The National Testing Agency (NTA) put out the NEET-UG 2026 result late on the night of July 16, closing the loop on a year that saw the exam conducted afresh. Of the roughly 20 lakh candidates who sat for it, 11.21 lakh have qualified — the pool from which every MBBS and BDS seat in the country will eventually be filled through counselling. Aryan Gupta from Punjab and Panshul Bansal from Haryana tied for the top rank with 715 out of 720, while Kudale Shravani Krishna emerged as the highest-scoring woman candidate. For any aspirant tracking this cycle, the result isn't just about who topped — the qualifying numbers, the gender split, and a couple of disputed questions all carry real implications for how counselling will play out.
With 11.21 lakh candidates qualified out of 20 lakh who appeared, competition for MBBS/BDS seats stays fierce, and every mark matters — a Physics question dropped from the final key shows how even a single question can shift ranks at the margins.
What NTA announced, and when
NTA declared the NEET-UG 2026 result at around 10:30 pm on July 16, continuing its pattern from previous years of releasing results late in the evening. This was the outcome of the re-conducted NEET-UG 2026 exam, and 11.21 lakh of the roughly 20 lakh candidates who took it have qualified — meaning they crossed the minimum qualifying percentile set for their category.
A separate topper list was drawn up for the 138 candidates who scored 690 marks or above. NTA data shows over 93 percent of this group were attempting NEET for the first time, and 99 percent were aged between 17 and 19 — a reminder that, year after year, first-attempt young candidates continue to dominate the very top of the merit list.
The top 10: who made the cut
Aryan Gupta and Panshul Bansal shared the highest score of 715 out of 720, placing them jointly at All India Rank 1. Aryan, whose parents are both doctors, told PTI he studied for 16-17 hours a day and wants to specialise in oncology — a goal he says traces back to losing his grandmother to cancer when he was in the third standard.
| Rank | Candidate |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aryan Gupta |
| 2 | Panshul Bansal |
| 3 | Uplakshya Goyal |
| 4 | Ayush Bhalotia |
| 5 | Kudale Shravani Krishna |
| 6 | Riya Ranjan |
| 7 | Aryan Dubey |
| 8 | Geetansh Sarin |
| 9 | Gaurav Singh |
| 10 | Mohanish Maruti Bhosale |
Women outnumber men among qualified candidates
Kudale Shravani Krishna, who also holds overall All India Rank 5, topped the female list. More broadly, women made up over 58 percent of all candidates who qualified this year, and they also qualified at a slightly higher rate than men — 56.8 percent of women who appeared cleared the exam, compared with 55.1 percent of men.
This gender pattern isn't new for NEET, but it's worth noting each year because it shapes the applicant pool that colleges will see in counselling, even though seat allotment itself is merit- and category-based, not gender-based.
- Rank 1: Kudale Shravani Krishna
- Rank 2: Riya Ranjan
- Rank 3: Mansha Garg
- Rank 4: Vaishnavi Das
- Rank 5: Manasvi Kulshrestha
- Rank 6: Kashvi Dhall
- Rank 7: Srinika V
- Rank 8: Ashi Goyal
- Rank 9: Namala Prerana
- Rank 10: Aanvi Saxena
Two contested questions, one dropped from the final key
Before the result came out, two questions in the Physics section were flagged as disputed. One involving a Vernier callipers reading — where candidates had to calculate the length of a wire — was ultimately dropped from the final answer key. A second question, on electromagnetic waves, was found to have two valid correct options instead of one, according to Keshav Agarwal, vice-president of the Coaching Federation of India, a Delhi-based body representing around 1,000 coaching institutes.
Dropping a question typically means all candidates get marks for it regardless of their answer, which nudges everyone's raw score up slightly but doesn't usually change relative rank order dramatically. Still, at the cutoff margins — especially around state quota and category cutoffs — even small shifts like this can matter, which is why NTA's final answer key process is worth watching closely every year, not just after results are out.
Category-wise qualifiers: the numbers behind the seats
NTA also released category-wise figures for how many candidates qualified. These numbers are useful for aspirants trying to gauge how competitive their own category will be during counselling, since seat allocation runs through category-wise reservation.
| Category | Candidates qualified |
|---|---|
| General | 2,91,000 |
| OBC-NCL | 5,12,000 |
| SC | 1,59,000 |
| ST | 63,716 |
| General-EWS | 95,026 |
| PwBD | 3,666 |
| PwD | 303 |
What this means if you're waiting for counselling
For the 11.21 lakh who qualified, this result is the starting point for NEET counselling — not the finish line. Your rank and category now determine which round of counselling (All India Quota, state quota, or private/deemed college rounds) you're realistically competitive for. It's worth remembering NTA's own track record: in 2024, revised scorecards were issued weeks after the original result following a Supreme Court order on a disputed question, so candidates should keep an eye on official notices even after today's result, in case any further correction is announced.
If your score is well below what you expected, don't assume the worst before checking the final answer key and your scorecard details carefully — a dropped or double-answer question, as seen this year, can occasionally cause small changes candidates weren't expecting.
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See My CollegesFrequently asked questions
How many candidates qualified NEET-UG 2026 out of those who appeared?
11.21 lakh candidates qualified out of about 20 lakh who appeared for the exam, according to NTA's release.
Who topped NEET-UG 2026 and what was the highest score?
Aryan Gupta (Punjab) and Panshul Bansal (Haryana) jointly topped with 715 out of 720 marks, sharing All India Rank 1.
Who is the top-scoring female candidate?
Kudale Shravani Krishna is the top female scorer; she also holds overall All India Rank 5.
Why was one question dropped from the final answer key?
A Physics question involving Vernier callipers, which asked candidates to calculate a wire's length from the instrument's reading, was found disputed and dropped, meaning all candidates received credit for it regardless of their chosen answer.
Did women qualify at a higher rate than men this year?
Yes. Among candidates who appeared, 56.8 percent of women qualified compared with 55.1 percent of men, and women made up over 58 percent of all qualified candidates.
Does this year's result affect when counselling starts?
The source did not specify exact counselling dates; aspirants should watch for official notices from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for All India Quota seats and respective state authorities for state quota seats.
Should I be worried if my score changed slightly from what I expected?
A small change is possible because of the dropped and double-answer Physics questions in the final key. Check your official scorecard and the final answer key on the NTA website to understand any adjustment before drawing conclusions.
With the result out, the real work for aspirants now shifts to reading rank against last year's closing ranks for target colleges and categories, and staying alert for official MCC and state counselling schedules. Keep checking NTA's and MCC's official pages directly, since minor corrections to results have happened in past cycles too.
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