The NEET UG exam, conducted on May 3, 2026, had an impressive attendance rate of 96.92%, with 22.5 lakh candidates appearing for the test across India. Candidates are now eagerly awaiting the provisional answer key, which is typically released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) within a month of the exam. Historically, the answer key has been published around the same time in previous years, with the last exam's answer key released on June 3, 2025. After the provisional answer key is available, candidates can challenge specific questions for a fee of ₹200 per question. This year, the Physics section was reported to be the most difficult, with many candidates and experts noting the challenging nature of questions. The expected cut-off marks for the General category are projected to be between 135 and 144, while for OBC, SC, and ST categories, they are expected to range from 107 to 143. The cut-offs are determined based on percentiles rather than raw scores, reflecting the overall performance of candidates.