KOCHI: The students who appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate examination were in for a shock on Tuesday as the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled it following allegations of a ‘guess paper’ leak.
Parents, students and coaching centres are now scrambling to reorganise and prepare again for the examination, the date of which will be announced later.
For NEET-UG 2026 held on May 3, approximately 1.1 lakh candidates registered from Kerala. The state is a major contributor to national participation, featuring in the top nine states that make up three-fourths of all aspirants.
“With the NEET exam over, the students had heaved a sigh of relief and entered vacation mode,” said Sukumaran Nair, a parent.
He had rented a house at Pala in Kottayam district to support his daughter who was studying at the Brilliant Study Centre.
“We vacated the house and returned home to our place in Kanhangad. She was happy with her performance this time and was expecting a good score. Now things have all changed,” he said.
Sukumaran and his wife had decided to be with their daughter in the weeks running up to the entrance date since she was getting stressed and anxious.
“The anxiety is back. The pressure that had built and was then released has now returned, manifold,” he said.
According to Bindu K, a parent from Kollam, students are now scrambling to get their notes together.
“The notes and books had been forgotten. My daughter is very worried. She said she has no idea where to start studying! It is a mess,” she added.
She pointed out that coaching centres have sent messages asking students to return for classes and model tests.
“They have even messaged information about online meetings to discuss the process,” she said.
Parents have also pointed out that the NEET exams, both UG and PG, seem to be plagued by misfortunes. “The testing agency needs to up the ante. They are playing with children’s future. Now, the admission process and the start of the classes will get delayed,” Sukumaran said.
At the same time, an official with a prominent entrance coaching centre in the state said, “It was good the NTA took a quick decision and cancelled the exam. Had they delayed the process, things would have worsened. However, it is true that the admission process will get delayed. But a similar condition had existed during Covid.”
Meanwhile, the NTA posted on X that the decision to cancel the exam was taken in the interest of students and in recognition of the trust on which the national examination system rests.
“The Agency is conscious that re-conduct will cause real and significant inconvenience to candidates and their families. NTA does not take that consequence lightly. The decision has been taken because the alternative would have caused greater and more lasting damage to that trust,” NTA posted.
“The registration data, candidature, and examination centres opted for in the May 2026 cycle will be carried forward to the re-conducted examination. No fresh registration will be required and no additional examination fee will be levied. In addition, fees already paid will be refunded to the students and the exam will be re-conducted using NTA’s internal resources.
Further communications, including the re-conducted examination dates and the re-issued admit-card schedule, will be issued through the official channels of the Agency. Candidates and parents are requested to rely only on these official channels and to disregard unverified reports circulating on social media. Helpline: neet-ug@nta.ac.in | 011-40759000 / 011-69227700,” said the NTA post.
SHAMSEER URGES CENTRE TO TAKE SWIFT MEASURES
T’Puram: Assembly speaker A N Shamseer has written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, urging him to take urgent measures to facilitate swift and smooth conduct of NEET-UG exam that was cancelled. In his letter to Pradhan, Shamseer said the NEET-UG exam is a defining moment in the lives of numerous students and re-examination would further delay the results. He also highlighted the stress and uncertainty faced by lakhs of students and parents owing to the uncertainty over the dates of the re-examination.
SFI MARCHES TO AG’S OFFICE
T’Puram: The SFI workers took out a march to the AG’s office in protest against the cancellation of the NEET examination. The protestors broke the gate and entered the office compound. However, police blocked them from entering the office, leading to a clash. SFI state secretary P S Sanjeev said the Centre failed to conduct the NEET exam in a foolproof manner. The protestors later laid siege to the Cantonment police station demanding release of a SFI member, who was detained during the episode. The detained person was later forcefully taken away by the SFI leaders.
PROBE ON
There is suspicion that a Rajasthan native pursuing MBBS in Kerala may be involved in the circulation of the leaked question paper. Sources said the matter is under investigation by the Rajasthan Police and the Delhi unit of the CBI.
