HYDERABAD: The NEET UG 2026 re-examination brought thousands of aspirants back to examination centres across Telangana on Sunday. As students walked out of the halls hours later, a clear pattern emerged from their reactions: Biology was straightforward, Chemistry manageable, but Physics proved to be the section that tested both time and temperament.
Of the 73,059 candidates registered for the re-examination, 65,087 appeared at 208 centres spread across 24 districts. With 7,972 candidates absent, the overall attendance stood at 89.09%, significantly lower than the 97.64% recorded during the original examination.
Medchal-Malkajgiri recorded the highest attendance at 91.54%, followed by Rangareddy (90.67%), Mancherial (90.28%) and Mahbubnagar (90%). Suryapet reported the lowest attendance at 84.03%, while Bhadradri Kothagudem and Jagtial recorded 85.02% and 85.50%, respectively. Hyderabad, which hosted the highest number of centres at 66, registered an attendance of 89.34%.
For many students, Biology offered a welcome breather. Several candidates said a large number of questions were directly based on NCERT textbooks, making the section relatively easier to navigate. Physics, however, told a different story.
“Biology was the easiest part of the paper. Most questions were directly from NCERT and could be answered quickly. Chemistry was manageable, but Physics was lengthy and calculation-heavy. Time management became the biggest challenge,” said Sai Teja, who appeared for the examination in Hyderabad.
Sharing a similar view, aspirant M Sravani said, “Physics was definitely tougher than expected. Many questions were concept-based and required multiple calculations. I had to rush through because of the time pressure.”
While most students described the paper as moderate overall, many felt the Physics section was considerably more demanding than the rest of the question paper. A few candidates also said they found the original examination easier.
A costly delay
Outside some centres, anxiety lingered even before the examination began. At JNTU Hyderabad and centres in Karimnagar and Jagtial, candidates who arrived after the strict 1.30 pm gate-closing deadline were denied entry.
A video of a father pleading with officials outside a Hyderabad centre to allow his daughter to write the examination later went viral on social media. Similar scenes were witnessed at a centre in Jagtial.
Yet, amid the tension, there were also moments of kindness. In Karimnagar, a traffic cop helped a student reach her exam centre on time after she feared being delayed by traffic and transport issues. Constable Kumar ferried her on his two-wheeler to the Women’s College centre before the reporting deadline, earning the gratitude of the student’s family.
With the re-test now over, aspirants can put away their revision notes. All that remains is the wait for the results.
Hours before big day, student dies by suicide
A 19-year-old NEET aspirant, Sheik Sana, died by suicide in Miyapur on Saturday, hours before the NEET re-test. Police suspect she had been under stress related to her studies and exams. Sana, who had completed Intermediate in 2025, had been preparing for NEET through long-term coaching after failing to clear the test earlier. Police said a note recovered from the scene stated that no one should be held responsible for her death. A case has been registered and further investigation is on.
