NEET-UG 2026 Re-Test Sees Lowest Attendance in Years, Yet Records Highest-Ever Qualifying Cut-Off

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 has produced an unusual outcome. While the re-examination recorded one of the lowest attendance rates since the National Testing Agency (NTA) took over the conduct of the medical entrance exam, it also witnessed the highest qualifying cut-off in the exam’s history under the agency.

The NEET-UG 2026 re-test was conducted on June 21 after the NTA cancelled the original May 3 examination following allegations of a paper leak. According to data released along with the results, only 1.999 million candidates appeared for the re-examination out of 2.280 million registered aspirants. This translated into an attendance rate of 87.72%, significantly lower than the 96.72% attendance recorded in the original exam.

The attendance figure marks the lowest participation rate in any non-pandemic NEET examination conducted by the NTA and the second-lowest overall after 2020, when attendance dropped to 85.57% during the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 205,000 candidates who had appeared in the May examination did not return for the re-test.

The original examination was cancelled after authorities received allegations that a circulated “guess paper” closely matched the actual question paper. The NTA announced the re-examination on May 15 and scheduled it for June 21. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the alleged paper leak, has arrested 13 individuals so far.

Despite the sharp fall in participation, the qualifying cut-off reached a historic high. The qualifying score for candidates in the General and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) categories rose to 213 marks, a massive increase from last year’s cut-off of 144. Previous qualifying cut-offs stood at 134 in 2019, 147 in 2020, 138 in 2021, 117 in 2022, 137 in 2023, 162 in 2024 and 144 in 2025.

Interestingly, the higher cut-off did not result in a larger percentage of students qualifying. Of the nearly two million candidates who appeared for the exam, 1.121 million qualified, resulting in a success rate of 56.06%. This is almost identical to last year’s qualifying rate of 55.97% and continues a trend that has remained remarkably stable for years.

Experts explain that NEET qualification is determined through percentile rankings rather than fixed marks. As a result, the percentage of candidates qualifying remains relatively constant, while the actual marks required to qualify fluctuate depending on the overall performance of candidates.

Education experts believe several factors contributed to the record-high cut-off. Candidates received nearly an extra month for preparation due to the re-examination, which may have improved overall performance. An easier Biology section is also believed to have boosted scores, while tougher Physics and Chemistry papers prevented an excessive rise among top scorers. The absence of over two lakh candidates, many of whom may have been less prepared, also contributed to raising the qualifying threshold.

The attendance decline was particularly noticeable among female candidates. Educationists pointed to challenges such as long-distance travel, additional expenses, safety concerns, accommodation issues and the emotional stress caused by the sudden cancellation and rescheduling of the examination.

In terms of state-wise performance, Uttar Pradesh once again emerged as the state with the highest number of successful candidates, producing over 170,000 qualifiers. Lakshadweep recorded the lowest number with just 43 successful candidates. The top-ranking candidates came from states including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

While the total number of qualifiers fell compared to recent years, experts note that the decline was largely due to reduced attendance rather than a drop in the success rate. The 2026 results therefore present a unique picture: fewer students appeared for the examination, but those who did generally performed better, pushing the qualifying cut-off to an all-time high.