NEET-UG 2026 cancellation leaves aspirants in distress

The cancellation of NEET-UG 2026, following allegations of a question paper leak, has plunged medical aspirants and their families into deep anxiety. Students across the country expressed anguish over the disruption to their academic pursuits, with many voicing concern over the uncertainty surrounding the rescheduled examination.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday annulled the examination, which had been conducted on May 3, citing the growing controversy surrounding the alleged leak. The agency announced that revised dates for the examination would be declared within a week to 10 days.

The development has been particularly distressing for students who had spent months in intensive preparation for one of the country’s most competitive entrance examinations. Many had consulted the provisional answer key released after the test and were anticipating favourable scores and national ranks. In Visakhapatnam district alone, as many as 7,987 candidates appeared for the examination across 18 centres.

Dhatri, a student from MVP Colony in Visakhapatnam, said she had pursued long-term coaching spanning nearly a year and was anticipating a score of approximately 615 marks on the basis of the answer key. “I was hoping for a good national rank. The cancellation has left me confused and mentally disturbed,” she said.

Another aspirant, Raghavendra, contended that students across the country were being compelled to bear the consequences of systemic lapses for which they held no responsibility. “It is unfair to put sincere students through such uncertainty,” he said.

Shweta, a fellow aspirant, said she was yet to come to terms with the turn of events and remained uncertain about undertaking preparation for a re-examination.

Parents of aspirants also voiced concern, directing their criticism at the conduct of national-level examinations. Nagendra Kumar, father of one of the candidates, said the episode had exposed deep-rooted flaws in the examination system. “Unless stringent corrective measures are taken, lakhs of students will continue to suffer,” he said.

Another parent, Nagalakshmi, noted that comparable allegations had surfaced on previous occasions and attributed the recurrence of such incidents to persistent negligence within the administrative apparatus.

Nirosha, mother of a student, underscored the imperative for grassroots-level reforms and the institution of more robust monitoring mechanisms to preempt examination malpractices in future.