609 Marks, Then 540, Then 167: Medical Aspirant Alleges Discrepancy in NEET Result

A medical aspirant from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has raised serious allegations of a technical error and marking discrepancy against the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the declaration of the NEET UG re-exam results.

Arya Singh, a second-time NEET candidate, claims that her official score changed twice within a few hours on the NTA portal, dropping from an expected score of 609 down to 167 marks.

The Sequence of Events: How the Score Allegedly Dropped?

According to Arya Singh and her family, the confusion started when the NTA uploaded the scanned OMR answer sheets to its official portal.

• Initial Match (609 Marks): When Arya downloaded her OMR sheet, she noticed a sequence error in the question ordering compared to the question paper she had attempted. After cross-checking her responses with the official answer key, she calculated her score to be 609 out of 720. She immediately raised an objection through the NTA’s online challenge portal.

• First Result Declaration (540 Marks): On the night the results were declared, Arya logged into the official portal around midnight. To her surprise, her scorecard displayed 540 marks instead of her calculated 609.

• Final Score Drop (167 Marks): Shocked by the difference, her family kept refreshing the portal. Within two hours—around 2:00 AM—the score changed again, plummeting to 167 marks.

Her official scorecard currently reflects 167 marks, placing her at an All India Rank (AIR) of 1,252,036 and a Category Rank of 367,585.

Key Data Summary of the Alleged Incident

National Testing Agency (NTA) Denies Allegations

Following viral social media posts and media attention surrounding the issue, the National Testing Agency issued an official clarification.

The NTA firmly rejected claims of any evaluation error or portal glitch. According to the agency:

1. Original Record Intact: The candidate’s genuine OMR sheet is safe in secure servers and was sent directly to her registered email address during the challenge window.

2. Digital Manipulation: The NTA alleged that the OMR sheet shared online by the candidate was digitally edited. The agency highlighted that the timestamp of the invigilator’s signature had been altered from 3:45 PM to 2:45 PM.

3. Legal Warning: The NTA stated that her verified score remains 167 marks. It also warned that creating or circulating forged examination documents is a illegal offense under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

Arya’s family—led by her father, a retired soldier—has submitted formal complaints containing screenshots and documentary proof to the Ministry of Education and senior testing officials, requesting a fair review of the raw data.

NEET UG 2026 Toppers Names

While evaluation disputes continue to make news, the National Testing Agency also declared the national merit list. Unlike previous years where candidates scored full marks, the top score in NEET UG 2026 reached 715 out of 720.

Top Rank Holders:

• AIR 1 (Joint Topper): Aryan Gupta (Punjab) – 715 / 720 (99.9999 Percentile)

• AIR 2 (Joint Topper): Panshul Bansal (Haryana) – 715 / 720 (99.9999 Percentile)

• AIR 3: Uplakshya Goyal (Rajasthan)

• AIR 4: Ayush Bhalotia (Bihar)

• AIR 5 (Female Topper): Kudale Shravani Krishna (Maharashtra)

Over 20 lakh students took the examination, out of which 11.21 lakh candidates qualified for undergraduate medical, dental, and allied courses across India.

Written by Simran

Simran is currently working as a Senior Content Writer at Findmycollege , where she creates engaging and research-driven learning resources for students. She has completed her Graduation in Journalism from Delhi University. With 4 years of experience in the EdTech industry, she has previously contributed to leading platforms like Leverage Edu and Aakash. Her expertise lies in simplifying Engineering and Medical entrance exam content to guide aspirants in their preparation journey. Beyond writing, Simran enjoys sketching, watching movies, and finding creative inspiration in everyday life.

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