JEE Main to Merge with NEET? Discussion on Common Exam for Engg & Medical Admissions Underway
No official decision has been finalised to merge JEE and NEET. However, the Central Government and a parliamentary panel are actively reviewing a proposal to create a unified national entrance exam framework.
JEE Mains to Merge with NEET? Discussion on Common Exam for Engg & Medical Admissions Underway
Amid the continuing row over alleged irregularities in NTA-held national-level exams, the Centre is considering a proposal to introduce a single national-level engineering and medical entrance examination. The proposal is currently under discussion among a parliamentary panel set up to look into the exam concerns in light of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
The proposal has stemmed from recommendations submitted by the high-level committee headed by former ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan, which was constituted after the NEET-UG 2024 examination controversy.
What Does the Proposal State
Government officials briefed a parliamentary standing committee regarding the possibility of a "One Nation, One Exam" framework. The idea proposed is of a single test structure with dedicated sections, such as Mathematics for engineering aspirants and Biology for medical candidates. While Physics and Chemistry will remain common for both aspirants.
There are also recommendations to take NEET from a pen and paper-based test to a CBT exam like JEE.
The proposal is currently under discussion, and no plan of action has been framed at the time of publishing this report. The current batch is not affected by this proposal.
The NEET-UG 2026 exam, taken by over 22 lakh candidates across 5,500 national and 14 international centres on May 3, was cancelled due to paper leak allegations and student protests. A CBI probe is currently active, and a secure re-examination is set for June 21. Concurrently, the computer-based JEE Main 2026 recorded an all-time high of 1,538,468 participants across its two sessions, while NEET remained in traditional pen-and-paper format.
Commonly asked questions
National Testing Agency generally conducts the JEE Main exam two times in a year. The first attempt is conducted in January and the second attempt in April. JEE Main 2026 exam dates have been announced by the NTA for both sessions. The first attempt of JEE Main 2026 will be conducted from January 21 to 30 while the second attempt will be conducted from April 2 to 9. Only in the year 2022, NTA conducted JEE Mains in four sessions due to COVID-19. The number of sessions and date for any year is announced by the NTA at the time of release of application form.
National Testing Agency conducts JEE Main exam in a total of 13 languages. The languages in which paper is conducted are Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu in addition to Hindi English and Gujarati. Students can select the language of their choice from the available options while filling the application form. The language of JEE Main question paper during the exam will be available in 3 languages- English Hindi and the language selected by the candidates. The language of paper can be switched among these 3 languages during the exam.
JEE Main exam is conducted in online mode as a computer based test. This is conducted in 3 different courses. The exam for B.Tech and B. Plan is completely online while the exam for B.Arch is partially online and drawing part is conducted offline.
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