NEET-UG re-exam: NTA says records show Abu Dhabi centre was ‘chosen’ by Nagpur candidate; city change issue now resolved

After a NEET-UG aspirant from Nagpur was allotted a centre in Abu Dhabi for the re-examination on Sunday (June 21, 2026), the National Testing Agency (NTA) has said that its “web-activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window”.

“Despite that NTA has accorded to aspirant’s request and the change of centre was actioned,” it said in a post on X on Saturday evening (June 20, 2026)

This statement came following the complaint over the “allotment error” concerning the Nagpur student, Abdullah. The boy’s family said he had chosen a local centre in Maharashtra, and that they were unable to arrange for passport or visa formalities on short notice.

Earlier, the NTA acknowledged the lapse on its part, stating that it was a technical glitch. They assured that a revised admit card would be issued with Nagpur as the centre of choice for the aggrieved student.

In the latest statement in a post on X, the NTA said it processed an informal request by Abdullah on June 19, “despite the Abu Dhabi centre being chosen by the candidate”.

“The NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19 (just 48 hours before the exam) to change the centre to Nagpur. NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate’s father on 19th evening itself to help them complete the formal process,” the post read.

Elaborating on its records, citing “consistent single-user access pattern”, the agency further said: “NTA has observed that on 3 occasions, one - the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate’s credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi. Despite that NTA has accorded to aspirant’s request and the change of centre was actioned.”

Meanwhile, NTA’s Director-General Abhishek Singh on Saturday (June 20, 2026) clarified that the issue regarding a Nagpur-based student has been resolved. Speaking to ANI, Mr. Singh said that the discrepancy has been rectified and the student has been assigned a centre in their home city.

Further, the NTA said around 3.2 lakh candidates used the correction window after the re-examination date was announced. The agency has since allotted the preferred examination city to over 99.5% of the students appearing for the re-test.

Reiterating its “student-first” Approach, the NTA said its “priority is that no candidate misses the examination over an administrative doubt”.

A nationwide mock drill was under way across the country on Saturday (June 20, 2026) ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination as part of the efforts to ensure smooth, secure and transparent conduct of the medical entrance test.