NEET Answer Key 2026 - everything you need to know

The NEET Answer Key 2026 is the most important document that will be published by the National Testing Agency during the weeks after the NEET UG 2026 examination. Every aspirant who sat NEET on May 3, 2026, in over 5,000 examination centres in 500+ cities across India and 14 international centres is the first step to knowing their score, estimating their rank, and starting their counselling plan with NEET 2026 Answer Key. This complete guide includes all the information you need: the anticipated date of release, where to download the official answer key at neet.nta.nic.in, how to compute your score, how to challenge the inaccurate answers, and how to utilize PrepMed resources at prepmed.in/downloads to receive the most dependable and accurate analysis of the answer key, subject-by-subject answers, and score estimation tools that any NEET aspirant

What Is the NEET Answer Key 2026 and Why Does Every Aspirant Need It?

An official publication issued by NTA, the NEET Answer Key 2026, contains the correct answer, which is Options 1, 2, 3, or 4, to all questions in all question paper codes employed in the NEET UG examination. In NEET 2025, NTA released the answer key for paper codes 45, 46, 47, and 48. NEET 2026 is likely to be in a similar code-based format, and the individual codes will be verified after the test (NTA, 2025).

The answer key plays four significant roles for every student taking the NEET. First, it allows calculating self-scores prior to official scores announced - providing students with weeks of prior knowledge of what their probable position and college suitability would be. Second, it offers a way of questioning the possibly wrong official responses and makes sure that the marking of NTA is exposed to the scrutiny of experts before it is completed. Third, it forms the final foundation on which the result computation is performed - the official NEET 2026 result of NTA is computed using the final answer key and not an intermediate result. Fourth, it allows the examination to be analyzed after performance is completed - students and faculty can see what questions they got right and wrong, which can be used to inform the revision strategy with those students who might be studying to retake the test.

NEET 2026 Exam at a Glance

NEET UG 2026 was conducted on May 3, 2026 (Sunday), from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The test was made of 180 questions, consisting of Physics (45), Chemistry (45) and Biology (90, Botany 45, Zoology 45). Total marks: 720. It is considered one of the largest one-day medical entrance examinations in the world, with more than 26 lakh candidates registered (NTA, 2026).

NEET 2026 Answer Key by NTA: Understanding the Two-Stage Release Process

NTA adheres to the strict, two-stage release of the NEET exam 2026 answer key. This process is vital for all students to understand since the provisional key and the final key have distinct purposes and varying degrees of authority in the result calculation process.

Stage 1: The Tentative Key Answer

The initial official release of the answer key is the first draft answer key that was released by NTA to allow the review of the candidates. With the release of the provisional NEET exam 2026 answer key, students will then be able to log in to neet.nta.nic.In, download their own OMR response sheet, and match their scored answers with the provisional key to determine an estimated score. More importantly, this window allows students to formally object to any answer that they think is incorrect as well, which is explained in greater detail later in this article.

Stage 2: The Final Answer Key

Once the challenge window has been closed, the expert committee of NTA reviews all the objections raised by the candidates. On every question, in which a challenge is detected to be sound, the official answer is revised, or the question is dropped altogether, and all candidates are given full marks on a dropped question. The final answer key, with all accepted corrections, is then published and remains the ultimate guide to calculating results. The last key is undisputable. After publication, it is only used by NTA to calculate the NEET 2026 score and rank of all candidates.

Important: Bonus Rule

In NEET 2025, NTA admitted two correct answers to two questions in the final answer key and gave full marks to those candidates who had chosen any of the correct answers. This rule of bonus is used when the expert committee of NTA judges that a question has more than a single correct answer that is defensible. This outcome may be caused by students who present their provisional key with robust scientific arguments (NTA, 2025).

NEET Official Answer Key 2026 Release Date: What to Expect and When

At the time of writing this article, NTA has not officially announced the NEET official answer key 2026 date. Nevertheless, the past four consecutive NEET examinations show the historical patterns of NTA, which are very reliable and could be used as a basis for estimating the expected timeline. This data suggests that the NEET answer key 2026 release date of the provisional key will be in the approximate date of June 3, 2026, which is 31 days after the May 3, 2026, examination date. The official results and the final answer key are anticipated around June 14, 2026, after a period of 3 -5 days of challenge after the provisional publication.

