From 2018 to 2026: The battle to move NEET-UG online that India keeps losing

New Delhi: At the heart of the repeated exam paper leaks plaguing NEET-UG lies the protracted debate over shifting it from pen-and-paper mode to computer-based testing (CBT), and the opposite positions held by the Union education ministry-NTA and the Union health ministry-NMC, despite the 2024 fiasco and a history dating back to 2018.

ET has learnt that the issue was examined threadbare after the 2024 NEET-UG paper leak by an informal Group of Ministers, which eventually concluded that shifting NEET-UG to CBT mode was necessary. A target of 2026 was set, keeping in mind the feasibility and logistics involved. However, these issues could not be addressed within the deadline, eventually ending up in another leak and the first full cancellation of NEET-UG, likely to be followed by a June re-test.

Also Read: NEET-UG 2026 leak row: NTA faces criticism over repeated exam glitches and mismanagement


Speaking with ET, NTA director general Abhishek Singh said the agency was already conducting JEE Main in CBT mode and could do the same for NEET-UG "if the health ministry wants".

Considering there was consensus at the GoM level on shifting to CBT mode, and that the health ministry had even lifted its objections in 2024 to conduct the NEET-PG test in CBT mode, its subsequent resistance to a similar format for NEET-UG indicates that reservations and differences between NTA and National Medical Commission continued.

The differences were so significant that the issue was not even taken up with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to work on a cybersecurity mechanism for such a plan, ET has confirmed. Considerable work, however, was undertaken after 2024 on exploring a CBT-based NEET-UG format.

According to post-2024 assessments, conducting NEET-UG in CBT mode for over 22 lakh students would require over 20-30 shifts spread across a month or more.

The comparable exam conducted in CBT mode is the NTA-administered Main, for which around 13 lakh students appear annually. JEE Main is conducted twice a year, with each segment spread over nearly 10 days with two shifts daily.

More than 20 sessions for NEET-UG are considered challenging by NMC, given the current practice of holding the test in a single day and single shift.

That apart, a CBT-based NEET-UG would require nearly 20 different question papers, which sources said would be a major challenge. For NTA, this would also mean upping its CBT testing capacity considerably from the current 1.25 lakh students it can accommodate daily - a target that is still formidable.

It is also pertinent that while authorities worked to replicate the successful JEE Main model for NEET-UG, the issue became further entangled following a 2025 Supreme Court order on NEET-PG CBT, which held that the test should be conducted in a single-shift, single-day format.

Also Read: NEET UG 2026 exam cancelled: Why the exam has been cancelled, re-exam date and what's next?

Though the order made no direct reference to NEET-UG, the SC order seems to have helped strengthen NMC's original position favouring the continuation of a single-day, single-shift pen-and-paper examination - a stance that had even been overruled by the health ministry in 2024. The issue remains unresolved even though officials underline that NTA's stated mandate is to conduct entrance exams in 'online mode'.

The debate, in fact, dates back to 2018, just months after NTA was established to take over entrance exams. Arguing in favour of the pen-and-paper format, NMC and the health ministry had then cited the digital divide besides cybersecurity challenges to a CBT test.

In fact, when the education ministry and NTA strongly pitched a biannual CBT format for NEET-UG in 2018, the proposal was opposed by the health ministry citing that it could increase pressure on students and disadvantage those from rural areas because of the digital divide.