New Delhi: Will the JEE (Mains) and NEET-UG exams be held together soon?
The possibility of introducing a unified national entrance examination for engineering and medical admissions is being explored by the Centre, officials told the parliamentary panel set up to look into the concerns in light of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
This is part of the recommendations made by the high-level committee under former ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan that was set up after the NEET-UG 2024 paper irregularities..
The possibility of a common undergraduate admission framework, through “harmonisation and unification of entrance tests for undergraduate admissions”, is part of its broader roadmap for reforming National Testing Agency (NTA)-led examinations, the report said.
Such a system could eventually bring examinations such as JEE and NEET under a common framework, with separate subject components for different streams, as reported by NDTV.
The idea of a single test structure was backed by sSleveral members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. It will have dedicated sections such as Mathematics for engineering aspirants and Biology for medical candidates.
The committee additionally proposed tighter eligibility rules for NEET aspirants in the future. “Imposition of number of attempts and age limits” would bring the medical entrance examination closer in structure to other national-level competitive tests, the members said.
NTA director general Abhishek Singh and higher education secretary Vineet Joshi briefed the panel on measures being taken to overhaul the examination process, even as NTA comes under intense scrutiny after the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 over allegations of a coordinated paper leak.
Concerns over accountability, systemic failures and safeguards needed to restore public confidence in national examinations were also raised by members of the panel. They also sought details on the proposed transition to computer-based testing, including infrastructure readiness across states, exam duration and the frequency of future tests.
The NTA is also planning to minimise external access to the question paper-setting process and gradually reduce dependence on third-party test-delivery agencies by developing its own technological infrastructure, to tighten security and reduce the possibility of leaks, sources said. ,
The discussion was described as “productive” by committee chairman and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. He said members across party lines expressed concern over the credibility of the country’s testing mechanisms, without sharing specifics.
