The Uttar Pradesh Medical Education Department has notified the admission policy for the 2026–27 academic session for NEET UG counselling for MBBS and BDS courses. The policy covers admissions to government, autonomous, private, and minority medical and dental institutions in the state and outlines the rules for eligibility, registration, reservation, fees, document verification, counselling rounds, and admission requirements. The order was issued on September 1, 2026, following the department's earlier communication dated July 22, 2026.

Seat Coverage Under UP NEET UG 2026 Counselling

As per the notified policy, counselling will cover 85% of State Quota seats in government and autonomous medical colleges and institutions. It will also cover 100% of undergraduate seats in private minority and non-minority medical colleges.

Registration and State Merit List

Online registration, candidate data submission, photograph uploading, and payment of registration and security fees will be managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Yojana Bhawan, Lucknow. The Director General of Medical Education & Training (DGME), Uttar Pradesh, or an authorised officer, will prepare the State Merit List in coordination with NIC. The counselling brochure will be finalised by a Directorate-level committee comprising representatives from KGMU Lucknow, RMLIMS Lucknow, state government officials, and DGME officers.

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates must have appeared for and qualified NEET UG 2026 to participate in the counselling process. UP reserved-category candidates will be considered according to the category-wise NEET cut-offs notified by NTA. However, reserved-category candidates from other states must meet the general/unreserved NEET cut-off and will not receive the benefit of the reserved-category cut-off in UP counselling.

For government-sector medical and dental colleges, UP domicile is mandatory. Candidates who have passed both High School and Intermediate or equivalent examinations from Uttar Pradesh are exempt from submitting a separate domicile certificate. Domicile candidates who completed only one or neither examination in UP must provide the prescribed domicile/residence certificate. For private medical and dental colleges, including minority institutions, domicile is not mandatory, allowing eligible candidates who completed schooling in other Indian states to participate.

Candidates who were allotted seats in the Stray Vacancy or Special Stray Vacancy round of UP NEET UG 2025 but failed to take admission will not be eligible for UP NEET UG 2026 counselling.

Registration Fee and Security Deposit

Candidates must register online through the official UP NEET counselling portal. The registration fee is ₹2,000 for each of the First, Second, Third, and Stray Vacancy rounds, and the fee is non-refundable. Fresh registration will be required for the Stray Vacancy round.

The refundable security deposit varies according to the type of institution:

Candidates who do not submit the required security deposit will not be permitted to fill choices. If no seat is allotted after completion of all counselling rounds, the security deposit will be refunded to the account from which the payment was made.

Document Verification at 20 Nodal Centres

The state will conduct online verification of candidates' academic and category documents through 20 designated nodal centres. Documents include High School and Intermediate certificates/marksheets, applicable category certificates, and domicile certificates where required. The centres include KGMU Lucknow, RMLIMS Lucknow, GSVM Medical College Kanpur, SN Medical College Agra, LLRM Medical College Meerut, MLB Medical College Jhansi, BRD Medical College Gorakhpur, MLN Medical College Prayagraj, UP University of Medical Sciences Saifai, and other government and autonomous medical colleges across the state.

Reservation Policy

For government-sector State Quota seats, the notified vertical reservation includes 21% for SC, 2% for ST, 27% for OBC, and 10% for EWS. EWS reservation will apply in institutions where the NMC has approved an increase in seats for EWS reservation.

The policy also provides horizontal reservation of 2% for Dependents of Freedom Fighters, 2% for eligible Children of Ex-servicemen, 5% for PwD candidates, 1% for NCC Cadets, and 20% for women candidates.

Following an Allahabad High Court order dated May 26, 2026, NCC reservation has also been extended to candidates holding a 'B' certificate with 'B' grading, in addition to the specified 'C' certificate criteria. Horizontal reservation benefits will be available within the candidate's respective vertical category.

Four-Round Online Counselling Process

UP NEET UG 2026 counselling will be conducted through four online rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3 and Stray Vacancy Round. The detailed schedule will be notified separately by DGME UP in alignment with the MCC counselling timetable.

In Round 1, candidates will have a free-exit facility, with the security deposit and applicable fees refundable subject to the specified conditions. From Round 2 onwards, candidates allotted seats will be required to join, failing which their security deposit may be forfeited. In Round 3, non-joining candidates may also face forfeiture of 50% of the tuition fee deposited for private colleges.

The Stray Vacancy Round will be available to eligible candidates who did not receive a seat in the first three rounds and did not participate in All-India or other states' counselling. Certain BDS-admitted candidates from earlier UP rounds may also participate in MBBS stray vacancy choice filling. Fresh registration and security deposit will be mandatory. Candidates failing to join after a Stray Vacancy allotment will forfeit their security deposit and be debarred from UP NEET UG counselling for the 2027–28 academic session.

Admission and Bond Requirements

Admission to government medical colleges will require candidates to report personally to the allotted college with the prescribed fees. Private college admissions will be processed through designated nodal centres, with tuition fees to be paid through Demand Draft as specified in the policy. Students admitted to government medical colleges will also be required to execute a mandatory government service bond.

Candidates who vacate an allotted seat after the final counselling round but before completing the course may be debarred from the admission process for the next academic session, as per the applicable government order.

Counselling Board Constituted

A dedicated UP NEET UG 2026 Counselling Board has been constituted under the chairmanship of the DGME, UP. The board includes representatives from the Medical Education Department, nominated medical colleges, medical teachers, private medical and dental colleges, minority institutions and NIC Lucknow.

The notified admission policy provides the complete framework for UP NEET UG 2026 MBBS and BDS counselling, covering eligibility, registration, fees, reservations, document verification, seat allotment and admission conditions for the 2026–27 academic session.