NEET Counselling 2026: Schedule (OUT), Seat Allotment, Reporting, Special Stray Vacancy Round

NEET UG Counselling 2026: The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has released the counselling schedule for All India Quota & State counselling for NEET UG 2026. For the All India Quota, the first round of counselling will be held from August 4 to 17. The last date for joining will be August 22. The counselling process will be conducted in three rounds, excluding stray vacancy round.

The second round of counselling will take place from August 24 to September 2, followed by the third round from September 10 to September 18. There are two types of NEET UG merit lists for students. While the first one is a 15% AIQ merit list, the second is for state-wise medical counselling. NEET UG counselling consists of four primary rounds, including Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, and the Stray Vacancy Round.

The first two rounds of the counselling process are for 15% All India Quota (AIQ) and deemed & central universities, AIIMS, JIPMER, ESIC, and AFMC. Round 3, also known as the NEET UG Mop-Up Round, is conducted for the remaining 85% of state quota seats. The final round of the counselling process is the NEET UG 2026 stray vacancy round, which is for students who have not been selected in Round 1, Round 2, or the Mop-Up Round.

If the seats are still left vacant after the mop-up round, then these are given for the stray vacancy round to the respective institutes or colleges. Once all four rounds of the NEET UG counselling process are completed, additional rounds of counselling will be conducted to fill the remaining seats.

NEET Counselling 2026 Schedule

The Medical Counselling Committee has released the complete schedule for NEET UG counselling rounds. Candidates can check the counselling schedule for NEET UG Counselling 2026 below. 

Candidates must note that only those who have qualified for NEET UG 2026 (results declared on July 16) are eligible.

NEET UG Counselling 2026 Registration Window

MCC will start the online registration for UG Medical Counselling 2026 on August 4. Check below for the direct link to the registration window, once released. 

NEET Counselling Seat Allotment 2026 PDF 

MCC will release the seat allotment results for each round of NEET counselling at mcc.nic.in. Meanwhile, candidates can check and download the seat allotment PDF of the previous year from the PDF links given below.

NEET Counselling 2026 Information Bulletin PDF

The Medical Counselling Committee released the latest information bulletin for the NEET UG counselling process on its official website. The information bulletin carries all the information regarding all four counselling rounds for NEET UG, participating universities, eligibility criteria, and reservation policy. The link to download the information bulletin is given below.

NEET Counselling Information Bulletin PDF - Click Here

NEET Counselling Dates 2026

For NEET UG counselling, there will be four rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, and the Stray Vacancy Round. Except for the institute reporting process, which must be completed in person at the institutes, NEET UG counselling will be done entirely online. Further, candidates can take a look at the round-wise NEET UG counselling Dates 2026 below:

NEET UG Counselling 2026 Round 1 

Check below the NEET UG Round 1 Counselling Schedule, registration dates, choice filling, choice locking, result and verification dates.

NEET UG Counselling 2026 Round 2

NEET UG Counselling Round 2 will now begin on August 29, 2026. The complete schedule has been announced at mcc.nic.in. Given below is the NEET UG Round 2 Counselling schedule by the MCC.

NEET UG Counselling 2026 Round 3 

Check below the schedule for NEET UG Counselling Round 3.

NEET Counselling 2026 Stray Vacancy Round

Check below the registration, choice filling, choice locking, result, and document verification dates for NEET UG counselling Stray Round. 

NEET UG 2026 State Counselling Dates

NEET state-wise counselling schedule is released at the official website of MCC. The state-wise NEET UG counselling is done for 85% of seats, which the respective state governments conduct. Below are the key dates and details for the counselling rounds.

Candidates must register online on their state’s official counselling portal. The schedule may vary slightly by state; candidates should check their respective state counselling authority websites for specific notifications and updates.

NEET Counselling 2026 State-Wise Details

While MCC conducts NEET UG AIQ counselling rounds, the state counselling is done separately for each state at their respective websites. Candidates can check state-wise websites and details about the conducting body for NEET UG State Counselling below:

NEET UG Seat Matrix 2026

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released the final seat matrix for the First Round of MBBS seats for medical colleges across the country. The table below provides the Seat Matrix PDFs of different rounds as released by the commission.