The table below is the history of the trend of NEET answer key and result timelines, which is based on the official record of NTA:

NEET 2025

Exam: May 4, 2025

Provisional: June 3, 2025

Final: June 14, 2025

NEET 2024

Exam: May 5, 2024

Provisional: May 29, 2024

Final: June 4, 2024

NEET 2023

Exam: May 7, 2023

Provisional: June 4, 2023

Final: June 15, 2023

NEET 2026

Exam: May 3, 2026

Expected Prov: ~June 3, 2026

Expected Final: ~June 14, 2026

The definite dates are announced on the official NTA NEET portal — neet.nta.nic.in, and should be monitored by students.

neet.nta.nic.in 2026 Answer Key: Step-by-Step Download Guide

The following is the entire step-by-step procedure:

• Go to the Official Portal: Open a web browser and go to neet.nta.nic.in. It is the official NTA site of the NEET UG examination. Any 3rd party links that purport to contain the official answer key can be wrong or malicious.
• Find the Answer Key Link: On the homepage, find the notification or link called NEET UG 2026 Provisional Answer Key. This connection will be strongly featured on the NTA NEET homepage when the key is announced. It can also be found on the latest updates or the " What's New " section of the portal.
• Log In with Your Credentials: Click the answer key link and fill in your NEET 2026 Application Number and either your Password or Date of Birth, together with the security captcha shown. These credentials are the same for the NEET 2026 application and downloading the admit card.
• Enter Your Paper Code: Once you have logged in, you will be asked to choose your question paper code (Code 45, 46, 47, or 48 - or the corresponding codes used in NEET 2026). Printed on your NEET 2026 question booklet and admit card is your paper code.
• Get the Answer Key PDF: You will see the answer key PDF of the code you have chosen on the screen. Save and download the file. NTA advises that a printed copy should be taken and used as a reference in the challenge window.
• Download Your OMR Response Sheet: On the same site, find and download your own OMR response sheet - the digital copy of all the answers you ticked in the test. This document will be needed to cross-reference with the answer key and submit any challenges.

NEET 2026 Answer Key PDF: What It Contains and How to Read It

The PDF of NEET 2026 exam answer key is a systematic document that has the correct answers to all questions in a given paper code. It is important to know how to read it in order to be able to calculate the score correctly. The NTA answer key PDFs include the following: the code of the paper and the date of examination in the top part of the answer key; a consecutive list of the question numbers (1 to 180); the official correct option number (1, 2, 3 or 4) of a question; and any special notations of a question with multiple correct answers accepted or a dropped question.

The PDF of NEET 2026 exam answer key is published set-wise, i.e. each question paper code in which the examination is conducted is published in a different PDF. The students should make sure that the answer key PDF they are using is the one that relates to their question booklet code, because the questions are set in a different order across the booklet codes. One of the most frequent - and, most importantly, most serious - errors students make when calculating their NEET score on their own is the usage of the answer key of the wrong code.

The answer key materials of PrepMed at prepmed.in/downloads are in the form of clearly labelled, code-specific PDFs and subject-by-subject solution booklets, which give detailed descriptions of each answer, which NTA has not done so in its official answer key. These solution PDFs, of the subject matter, are priceless to a student who wants to know why a certain answer is correct rather than what answer has a mark.

NEET UG 2026 Answer Key: How to Calculate Your Score Accurately

The 2026 NEET UG answer key will allow students to determine their approximate mark on the official NTA marking scheme. This is a simple calculation, however, that should be done with accuracy - a single question that is counted wrongly will change a calculated score by 4-5 marks, which can change a predicted rank by thousands of places.

NEET 2026 Marking Scheme

Total Score = (Correct Answers x 4) - (Incorrect Answers X 1).

Maximum Score: 720 | +4 for each correct answer | −1 for each incorrect answer | 0 for unattempted questions

This is a process to apply this formula using the 2026 NEET UG answer key accurately. To begin with, you need to download your OMR response sheet as well as the answer key PDF of your paper code on neet.nta.nic.in. Second, answer all questions in the given sequence -1 up to 180- and either indicate the response as Correct, Incorrect or Unattempted by comparing your OMR response to the official key. Third, add up the number of correct answers and multiply by 4. Fourth, sum all the incorrect responses and multiply by 1. Fifth, you have to subtract the wrong score from the correct score to obtain your total estimated NEET 2026 score.

