NEET-UG 2026 draws more than 22L candidates with 96.9% attendance
India
This year's NEET-UG saw a huge turnout: over 22 lakh students showed up to chase their medical dreams, with an impressive 96.9% attendance.
Interestingly, just four states, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Bihar, accounted for about 41.4% of all candidates.
Uttar Pradesh leads with 3.6L candidates
Uttar Pradesh topped the charts with 3.6 lakh candidates, followed by Maharashtra (2.2 lakh), Rajasthan (two lakh), and Bihar (1.5 lakh).
States like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and West Bengal also had strong participation.
Gujarat led in attendance at 98.1%, while Kerala had the lowest among major states at 94.4%.
The numbers show just how big a deal NEET is across India, especially in these top four states!