New Delhi: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 is set to be conducted on Sunday across India, with over 22.7 lakh candidates expected to take the exam. The crucial medical entrance test will be held at 5,453 centres spread across more than 500 cities nationwide.
In light of past controversies — such as paper leak allegations and irregularities during NEET-UG 2024—the National Testing Agency (NTA) has significantly strengthened its security protocols and monitoring systems this year.
Sources from the Union Ministry of Education said a three-level surveillance setup will be deployed at the district, state, and examination centre levels. Most exam venues are located in government-run or government-aided educational institutions.
To ensure fairness and transparency, the NTA has issued comprehensive guidelines alongside admit cards and city intimation slips. Candidates must strictly follow the rules laid out by the agency.
Any form of malpractice—including cheating, impersonation, or use of unfair means—will lead to severe consequences, including result cancellation and a three-year ban from all future NTA exams. The agency has also warned candidates against falling for fraudulent claims or unofficial sources that promise to influence results or admissions.
“Students must rely only on information published on the official NTA website,” the advisory stressed. The heightened security measures are part of efforts to rebuild public trust after the NEET-UG 2024 scandal, which faced intense criticism and legal scrutiny over suspected score inflation and grace marks.
To ensure student comfort amid the summer heat, the exam will be conducted in the afternoon. Authorities have been instructed to ensure all exam centres are equipped with essential amenities like drinking water, electricity, portable toilets (if required), and emergency medical facilities including first aid and ambulances.
NEET-UG 2024 exam scam
The NEET-UG 2024 exam faced major problems after reports of a paper leak came out, especially from centres in Bihar. Police found that some students got the question paper before the exam. Several people, including students and middlemen, were arrested.
Another big issue was with grace marks. Around 1,500 students were given extra marks because they lost time at their exam centres. Some of them ended up getting full marks (720/720), which made other students angry and raised questions.
People also noticed strange score patterns. A record 67 students scored full marks, and many of them were from the same exam centre in Haryana, which looked suspicious.
Because of these issues, students and parents protested across the country. They asked for a re-exam and fair treatment. The matter went to court, and the Supreme Court asked for the grace marks to be cancelled and a fresh exam to be held for those 1,500 students.
The Education Ministry ordered an investigation, and later, the case was given to the CBI to look into the leak and cheating. All of this led to delays in admissions and hurt the trust people had in the NEET exam system.
