NEET UG 2026 toppers list out: Aryan Gupta, Panshul Bansal bag top ranks; check top 10 AIR holders

The National Testing Agency NTA has released the detailed results and performance analysis of NEET UG 2026 revealing one of the most competitive editions of the medical entrance examination in recent years With cutoffs rising sharply and top ranks separated by minute percentile differences the exam witnessed intense competition among nearly 20 lakh aspirantsAryan Gupta of Punjab and Panshul Bansal of Haryana have jointly secured All India Rank AIR 1 and 2 by scoring 715 out of 720 marksUplakshya Goyal from Rajasthan secured AIR 3 with a percentile of 9999985Bihar and Maharashtra shine in Top 10Bihar emerged as one of the strongestperforming states with Ayush Bhalotia AIR 4 and Riya Ranjan AIR 6 both achieving a percentile of 9999965Maharashtras Kudale Shravani Krishna secured AIR 5 also with a percentile of 9999965 while Aryan Dubey of Uttar Pradesh clinched AIR 7State toppers emerge from across IndiaThe results highlighted strong performances from candidates across the countryIn Delhi Kashvi Dhall emerged as the top performer securing AIR 24 Gujarat witnessed a threeway tie among Taha Samun Bhatia AIR 25 Patel Shaurya Bhavesh AIR 26 and Akshit Kumar Gaur AIR 30 all with percentiles of 999979Among southern states Vaishnavi Das led Karnataka with AIR 20 while Namala Prerana topped Andhra Pradesh with AIR 36 Sabyasachi Laskar emerged as West Bengals highestranked candidate at AIR 35Registrations remain above 22 lakhNEET UG registrations which peaked at 2406 lakh in 2024 remained strong in 2026 at 2279 lakh candidatesHowever attendance dropped significantly Of the 2279 lakh registered candidates only 1999 lakh appeared for the examination resulting in a record absentee count of nearly 28 lakh candidatesWomen continue to dominate participationFemale candidates continued to outnumber male candidates in NEET UG 2026According to NTA data 1332 lakh women registered for the examination compared to 946 lakh men Women also accounted for the majority of successful candidates with 654 lakh qualifiers compared to 467 lakh male qualifiersEnglish remains preferred exam languageEnglish continued to be the most preferred medium of examination chosen by 1808 lakh candidatesHindi remained the second most popular language with 345 lakh candidates opting for it Among regional languages Gujarati Bengali and Tamil recorded the highest participationCutoffs rise sharply in 2026The NTA data showed a significant increase in qualifying marks across categories compared to previous yearsFor the Unreserved UR and Economically Weaker Section EWS categories the qualifying score range rose to 715ndash213 marks compared to 686ndash144 marks in 2025For OBC SC and ST candidates the qualifying range increased to 212ndash177 marks up from 143ndash113 marks in 2025 indicating a much tougher competition levelOver 11 lakh candidates qualifyA total of 1121185 candidates qualified NEET UG 2026Among themGeneral category 291 lakhOBCNCL 512 lakhSC 159 lakhST 63716GenEWS 95026PwBD 3666PwD 303Uttar Pradesh leads in qualified candidatesUttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of qualifiers with 170770 candidates clearing the examinationOther major contributors includedRajasthan 133140 qualifiersMaharashtra 107304 qualifiersBihar 68968 qualifiersKarnataka 65901 qualifiersTamil Nadu 61306 qualifiersWest Bengal 52746 qualifiersAt the other end of the spectrum Lakshadweep recorded 43 qualifiers while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 369 successful candidatesReserved categories see strong representationAmong reserved category candidates 81111 OBC candidates 29947 SC candidates and 12452 ST candidates qualified within the prescribed percentile rangeThe NTA said the figures reflect the growing competitiveness of the examination while maintaining representation across categories and regionsWith counselling for MBBS BDS AYUSH and allied medical courses expected to begin soon the focus now shifts to seat allocation and admission processes across the country