‘More than academics, NEET UG aspirants want mental counselling and motivation’: Educators

‘A difficult restart’

While some students viewed the cancellation as necessary to protect fairness, many also described the decision as emotionally draining after years of preparation.

Sayantani Mandal (name changed), a Kolkata-based aspirant appearing for her third NEET attempt, said the announcement initially felt unbelievable because such a cancellation had never happened in NEET’s recent history.

She described spending nearly three years preparing in isolation, sacrificing family events, trips, and social interactions while remaining locked into a disciplined routine. “Three hours decide what you have done in the whole year,” she said, adding that repeated controversies were damaging students’ trust in the system.

Another aspirant, Priya Saha from Murshidabad, who had taken two gap years for NEET, said the cancellation brought “uncertainty” after years dedicated solely to NEET.

But this is not limited to students interviewed for this story, repeatedly referring to preparation fatigue, mental burnout, and anxiety over restarting revision cycles after believing the examination phase was already over. Several videos have emerged with recurrent themes being ‘getting into the mindset of studying as they had for the last few years,’ ‘worry of meeting their parents’ expectations’, ‘trying to return the cost of investment that parents have made in their learning’.

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A less-discussed anxiety is travel-related exhaustion. While some students had nearby centres, others reportedly travelled long distances and returned home only to learn later that the exam itself had been cancelled. A major issue among already sparsely-represented female candidates, is convincing their parents for another attempt at NEET UG — in situations where their male counterparts could typically form peer-groups and travel, for women candidates, the cost of a fresh attempt goes well beyond finances.

Students based in coaching hubs like Kota, Sikar, and Pune face an additional burden: returning to those centres means thousands of rupees in travel, food, and lodging.

Coaching institutes are already moving into ‘restart mode’

The NEET UG exam cancellation has also pushed coaching institutes into rapid-response mode as they attempt to help students sustain momentum for another month.

Aakash Educational Services launched a “Victory Batch” for re-NEET aspirants at Rs 99, free for existing students, covering revision tests and paper discussions. ALLEN Career Institute announced free support through daily tests and paper-solution sessions on its app.

Coaching educators say one of the biggest immediate challenges is helping students mentally restart preparation.

Pankaj Sijairiya, Chief Content Officer at PhysicsWallah, said several students are struggling with demotivation and uncertainty following the cancellation. Recalling the case of one aspirant, he said the student had already gone through the NEET 2024 controversy, missed the cut-off by a fraction of numbers, and viewed NEET UG 2026 as her final serious attempt. “Now this exam has also been cancelled over a leak allegation, and she is extremely disappointed and worried,” he said, adding that some candidates aren’t sure to re-appear for the exam.

He added that many students had already sold their books, returned from exam cities, and paused revision after the May 3 examination. “They are now clueless and asking how they should restart preparation. It has been more than 10 days since the May 3 exam, and many students have not revised anything during this period,” he said.

Institutes are now focusing less on full syllabus completion and more on revision strategy.

The bigger issue now is trust in the examination system

Beyond logistics and revised dates, the controversy has reignited questions about trust in India’s high-stakes entrance examinations.

Many aspirants feel the cancellation was necessary if the paper leak had indeed compromised the exam at scale. At the same time, aspirants repeatedly stressed that students were ultimately paying the emotional cost of failures within the system.

For many NEET candidates, the examination represents years of preparation, financial investment, and personal sacrifice. Unlike several other professional courses, MBBS admissions are heavily dependent on a single national entrance examination conducted on a single day. This makes concerns around paper leaks and malpractice particularly sensitive.