Bhubaneswar: The NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination was conducted smoothly across 132 centres in Odisha on Sunday amid heightened security and strict monitoring, eliciting mixed reactions from candidates, vis-a-vis the paper. Many described the physics paper as lengthy, chemistry moderately tough, while biology on a par with the original NEET held in May in terms of difficulty level.Though minor issues were reported from a few centres, officials of the higher education department, which coordinated the examination in the state, said they were resolved promptly without affecting the conduct of the test. At an examination centre, a candidate appeared with the admit card issued for the original NEET (UG). The candidate was allotted the same examination centre for the retest but had been assigned a new roll number. Since the candidate originally assigned that roll number for the re-examination was absent, the discrepancy initially went unnoticed. Following the verification, authorities established that the student had mistakenly brought his old admit card.Higher education department commissioner-cum-secretary Aravind Agrawal said the candidate was not debarred since he had already begun writing the examination, and his identity was subsequently verified. “It was found to be a genuine mistake. All relevant details have been documented and will be forwarded to the National Testing Agency,” Agrawal said.Close to 57,000 candidates appeared for the examination. The question paper comprised 45 questions each in physics and chemistry, and 90 in biology, carrying a total of 720 marks. Candidates had to complete the examination, which began at 2 pm, within 3 hours and 15 minutes.Students said the overall difficulty level of the paper was manageable, but completing the physics section within the stipulated time proved challenging. Several candidates reported that the questions were not necessarily difficult but required extensive calculations and careful reading, leaving them pressed for time. Many feared that the physics and chemistry sections could influence scores.Subhasmita Sahoo, a Bhubaneswar-based student who topped Class XII in her school this year, said the physics paper contained fewer theory-based questions, and more calculations and graph-based problems. “To read such lengthy questions, interpret them and then answer them was quite time-consuming. Chemistry was moderate in difficulty. A few questions were tricky, but chapter-wise weightage followed the usual NEET trends. Biology was easy to moderate. Some questions were based on calculations from plant physiology and cell division, which were not there in the previous NEET paper,” she said.Jitesh Sahoo, a student from Cuttack, said biology was almost on the same lines as the previous NEET examination. “Most of the questions were familiar and well within the syllabus,” he said.Candidates who had also appeared for the original NEET (UG) in May felt that the retest was fair. However, not all candidates were satisfied with their performance. Several first-time aspirants felt that they could have done better and indicated that they might take another shot at the highly competitive medical entrance examination next year.“The paper was okay, but I think I need more preparation. I will most likely appear for NEET again next year,” said Tanushree Mohanty from Cuttack.As students wrote the examination, parents waiting outside centres expressed concern over the prolonged mental stress their children had endured following the cancellation of the earlier test amid allegations of a paper leak. Nevertheless, many were relieved that the examination concluded smoothly.