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Get code-wise answer key PDFs, solution booklets by subjects with detailed explanations - within hours after the examination is over, they are available at PrepMed—no login required.

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NEET 2026 Answer Key by NTA PDF Download: Direct Access via PrepMed

The answer key in the form of a PDF file that is provided by the NTA can be downloaded in two ways: via the official NTA portal at neet.nta.nic.in (login required, and may be congested on the server), and via the answer key resource hub at PrepMed at prepmed.in/downloads (no login is required, and it is made available within hours of the end of the examination). The platform of PrepMed replicates the official NTA PDF. It compares it to the solutions verified by experts at PrepMed to provide students with further confidence in the accuracy before the official provisional key is even published.

The answer key resource hub provided by PrepMed gives you the following to all NEET 2026 paper codes: direct downloads of all sets in PDF format; solution PDFs by subject with explanations from NCERT references; a score calculator to automatically compute your NEET score when you enter your responses; and a direct link to the rank predictor at predictor.prepmed.in to estimate your rank instantly when you know your score.

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PrepMed releases answer key PDFs, which have been verified by experts of all NEET 2026 codes within hours of the paper completion - No login, no wait, absolutely free. There are also subject-wise solutions, which have NCERT references and a digital score calculator.

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NEET 2026 Answer Key with Solutions: Why Detailed Explanations Matter

The official provisional key provided by the NTA only indicates the correct choice in each question, without an explanation, a reference or a rationale. Getting the answer key of NEET 2026 with solutions - as they are offered by PrepMed - introduces an important dimension of learning that the naked official key cannot provide.

An elaborate answer key of NEET 2026 with solutions not only informs students of the correct answer, but also why this answer is correct - what concept of NCERT is being tested, what chapter and on what page it is tested, what is the logic behind the correct answer and the three incorrect answers. This level of comprehension is especially useful in three cases. First, to students who are interested in disputing an answer, they should be able to see the logic behind the official response and their preferred response so as to develop a reasonable, evidence-based objection. Second, for students who are preparing to re-attempt the exam, it is so much better to study at a conceptual level all the questions that you got wrong than to know the correct answer merely. Third, to all students, the distribution of the paper difficulty, patterns of questions by subject, and coverage of the topic provide the vital data to plan and prepare the counselling.

NEET Provisional Answer Key 2026: Everything Students Need to Know

The provisional answer key of NEET 2026 is the first official answer key released by NTA, a draft version of the answer key which is released to candidates to review and object to before the official publication of the result-determining version. Every NEET 2026 aspirant must understand the role of the provisional key, restrictions, and what it expects the students to do.

In the case of the provisional answer key NEET 2026, it is provided simultaneously with the individual response sheet of each candidate in their respective login portals, and NTA also sends the scanned OMR image to the registered email addresses of the candidates (NTA, 2025). The two-way delivery system will see to it that all students can access their recorded answers instantly without depending on the portal alone.

Historically, the NEET 2026 provisional answer key usually has 1-2 questions per year with errors. Under NEET 2025, two question challenges were invited by the expert committee of NTA, with all candidates getting full marks on those questions in the final key (NTA, 2025). Although these corrections will only change a few questions, they can have a big impact on the ranks of students whose scores are close to critical cutoff points.

Bonus Rule: Dropped Questions.

Should the expert committee at NTA find that a question that has been challenged has over one valid answer, or that the question is itself flawed, the question can be dropped altogether - that is, every candidate attempting the question gets a full mark ( +4 ) whether they answered the question correctly or not. Two questions were given this treatment in NEET 2025. Students close to the critical scores should keep an eye on the challenge process because even one dropped question can change the ranks of thousands of students (NTA, 2025).

Last Date to Challenge NEET Answer Key 2026: Acting Within the Window

The deadline to appeal the NEET answer key for the 2026 exam will likely be 2-3 days following the release of the provisional key, as per the regular NTA trends. In NEET 2025, the tentative key was announced on June 3, 2025, and the challenge period ended at 11:50 PM on June 5, 2025 - 48 hours precisely (NTA, 2025). Students should be ready to detect, investigate, and document the challenges within this tight time period.

