NEET UG 2026 Result Is Out: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

The wait is finally over.

The National Testing Agency declared the NEET UG 2026 result on 16 July 2026, and honestly, this year’s numbers tell quite a story. Two students share the top rank, the cutoff has jumped to its highest level ever, and over 11 lakh students are now getting ready for counselling.

If you appeared for the Re-NEET exam on 21 June, here’s a simple, no-nonsense breakdown of everything that matters right now, your score, the cutoff, the toppers, and what to do next.

Quick Snapshot: NEET UG 2026 Result at a Glance

Before the details, here’s the result in a few lines:

• Result declared: 16 July 2026, based on the final answer key
• Re-exam date: 21 June 2026, single shift, at 5,440 centres across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad
• Candidates appeared: around 20 lakh
• Candidates qualified: 11.21 lakh
• Pass percentage: roughly 56 to 57%
• AIR 1 & 2: Aryan Gupta from Punjab and Panshul Bansal from Haryana jointly secured AIR 1 in the NEET UG 2026 exam. Both candidates scored 715 out of 720. Aryan Gupta was awarded AIR 1 and Panshul Bansal AIR 2 based on the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) official tie-breaking policy. 
• General expected category cutoff:Above 450, the highest ever recorded

You can check the full official announcement on The Hindu or follow live updates on PW’s result page.

When and How the Result Was Declared

A quick timeline helps make sense of it all:

• Provisional answer key released on 25 June, followed by an objection window
• During review, NTA revised two Physics questions, dropping one and accepting two correct options for another, which gave 8 bonus marks to every candidate
• Final answer key released on 16 July
• Result declared the same evening, around 10:30 PM IST

This is a fairly quick turnaround, just 26 days between the re-exam and the result, faster than most previous years. For a detailed breakdown, Matrix Education’s guide and Shiksha’s live blog cover the full process.

NEET UG 2026 Toppers: Who Scored the Highest

This year’s top rank is shared, and that alone makes it a memorable result.

Rank	Name	State	Marks
AIR 1	Aryan Gupta	Punjab	715/720
AIR 2	Panshul Bansal	Haryana	715/720

A few more points worth knowing:

• The top 17 rankers, all scoring above 705, come from 8 states: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Telangana
• Over 93% of the top 138 performers were first-time NEET candidates
• Most toppers this year fall in the 17 to 19 age group

You can see the full top 10 list on NDTV’s toppers coverage, and Times of India has AIR 1 Aryan Gupta’s reaction and advice for future aspirants.

How Many Students Scored What

Here’s the score distribution, which gives you a sense of how tough the competition was this year:

Score Range	Number of Candidates
Above 700 marks	19 candidates
Above 690 marks	138 candidates
Above 650 marks	1,492 candidates

For the full score-wise breakdown, check PW’s detailed analysis or NDTV’s report on the same.

Pass Percentage and Gender Split

Some quick numbers that stood out this year:

• Overall pass percentage sits around 56 to 57%
• Women make up more than 58% of all qualified candidates
• Women also qualified at a slightly higher rate than men, 56.8% against 55.1%

NEET UG 2026 Cutoff Marks (Category-Wise)

This is the part everyone waits for. And this year’s cutoff has genuinely gone up across every category.

Category	Percentile	Cutoff Range (Marks)
UR / EWS	50th	715 to 213
OBC	40th	212 to 177
SC	40th	212 to 177
ST	40th	212 to 177
UR/EWS-PwBD	45th	212 to 194
OBC/SC-PwBD	40th	193 to 177
ST-PwBD	40th	191 to 178

Quick note: this is the highest general category cutoff in NEET’s history, up from 686 to 144 last year to 715 to 213 this year. That jump is largely because of stronger overall performance and the 8 bonus marks awarded across the board.

Category-wise, the number of qualified candidates looks like this:

• UR/EWS: 9,96,935
• OBC: 81,111
• SC: 29,947
• ST: 12,452

Remember, this qualifying cutoff only gets you into counselling. It is not the score you need for an actual MBBS seat, that admission cutoff comes later, after counselling rounds.

State-Wise Performance: Who Led the Chart

Qualified candidates came from all 36 states and union territories this year.

• Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of qualifiers, over 1.7 lakh candidates
• Lakshadweep had the fewest, with 43 qualified candidates
• Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Telangana also feature strongly among the top-performing states this year

For the complete state-wise list, NDTV’s breakdown has the full ranking.

How to Download Your NEET UG 2026 Scorecard

Simple steps, no confusion:

1. Go to the official website, neet.nta.nic.in
2. Click on the direct scorecard link: NEET UG 2026 Scorecard
3. Log in using your Application Number, Date of Birth or Password, and the security pin
4. Your scorecard will show your marks, percentile, All India Rank, category rank and qualifying status
5. Download it and keep both a digital and printed copy safe

If the official site is slow due to heavy traffic, you can also track updates through Testbook’s result page, CollegeBatch, Xylem Learning or Sarkari Diary’s result tracker. But for the actual scorecard, always rely on the official NTA link.

What Happens Next: Counselling Timeline

Qualifying is only half the journey. Here’s what follows:

• AIQ Counselling: Conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for 15% of government seats and all seats in AIIMS, JIPMER and similar institutes
• State Quota Counselling: Run by individual state bodies for the remaining 85% of government seats, only for candidates who belong to that state
• AYUSH Counselling: Handled by AACCC for BAMS, BHMS, BUMS and BSMS admissions

MCC registration is expected to open shortly, and state counselling notifications will follow. Keep checking PW’s live updates page for the latest on counselling dates.

Your Simple Game Plan (Save This)

1. Download your scorecard from neet.nta.nic.in immediately
2. Check your category-wise cutoff and confirm your qualifying status
3. Register for both AIQ and your state counselling as soon as they open
4. Keep your domicile, category and identity documents ready
5. Track official MCC and state counselling websites only, avoid rumours
6. If applying for AYUSH, register separately through AACCC

Here’s the honest truth. This year’s cutoff jump means competition for seats will be tighter than usual. So don’t waste time once counselling opens, get your documents ready today, and move fast when registration begins.

FAQs

When was the NEET UG 2026 result declared?
The result was declared on 16 July 2026, based on the final answer key released the same day.

Who topped NEET UG 2026?
Aryan Gupta from Punjab and Panshul Bansal from Haryana jointly secured AIR 1, both scoring 715 out of 720.

What is the NEET UG 2026 qualifying cutoff?
For UR/EWS, the cutoff range is 715 to 213 marks at the 50th percentile. For OBC, SC and ST, it is 212 to 177 marks at the 40th percentile, the highest cutoff recorded in NEET’s history.

How do I download my NEET UG 2026 scorecard?
Visit neet.nta.nic.in, click the scorecard link, and log in with your Application Number, Date of Birth and security pin to download it.

Does qualifying NEET guarantee an MBBS seat?
No. Qualifying only makes you eligible for counselling. Your actual seat depends on your rank, category, choice filling and seat availability during MCC or state counselling rounds.