NEET UG Counselling 2026: Reservation Policy for All India Quota seats

As per the NEET UG counselling PDF, candidates can take a look at the reservation policy of the Central Government for NEET UG Counselling in AIQ seats as follows:

NEET Counselling 2026: Domicile-free AIQ Open Seats

Candidates can take a look at the following different types of NEET UG domicile-free open seats below: 

1. 15% All India Quota seats MBBS/ BDS Seats of States,
2. 100% MBBS/ BDS Seats of BHU OPEN
3. AIIMS Open seats- 100% MBBS Seats of AIIMS across India
4. JIPMER Open (Puducherry/ Karaikal)
5. AMU Open
6. 15% All India Quota seats of DU/I.P. University (VMMC/ ABVIMS/ESIC Dental)
7. Jamia Open seats- Faculty of Dentistry (Jamia Milia Islamia)
8. 15% All India Quota Seats of ESIC 

NEET Counselling 2026: Complete process

MCC conducts NEET UG counselling process online at its official website - mcc.nic.in. Candidates applying for counselling may check the information bulletin for the detailed process. Check the representative flowchart explaining the NEET UG counselling process for all rounds below: 

NEET UG Counselling 2026: How to Register?

Another important aspect of MCC NEET UG counselling is the registration process. Here are the steps through which candidates can register for the NEET UG counselling. 

Step 1: Candidates need to go to the official website of NTA 

Step 2: On the homepage, candidates will find the link that reads the 'New Registration Round' tab 

Step 3: Now, the candidate needs to select the 'New candidate registration' tab 

Step 4: Now, the candidate needs to read the given instruction and click on the 'I agree' check box 

Step 5: Candidates have to enter mandatory details such as NEET UG roll number, NEET UG application number, mother’s name, date of birth, and security pin

Step 6: Click on 'submit' 

Step 7: Once clicked on submit,  credentials will be generated and sent to the registered email address

Step 8: Candidates have to complete the registration form by entering personal, educational, NEET 2023 results and other details and uploading a scanned photograph and signature

Step 9: Pay the registration fee and take a printout of the registration confirmation page

NEET UG Counselling 2026 Eligibility Criteria

To participate in the NEET counselling process, candidates are required to fulfil the following eligibility criteria: 

• The candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)
• Candidates must have registered themselves on the official website of MCC 
• All applicants may take part in the counselling for AIQ seats and designated universities, including those who are from the UT of J&K.

NEET UG Counselling 2026: Documents Required

Candidates who will report to the institutes which have been assigned to them for confirmation of the seat must carry the following documents with them:

• NEET UG admit card 2026
• NEET UG result 2026 or rank letter
• Class 10 mark sheet and certificate
• Class 12 mark sheet and certificate
• Valid, non-expired and government-issued photo ID proof
• Six to eight passport-sized photographs (preferably the same as the one submitted with the NEET application form)
• Caste Certificate (if applicable)
• Disability Certificate (if applicable)
• Provisional allotment letter

NOTE: Candidates are required to carry both original and photocopies of the above-mentioned documents.

The first round's empty seats will be carried over to the second round. The seats that remain open after the second round of NEET counselling will be moved to the respective state quota. Through a mop-up round of NEET counselling, the vacant seats in the AIQ quota of Deemed Universities, Central Universities, and ESIC colleges would be filled. The institutional round or stray round of NEET Counselling will fill any open seats.

NEET UG Counselling Registration Fee 2026

The table below contains information about the registration cost for NEET UG counselling.

NEET UG 2026 Counselling Stages

The counselling process for the NEET UG exam consists of various stages. Here are the important stages included in the NEET UG counselling process:

Choice Filling 

Once the registration process is completed, candidates need to fill in the choices by logging into the registered account on the MCC portal

• Candidates need to select the course/college in the desired order of preference 
• Candidates are allowed to fill in any number of choices from the list provided
• Candidates also have the option of adding/deleting a choice 
• Further, candidates  can also move up/ move down a choice as per their preference
• Once done with choice filling, candidates must save a copy of the choices filled for future reference 

Seat Allotment 

Based on the AIR obtained by the candidate in NEET 2026 and the choices filled in the registration form, a seat allocation list will be prepared.

The seat allocation results will be uploaded to the MCC's official website. 

Reporting to the college allotted 

Candidates who receive seats in NEET UG counselling must show up at the designated institutes for document verification and seat confirmation. A candidate's candidature will be revoked if they accept the seat that has been offered to them but fail to report to the offered institute by the deadline.

NEET UG AYUSH Counselling 2026

Apart from counselling in MBBS, MSC, and MDS programs, NEET UG qualified candidates can also apply for AYUSH counselling. The AYUSH counselling is conducted by the Ayush Admissions Central Counselling Committee (AACCC). The Ayush counselling is for the following programs: 

• BAMS- Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery
• BUMS-Bachelor of Unani Medicine & Surgery
• BSMS-Bachelor of Siddha Medicine & Surgery
• BHMS-Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine & Surgery

Eligibility criteria for NEET UG AYUSH Counselling

The following candidates are eligible for AYUSH counselling:

• NEET qualified candidates who have not registered in the 1st Round
• Candidates registered for the 1st Round and were not allotted a seat
• Candidates who have opted for free exit in the 1st Round
• Candidates joined the allotted seat in the 1st Round and submitted willingness for upgradation in the 2nd Round