Ministry of Education exploring possibility of conducting NEET-UG in online mode

According to officials, the Union Ministry of Education is conducting data analysis to determine the viability of administering the NEET-UG medical entrance exam in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode.

The education and health ministries have had multiple detailed discussions about whether to administer the exam on paper or online, but the plan has not taken off yet.

"The data is being analysed to understand if conducting the exam in CBT mode will cause loss to a certain set of students. The data is also being analysed to understand the existing infrastructure and how helpful the practice of conducting major exams in CBT mode has been, as well as whether some students faced a disadvantage or not. Once the analysis is complete, the same will be discussed with the health ministry," a senior official said.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is the country's largest entrance exam in terms of the number of candidates who take it. In 2025, more than 22 lakh people appeared for the exam.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) administers the NEET-UG every year for admission to medical colleges. There are 1,08,000 seats available for the MBBS course across India.

Of the available seats for the course, about 56,000 are in government colleges and 52,000 in private colleges. Admission to undergraduate courses in Dentistry, Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha is also based on NEET-UG scores.

The idea of moving to Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode for NEET-UG is not new, and it has been discussed multiple times previously. However, the push for exam reforms began after the paper leak issue last year.

In response to allegations of irregularities in the NEET-UG and the National Eligibility Test (NET) for PhD admissions, the Centre established a panel in July to guarantee that NTA conducts examinations in a transparent, seamless, and fair manner.

According to a high-level group led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief R Radhakrishnan, multi-stage testing for NEET-UG could be a viable option that should be pursued further.