NEET Exam Pattern 2026: Total Marks, Subjects, Marking Scheme, Exam Duration & No. of Questions

The NEET 2026 exam pattern has been released. The NTA mentioned the pattern in the information bulletin. There is no change in the NEET pattern. The NTA changed the NEET question paper pattern in 2025. The NTA removed the optional questions and the exam duration was reduced by 20 minutes.

The NEET UG exam comprises Physics, Chemistry and Biology sections. There are a total 180 questions in the exam. The exam carries 720 marks. The section wise-wightage of these three sections is shared below-

NEET Physics- 45 questions (180 marks)

NEET Chemistry- 45 questions (180 marks)

NEET Biology (Botany & Zoology)- 90 questions (360 marks)

The NEET exam is conducted offline in pen and paper mode. The NEET exam pattern is as such-

• There are 180 MCQs.
• 45 are from Physics, 45 from Chemistry and 90 from Biology (Botany and Zoology). 
• Each question is of 4 marks.
• The total marks are 720.
• The exam duration is 3 hours.

The 80/20 rule in NEET is applible in case when candidates have limited time to study for the exam. The rule implies rather than covering the entire syllabus, candidates should focus on 20% of the high-value topics that are likely to form about 80% of the NEET question paper. 

The Biology section has the highest number of questions in the NEET examination. There are 360 questions in the NEET UG exam and of these, 90 questions are alone from Biology, which is further divided into Botany and Zoology, each containing 45 questions.

No, marks are not deducted for unanswered questions in NEET. However, the NTA applies negative marking of 1 mark for each incorrect answer in the NEET UG examination.

No, the NEET exam or NEET question paper does not have any optional questions. Although there used to be 20 optional questions in total in between the years 2022 and 2024, but 2025 onwards, the optional questions in NEET were removed as part of the revision or change in the NEET exam pattern as per the pre-COVID era. Hence, the NEET 2025 question paper will not carry any optional questions, and will have 360 mandatory questions from Physics, Chemistry and Biology.  

The mode of the NEET exam is offline or paper-based mode. Candidates are handed over hardcopy of NEET question paper and OMR sheets to answer the questions. The NEET UG exam has always been conducted in paper-pencil-based mode. Despite the expert committee recommendation to conduct the NEET exam in onlne or computer-based mode, the National Medical Commission (NMC) announced that the NEET 2025 exam will be conducted in offline or paper-pencil-based mode. 

The NEET exam carries negative marking of 1 mark for each wrong answer. Candidates should mark their answers carefully in the exam to avoid the penalty.

NEET syllabus is not tough, but a bit challenging due to its vastness. The syllabus of NEET exam is vast, with 20 chapters from Physics, 20 from Chemistry and 10 from Biology. The syllabus is based on the Class 11 and 12 NCERT curriculum. Hence, candidates should cover the complete syllabus to crack the exam.

There will be no sectional qualifying criterion for NEET 2025. NTA releases overall qualifying marks or cutoff marks for each category. The overall marks will be considered while preparing the rank list for NEET. But to ensure a good score, candidates must ensure a high number of attempts with full accuracy. A skewed performance might hamper the overall marks obtained in NEET.

The responses marked on the OMR Sheet of NEET are scanned and uploaded on the official website of NTA. The responses marked are read and captured by the machines, which can sometimes lead to smudging of the responses. Therefore, there can be errors in the scanned copy of NEET OMR sheet. If a student finds any such error in their OMR sheet, they have the provision to challenge them. Candidates have to pay a processing fee of INR 200 per response challenged. The steps for challenging the OMR sheet of NEET are given below:

1. Go to the official website of NTA NEET
2. Login using the NEET application number and password or date of birth
3. Click on “OMR Challenge”
4. You will see the questions in sequential order
5. Select Question (s) for which you wish to challenge the Recorded Response.
6. Once you select any Question for Challenge, you will see three options under the column ‘Candidate’s Claim’.
7. If you wish to challenge this option, you may use the Options given in the ‘Candidate’s Claim’ column.
8. After clicking your desired option, for Physics / Chemistry / Botany / Zoology for NEET (UG) - 2023, scroll down, ‘Submit’, and move to the next screen.
9. You will see a screen displaying your challenges.
10. Click on ‘Submit' and Pay Fee Finally’.
11. Select Mode of Payment and Pay a processing fee of INR 200 for each question/grade challenged. Make payment through Debit/Credit Card/Net Banking/Paytm.
12. After successful payment, download/print the Answer Key challenge receipt

The NEET exam is conducted from 2.00 to 5.00 pm. Have a look at the NEET exam timing 2026 below-

According to NEET pattern, the question paper for the candidates who have chosen Hindi as the medium will be bilingual. The second language of the question paper will be English. In case candidates have any doubts regarding a particular question or term, they can refer to the English questions. Candidates choosing the NEET question paper medium as Hindi must ensure that they have received the Hindi language question paper in the exam hall. In case they receive English or any other regional language question paper, they must report the matter to the invigilator and get it changed immediately. In case they start solving the NEET question paper of a different language and report it later, it may be considered redundant.

NEET will be conducted in 13 languages. Till 2020, NEET was held in 11 languages. NTA increased the number of languages or medium to 13 from 2021 onwards. Malayalam and Punjabi are the latest additions. The list of languages are as follows:

1. English
2. Hindi
3. Bengali
4. Urdu
5. Assamese
6. Gujarati
7. Marathi
8. Odia
9. Kannada
10. Tamil
11. Malayalam
12. Punjabi
13. Telugu.