The process of challenge involves payment of a non-refundable fee of Rs. 200 per question tested by the online payment gateway of NTA. The challenges made should be supported by documentary evidence - usually the corresponding passage of the NCERT textbook or the recognised academic source - to stand any chance of being accepted by the expert committee of NTA.

• Challenge Accepted: In case your objection is approved by the committee of NTA, the answer key is amended or the question is eliminated. All candidates are awarded full marks on any dropped question. The Rs. 200 fee is not refunded.
• Challenge Rejected: In case the committee of NTA rejects your objection, the official answer is the same. The Rs. 200 fee is forfeited. There is no separate communication on acceptance or rejection.
• OMR Challenges: Students are also allowed to object to their OMR response sheet, besides the answer key challenges, in case they feel that their responses were recorded inaccurately. There is a fee of 200 per question.
• Limitless Challenges: The student does not have a limit on the number of questions to challenge, just like the number of challenges a student has to pay their own Rs. 200 fee payment.

NEET Final Answer Key 2026: The Definitive Document for Result Computation

The final answer key of NEET 2026 is the final form of the answer key, which NTA publishes after considering all the challenges submitted during the provisional key objection period. The official answer key is a compilation of all corrections approved by the expert committee of NTA, removes all questions that are determined to be invalid or have more than one correct response, and is the sole source of determining the official NEET 2026 score, percentile, All-India Rank, and qualifying status of every candidate.

The NEET final answer key is usually released in conjunction with the official NEET results - that is, candidates can download the final answer key at the same time as their scorecard. In contrast with the provisional key, the final key will be available immediately without requiring a login check, and can be downloaded at will by all applicants and the general population via neet.nta.nic.in. 

NEET 2026 Final Answer Key Release Date: When to Expect Official Results

It is estimated that the date of the final answer key NEET 2026 will be around June 14, 2026, following the same trend of the NTA publishing the final answer key at the same time the NEET final result is announced. The date is a reflection of the June 14, 2025, final key release, which was released precisely 11 days following the June 3, 2025, provisional key, which gave the NTA expert committee enough time to study the number of challenges it had received among 22+ lakh applicants (NTA, 2025).

After NEET 2026 Final Answer Key and its release date the NEET 2026 counselling process will start in July 2026, with the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) initiating All-India Quota counselling of the 15% AIQ MBBS seats, and the state counselling authorities initiating their respective state quota processes of the 85% state quota seats. Students aware of the score and position (starting with the provisional key calculation) will be weeks ahead in counselling preparations before the formal announcement of results.

After the NEET Answer Key 2026: Your 5 Immediate Next Steps

This NEET 2026 Answer Key will be the starting point of a very important 6-week period, which will directly influence your level of counselling outcome. The five most important things to do when the key is at hand are as follows:

• Get Your Score Instantly: Get the PrepMed answer key and solutions prepared by experts in just a few hours after the exam at prepmed.in/downloads. Check against the official provisional key of NTA when available. Consider both estimates until the last key is released.
• Predict Your Rank on Day 1: Visit predictor.prepmed.in and fill in your estimated score to get an instant All-India Rank forecast, state rank forecast, percentile and a personalised list of eligible medical colleges all using 7 years of official NTA and MCC data.
• Check against Challengeable Errors: Check your OMR response sheet against the provisional key. In case you know that there is an incorrect official answer and you have some clear evidence based on the NCERT, submit your challenge within 48 hours. The possible advantage - dropped questions that give full marks to all candidates - will be of great use at the end of the score.
• Start College Research ASAP: Since you have a predicted rank, it is time to start mapping college options with the official data of open and closing MCC.nic.in rankings. Create a state-specific, tiered, category-adjusted list of accessible institutions with the PrepMed college predictor.
• Watch NTA announcements: Have neet.nta.nic.in and the downloads page of PrepMed open in your browser. Track all developments: proven tentative key release, challenge deadline, final key publication, and official announcement of results. The sooner you do it, the better your counselling preparation benefit will be.

Answer Key of NEET 2026, Solution and Score Calculator -All Free at PrepMed

PrepMed publishes the answer key of NEET 2026 for all the codes within hours of the exam. Download subject-wise solutions, score calculator, and predict your rank all in one place at prepmed.in/downloads.

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