The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has released the NEET UG 2026 counselling schedule, opening Round 1 registration on August 5 at mcc.nic.in for 15% All India Quota (AIQ), deemed and central universities, AIIMS, JIPMER, ESIC and AFMC seats in MBBS, BDS and B.Sc Nursing. Registration and fee payment run from August 5 to 3:00 PM on August 12 (server time), with the payment window open until 6:00 PM the same day. The Round 1 seat allotment result is scheduled for August 17. MCC published the schedule along with the UG Information Bulletin 2026 on August 1, confirming a substantially reworked counselling scheme built around a new Freeze and Float system.
Key Highlights
- Round 1 registration: August 5 to August 12, 2026 (till 3:00 PM server time).
- Choice filling: August 6 to 13, 2026; choice locking opens at 4:00 PM on August 12, 2026.
- Round 1 seat allotment result: August 17, 2026; reporting from August 18 to August 22.
- Four rounds in total: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3 and Online Stray Vacancy Round.
- New Freeze/Float system replaces mandatory physical reporting for candidates seeking upgradation.
- Documents to be uploaded online once and reused across all rounds.
- State counselling Round 1 runs August 13 to 22, 2026.
- The academic session for UG courses commences on September 8, 2026.
MCC NEET UG Counselling 2026: Round-Wise AIQ Schedule
| Scheduled for Admission | All India Quota/ Deemed & Central Universities | Verification of Joined Candidates Data by MCC |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Round of Counselling | 4 August to 17 August 2026 | 23 August 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 22 August 2026 | |
| 2nd Round of Counselling | 24 August to 2 September 2026 | 9 September 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 8 September 2026 | |
| Round 3 | 10 September to 18 September 2026 | 27 September 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 26 September 2026 | |
| Stray Vacancy | 28 September to 3 October 2026 | Data of Allotted Candidates will be shared by MCC on 3 October 2026 |
| Last date of joining | 10 October 2026 | |
| Commencement of Academic Session for UG Courses | 8 September 2026 | |
Note: Registration for Round 2 closes at 3:00 PM on August 29, and Round 3 registration closes at 3:00 PM on September 15, with payment permitted until 6:00 PM on both dates. MCC has directed participating institutes to treat Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted holidays as working days for the duration of the process.
State Quota Counselling Dates
MCC has also issued the combined AIQ and state quota calendar. State counselling Round 1 will run from August 13 to August 22, with the last date of joining set at August 28. Round 2 is scheduled from August 31 to September 8, with joining till September 14, and Round 3 from September 16 to September 26, with joining till October 1. The state stray vacancy round runs from October 3 to October 5, with joining closing on October 10.
| Event | State Counselling Schedule | Verification of Joined Candidates’ Date by state DMEs/ State Counselling Authorities |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Round of Counselling | 13 August to 22 August 2026 | 29 August 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 28 August 2026 | |
| 2nd Round of Counselling | 31 August to 8 September 2026 | 15 September 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 14 September 2026 | |
| Round 3 | 16 September to 26 September 2026 | 2 October 2026 |
| Last Date of Joining | 1 October 2026 | |
| Stray Vacancy | 3 October to 5 October 2026 |
Note: Candidates eligible for both streams must track the two calendars in parallel, since the AIQ round always opens ahead of the corresponding state round.
What Has Changed in 2026: Freeze and Float
The biggest procedural shift concerns reporting. Until 2025, every allotted candidate, including those hoping to upgrade, had to visit the allotted college physically to complete formalities.
From this cycle, allotted candidates must declare themselves as Freeze or Float. Freeze candidates accept the allotted seat and report in person at the college for document verification and admission. Float candidates give online willingness for upgradation, upload documents for online verification by the institute, and are not required to travel to the college.
Both categories must upload scanned documents on the MCC portal, a single upload that carries across all rounds. MCC advises candidates to complete this within two to three days of the allotment result.
Resignation has also moved online. Float candidates can surrender a seat through the candidate login, while Freeze candidates must resign from the allotted institute. Round 1 allows free exit; from Round 2 onwards, exit or non-joining forfeits the security deposit.
Registration Fees and Security Deposit
| Category | Registration fee | Security deposit |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ/Central Universities/AIIMS/JIPMER/ESIC/AFMC/B.Sc Nursing, UR & EWS | ₹1,000 | ₹10,000 |
| Same group, SC/ST/OBC/PwD | ₹500 | ₹5,000 |
| Deemed Universities (all categories) | ₹5,000 | ₹2,00,000 |
Eligibility and Reservation
Only candidates who qualified NEET UG 2026 may register. AIQ seats are domicile-free.
Reservation in AIQ follows central government norms: 15% SC, 7.5% ST, 27% OBC-NCL as per the central list, 10% EWS and 5% horizontal reservation for PwD. Deemed universities carry no SC/ST/OBC/EWS/PwD reservation, though certain institutions have Jain or Muslim minority quotas.
NTA declared the NEET UG 2026 result on July 16 after the re-examination held on June 21. The qualifying cut-off stands at 715–213 marks for General and EWS candidates at the 50th percentile, and 212–177 marks for OBC-NCL, SC and ST candidates at the 40th percentile. Around 11.21 lakh candidates qualified out of nearly 20 lakh who appeared.The NMC seat matrix for 2026-27 lists 1,36,939 MBBS seats across 823 colleges, an addition of 9,911 seats over the previous session, with 63,296 seats in government colleges.
MCC will publish the institute-wise AIQ seat matrix before choice filling opens.
Official Websites and Links
- MCC UG counselling portal: mcc.nic.in
- UG Information Bulletin 2026 and schedule PDFs: Download PDF
- NEET UG result and scorecard: neet.nta.nic.in
- MCC call centre: 1800 -02-7637 (9:00 AM to 8:30 PM)
