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Table Of Contents
How many students will appear for NEET UG 2026?
NEET UG
The NEET UG 2026 exam is scheduled for May 3rd, 2026. With increasing competition for seats in prestigious medical colleges, many are wondering how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026. Over 23 lakh candidates have already registered for the NEET UG 2026 exam.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is responsible for conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The NEET UG 2026 registration deadline ended at 9:00 p.m. on March 11th, 2026. With over 23 lakh candidates having registered for the exam, candidates are wondering how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026. This article provides an overview of the NEET UG 2026 exam, predictions of how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026, and an analysis of the registered, participated, and qualified candidates over the previous years.
The NEET UG 2026 exam is a nationwide entrance exam that assesses and confirms candidates' eligibility for admission to medical colleges across India. Candidates must have applied for the exam before the NEET UG 2026 application deadline, participate in the exam, clear it with higher qualifying percentiles, and then take part in the counselling process for admission to medical colleges across the country.
The NEET UG 2026 exam is scheduled for May 3rd, 2026. The NEET UG 2026 exam will be conducted offline (pen-and-paper mode) in designated exam centers in various cities across India. Candidates must strictly adhere to all the dates and deadlines posted on the official website. The NEET UG 2026 exam will be conducted for a duration of 3 hours from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 3rd, 2026. There will be 180 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) to be attempted. +4 marks will be granted for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong answer. No marks will be added or reduced for unattempted questions. The total NEET UG 2026 exam marks will be 720.
Also Read How to Revise the NEET UG 2026 Exam Syllabus in 15 Days?
The big question asked by candidates right now is ‘how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026?’. While the exact answer to how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 is unknown, candidates can expect over 22 lakh participants based on the appearing trends of previous years.
Candidates frequently ask how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 to understand the level of competition. Understanding how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 will also help them compare the number of participants and available seats. Candidates can also predict increases and decreases in NEET cut offs by knowing how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026.
Candidates can also decide on the preparation level and effort required to stay ahead by understanding how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026. Furthermore, by knowing how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026, candidates can mentally prepare for the competition level and stay motivated throughout their preparation.
To predict how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026, candidates need to understand how many appeared in previous years. Here’s a table showing the number of candidates who appeared for the NEET exam in the previous years, to help candidates understand how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026:
From the table above, it is clear that the number of registrations has increased over the years. In 2026, registrations increased slightly compared to 2025, with over 23 lakh candidates registered. Of all the years from 2019 to 2026, 2024 had the highest number of NEET registrations, with 24,06,079, and 2019 had the least candidate registrations, with 15.19 lakh candidates.
The highest number of candidates who appeared for the NEET exam from 2019 to 2025 was in 2024, with 23,33,297 candidates. Also, the number of candidates who qualified the NEET exam was the highest in 2024, with 13,15,853 candidates, followed by 2025, with 12,36,531 candidates. So, the answer to how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 is approximately 22 lakhs, when compared to the previous trends.
Candidates can better understand the competition when they know how many candidates registered, appeared, and qualified NEET across various categories in 2025. Here’s a category-wise analysis of the registered, appeared, and qualified candidates in 2025:
From the table above, it is clear that in 2025 nearly half of the registered candidates qualified the NEET exam across all the categories. The category with the highest number of registered, appeared, and qualified candidates in 2025 was the OBC category, with 9,48,507, 9,25,739, and 5,64,611, respectively. This was then followed by the General category, with 6,89,366 (registered), 6,65,853 (appeared), and 3,38,728 (qualified) candidates. Candidates can predict how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 across categories by referring to the table above.
State-wise Registered, Appeared, and Qualified Students in 2024 and 2025
Here’s a state-wise registered, appeared, and qualified data for 2024 and 2025 for candidates to predict how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026 from different states:
Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of NEET qualified candidates in 2025, with 1,70,684 candidates, out of the 3,33,088 who appeared for the exam. This was followed by Maharashtra, with 1,25,727 candidates, out of the 2,42,858 students who appeared for the exam.
Here are a few frequently asked questions by candidates:
Candidates can reach out to Hello Mentor for additional insights into NEET (including how many students will appear for NEET UG 2026), exam preparation tips, and the counselling process. Since 2018, Hello Mentor has been guiding candidates through counselling and admission processes. Candidates can also access the company’s portal for free to view and understand the previous years’ NEET trends.
Also Read How many days are left for NEET UG 2026 Exam?
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