The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate courses (NEET-UG) will be conducted in online mode from the next academic session, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday while confirming that the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper had been leaked. The announcement came days after the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the May 3 examination amid allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities across multiple states. The issue has emerged as one of the biggest India News Update developments in the education sector this year.

Addressing the media, Pradhan said the government took the difficult decision to cancel the examination to ensure fairness in the medical admission process.  He stated that authorities did not want any undeserving candidate to benefit from the irregularities and therefore decided to conduct the examination again. According to the Education Minister, the re-examination will now be held on June 21 and candidates will receive 15 minutes of additional time during the test.

He also announced that students appearing in the re-exam would be allowed to choose examination centres of their preference. The NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3 was conducted across 551 cities in India and 14 international cities through more than 5,400 examination centres. Pradhan said the irregularities came to light on May 7 after the NTA informed the government about suspected breaches in the examination process. The decision to cancel the exam was subsequently taken on May 12.

The minister further said the government would coordinate with state governments to facilitate transportation and logistical arrangements for students appearing in the re-examination. Referring to the controversy, Pradhan questioned how such a breach could occur despite recommendations made by reform committees and safeguards already in place.

He said the government machinery would now ensure that the re-examination takes place without any irregularities. The announcement regarding the shift to online mode from next year is being viewed as a major structural reform aimed at reducing the risk of future paper leaks and improving examination security. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has intensified its probe into the alleged paper leak network.

So far, the agency has arrested seven people in connection with the case. Among them are accused from Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra. Five accused — Mangi Lal Binwal, Dinesh Binwal, Vikas Binwal, Yash Yadav and Shubham Khairnar — were recently produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court. The court sent them to seven days’ custody for further interrogation.

Earlier, the CBI had also arrested beautician Manisha Waghmare from Pune and Dhananjay Lokhande from Nashik. Investigators suspect that the leaked question paper was circulated through a network operating across coaching centres and intermediaries. According to sources associated with the probe, accused Yash Yadav allegedly played a key role in transporting the leaked paper to Rajasthan’s Sikar district.

The investigation reportedly revealed that students were charged between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for access to the question paper before the examination. Officials said one of the accused allegedly scanned a hard copy of the question paper and converted it into a PDF file for circulation. The leaked material was reportedly handwritten before being digitally scanned and distributed among students associated with coaching institutes.

Investigators also found that many questions in the so-called “guess paper” matched the actual examination paper. According to officials, nearly 150 out of 180 questions were allegedly identical to those that appeared in the final NEET-UG paper.

The controversy has once again raised serious concerns regarding the functioning and credibility of the National Testing Agency. The NTA, established in 2017 under the Ministry of Education, conducts several major national-level entrance examinations including NEET-UG, JEE Main, CUET and UGC-NET.

NEET remains India’s largest medical entrance examination and serves as the gateway for admission into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and nursing programmes across government and private institutions. More than one lakh MBBS seats and over 27,000 BDS seats are filled through the examination every year.

The latest controversy has also revived memories of the 2024 NEET paper leak case, which had similarly triggered investigations and legal challenges. Education experts believe the government’s decision to shift NEET to an online format marks a major policy change aimed at restoring trust in the examination system.

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