Just over two months after watching his medical dreams seemingly collapse with the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination amid a paper leak controversy, Aryan Gupta on Thursday scripted a comeback by securing the joint All India Rank (AIR)-1 in the country’s biggest medical entrance test. The 17-year-old from Ludhiana, who says he “cried a lot” when the May 12 exam was scrapped, scored 715 out of 720 marks in the re-test. Aryan shares the top rank with Haryana’s Panshul Bansal.
In the results declared by the National Testing Agency (NTA), 11.21 lakh candidates qualified the entrance exam. Aryan and Panshul’s score of 715 is 29 more than 686 secured by the 2025 topper, when an unusually tough paper ensured that not a single candidate crossed 700. This year, 19 candidates scored 700, 138 obtained 690 marks, 1,492 candidates scored 650 or above, and 10,160 scored 600 or more, as per the NTA. More than 58 per cent of the qualifying candidates are women.
This year the NEET was embroiled in a major controversy. Following widespread allegations of paper leak and irregularities, the exam conducted on May 3 was cancelled by the NTA on May 12. The CBI is investigating the matter.
The exam was re-conducted on June 21 and over 22 lakh candidates appeared.
When the exam was cancelled, Aryan says he had “cried a lot”. But the very next day, he picked his books again to prepare for the re-test. “I decided I can’t give up so easily. However, it took a week to regain the momentum,” said Aryan, a resident of Ludhiana’s Dugri area.
“My elder brother Aditya, who is also pursuing MBBS, was my strength in those tough days. He said that the re-test was in fact an opportunity to prepare and perform better,” said Aryan, who did his schooling from Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana.
“Initially it felt tough to study for the re-test all over again but then I realized I wasn’t alone. There were 22 lakh others who were going through the same,” said Aryan, who is also a state-level table tennis player and had scored 98.4 per cent marks in medical stream in CBSE-12 class exams.
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Teachers and coaching institute played a crucial role in his preparations, “but what matters the most is how you use your time judiciously”. At the peak of my preparation, I even studied 16-17 hours a day but then I also took breaks. I used social media and watched Netflix to relax.”
His father Dr Sachin Gupta is an anesthetist, and mother Dr Reenu Gupta a gynecologist.
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Dr Sachin said: “There are rotten apples in every system. We still have full faith in the NTA. The NEET continues to be the most competitive, fair and objective exam”.
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For most NEET aspirants, 701 marks would have been enough to celebrate — a score that would have comfortably secured one admission to one of the country’s premier medical colleges. But for Panshul, it became the starting point. “I was expecting a good college even with my first score,” says Panshul, a student of Somerville School in Delhi’s Kailash Colony. “Maybe VMMC or somewhere similar. But I wasn’t expecting this.”
The result, he says, was the outcome of sustained hard work.
Unlike the image often associated with India’s most competitive entrance examinations, endless study hours, isolation and burnout, Panshul’s preparation followed a surprisingly balanced routine.
His day began at 6.30 am. Instead of opening textbooks immediately, he allowed himself time to unwind before beginning focused study around 9 am. He studied until noon, took a long lunch break, resumed from afternoon and studied until early evening, then stepped out to play, and finally returned for about an hour of revision at night. “I didn’t compromise on spending time with family or friends,” he says.
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Nor did he give up his hobbies. When the pressure of preparation mounted, he turned to piano, skating, tubing, outdoor games and even video games.
His advice to future aspirants is practical. “Focus on question practice,” he says. “Solve as many questions as you can and keep giving mock tests. They show you exactly where your weaknesses are.”
For Panshul, consistency mattered more than intensity. “The biggest hurdle was making sure my scores didn’t fluctuate,” he says.
His ambition has always been to become a surgeon. Although he has not yet chosen a specialty, neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery currently interest him the most. As for where that journey begins, he doesn’t need time to think. “AIIMS,” he says.
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Meanwhile, among the State toppers, Jigmet Yangchan Lamo from Ladakh scored 530, Dhruv Tripathi from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 606, and Fahmida Anees from Lakshadweep 573 marks.
Of the State Toppers, 17 scored 700 marks or above, while 26 scored above 690 marks.
The top 17 rankers who scored more than 705 marks came from eight states — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
The NTA said the result was declared in time to keep the medical admission and counselling calendar on track.
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Scorecards for all candidates, along with the full list of Top Rankers, State Toppers, category-wise toppers, category-wise cut-off marks, and language-wise participation data, are available on the official website, neet.nta.nic.in.
More than 58 per cent of all qualified candidates are women.
The NTA noted that women also qualified at a higher rate than men — 56.8 per cent of women who appeared qualified, compared to 55.1 per cent of men who appeared.
As per the NTA, the category-wise break-up of qualified candidates is as follows: General category, 2.91 lakh; OBC-NCL, 5.12 lakh; SC, 1.59 lakh; ST, 63,716; Gen-EWS, 95,026; PwBD, 3,666; and PwD, 303. Category-wise cut-off marks and percentiles have also been published simultaneously.
NEET-UG was conducted in 13 languages.