NEET PG 2026 candidates have access to their question-wise marks and recorded responses, but a petition before the Supreme Court has raised questions about whether these details are sufficient to independently verify their scores before counselling.
NEET PG 2026 candidates can check the marks awarded for individual questions, their recorded responses and the numerical IDs of correct answers. But can they verify whether those answers were evaluated correctly?
This question is at the centre of a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the answer-key disclosure mechanism adopted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS).
The Democratic Medical Association (DMA), which filed the petition, has argued that providing numerical identifiers without the actual questions and answer options does not give candidates a meaningful opportunity to verify their examination records.
The issue has gained significance ahead of postgraduate medical counselling, as NEET PG scores and ranks will determine candidates' position in the admission process.
NBEMS made the NEET PG 2026 scorecards and answer-key information available through individual applicant logins on October 1, following the declaration of results on September 24.
The disclosed information includes question IDs, the numerical IDs of correct answers, candidates' recorded responses and marks awarded for each question.
However, the actual question text and the complete answer options displayed during the examination are not included in the disclosure.
This creates a distinction between checking how marks have been calculated and verifying whether the answers used for evaluation are correct.
According to the petition, NEET PG uses a candidate-specific shuffling mechanism for questions and answer options.
As a result, the sequence of questions and the order of options may differ between candidates.
The petitioners argue that knowing a question ID and its corresponding correct-answer number does not necessarily help a candidate identify the actual question or the option that was marked correct.
For instance, if a candidate's response sheet shows that Option 2 was selected while Option 3 was considered correct, the candidate would still need to know what those options represented to assess the answer.
The plea argues that the existing disclosure allows candidates to reconcile the marks awarded but does not enable them to independently check the answer key or identify possible discrepancies in question-and-option mapping.
These are arguments raised by the petitioners; the Supreme Court has not made a finding that the evaluation contains errors.
The DMA has sought directions for NBEMS to provide each candidate with the actual questions and answer options presented during the examination, along with their recorded responses, the official correct answers and question-wise marks.
It has also requested that these records be made available in a downloadable electronic format.
Another significant demand is a time-bound mechanism through which candidates can raise objections after examining their examination records.
The petition seeks examination of such objections by subject experts and corrections to scores and ranks wherever errors are established.
The request, therefore, concerns not only access to examination material but also an opportunity to identify and challenge possible errors.
NEET PG ranks play a central role in determining candidates' position during postgraduate medical admissions.
The petitioners have argued that candidates should have an effective opportunity to verify their scores before the counselling process progresses.
Their concern is that any identifiable error in the evaluation could become more difficult to address once admissions proceed on the basis of the declared ranks.
However, the filing of a petition does not establish that any candidate's score or rank is incorrect.
No. On the October 15 hearing, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notice on the petition and tagged it with pending matters.
The court has not, through this development, directed NBEMS to release the complete candidate-specific question papers or introduced a fresh objection window.
The proceedings also do not, by themselves, establish any change to the NEET PG 2026 counselling schedule.
For now, candidates can access the examination details made available by NBEMS through their applicant logins. Whether additional records must be disclosed, and whether candidates should receive a further opportunity to challenge the answers, remain questions before the court.