Education
NBEMS to Release NEET PG 2026 Answer Key for First Time; Results Expected by September 30
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is set to release the provisional answer key for the NEET PG 2026 examination soon on its official websites, nbe.edu.in and natboard.edu.in. This marks the first time NBEMS will publish the answer key along with candidates' recorded response sheets, following a Supreme Court directive.
More than 2.65 lakh candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) medical courses are awaiting the release. Once published, candidates will be able to access the answer key, question ID numbers, and their recorded responses by logging into the official NBEMS portal.
NEET PG 2026 was conducted on August 30 in a single shift across 1,111 examination centres in 338 cities nationwide. The exam ran from 9 am to 12:30 pm in computer-based mode. This year, the number of questions was reduced to 180 multiple-choice questions worth 720 marks, compared to 200 questions in previous years.
According to the marking scheme, candidates receive four marks for each correct answer, with one mark deducted for every incorrect response. Candidates can estimate their scores using the formula: (Correct Answers × 4) − (Incorrect Answers × 1). The NEET PG question paper itself will not be released alongside the answer key due to NBEMS's non-disclosure policy.
The exam faced disruption at two centres in Jaipur due to a power failure and technical issues, including a server outage, affecting more than 2,400 candidates. NBEMS subsequently conducted a re-examination for affected students on September 5, 2026, across five test centres in Jaipur.
NBEMS has not yet announced the specific date for the answer key release, but the NEET PG 2026 results are scheduled to be declared by September 30. The result will be valid only for the 2026-27 admission session and cannot be carried forward to subsequent sessions.
Last year, the Supreme Court had directed NBEMS to publish NEET PG raw scores, its answer key issuance policy, and the normalisation method used for result preparation, as part of ten directives that also included stricter penalties for seat-blocking during counselling.
Through NEET PG, candidates compete for a total of 26,168 MD seats, 13,649 MS seats, and 922 PG Diploma seats across government, private, deemed, and central universities. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) conducts counselling for 50% of All India Quota (AIQ) seats, along with central universities, deemed universities, and ESIC institutes, while state authorities manage the remaining 50% state quota seats through respective state counselling portals.
Subject experts who reviewed this year's exam described it as moderate to tough in difficulty. The NEET PG 2026 information brochure includes details on the tie-breaking criteria for candidates with identical scores.