 19.99 lakh from 22.09 lakh, a decline of 2.1 lakh. Attendance dropped from 97.1% to 87.7%, indicating that a significant portion of registered candidates skipped the test. Despite this, the success rate among those who appeared remained stable at around 56.1%, suggesting that the fall in qualifiers is largely due to the reduced number of test-takers rather than a drop in performance.

Under the category-wise qualifying criteria, UR and EWS candidates must score at least the 50th percentile, while OBC, SC, and ST candidates require the 40th percentile. For candidates with benchmark disabilities (PwBD), the thresholds are 45th percentile for UR/EWS and 40th percentile for OBC/SC/ST. This year, the qualifying marks ranges were: 715-213 for UR/EWS, 212-177 for OBC/SC/ST, 212-194 for UR/EWS-PwBD, and 193-177 for reserved-category PwBD candidates. The ST-PwBD range was 191-177.

Category-wise results show that 61.8% of EWS candidates who appeared qualified—the highest success rate—followed by 60.7% for OBC candidates. The qualification rates were 52.4% for SC, 51.2% for General, and 49% for ST candidates. For the first time, the number of qualified candidates from EWS and OBC categories exceeded 60% of their respective 'appeared' cohorts, while the percentage of unreserved qualifiers dipped below 50%.

The NTA's score-band data indicates that 9.97 lakh candidates cleared the UR/EWS threshold, while 81,111 OBC, 29,947 SC, and 12,452 ST candidates qualified within the lower score band. These figures represent candidates within specific score ranges, not the total number qualifying from each category.

Source: Times of India

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