New Delhi, July 3: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences will conduct the NEET-PG 2026 examination on August 30 across the country. National Medical Commission Chairperson Abhijith Sheth reached out to the medical student community to provide strong assurances of a secure testing environment, advising candidates to completely disregard ongoing social media misinformation. The chairperson emphasized that advanced objective tools built into the computer-based testing platform will ensure a fair evaluation process.
The central regulatory authorities have put strict measures in place to safeguard the integrity of the highly competitive exam. While addressing concerns regarding exam security, Abhijith Sheth declared, “I must assure students that they should stay away from rumours, from agents and consultants. I assure the whole student community that the exam will be conducted in a very safe, secure, and transparent manner. Since it is a computer-based examination, a lot of objective tools are there.” He maintained that the possibility of any operational disruptions remains minimal.
In a major shift in administrative policy, the previous system for distributing test locations has been entirely replaced. The chairperson clarified that the first-come, first-served system has been scrapped for city allocation. Under the new guidelines, candidates choose three preferred states, with their correspondence state mandatory as the top choice. Persons with Benchmark Disabilities receive primary preference, while the remaining seats are distributed via a randomized sequence based on pincodes, targeting a distance within 250 kilometers of the applicant’s location.
Significant changes have also been introduced to the structure of the question paper itself to ease candidate pressure. Abhijith Sheth asserted, “The Exam Committee’s view was that by reducing 20 questions, students would get at least half an hour more to solve 180 questions.” The administrative panel decided that lowering the total question count was a superior alternative to extending the overall duration of the test, ultimately giving students more breathing room per query.
