2.3 million people sit test chasing 100,000 places, and country already canceled it once this year
India has decided to block messaging service Telegram for a few days to reduce the chance of scams targeting over two million people taking a single exam that has already provoked a national scandal.The exam is called the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and is the only way to earn a place to study medicine in India. In most years, over two million people take the test – but only around 100,000 people earn a place in a medical school. Competition for those places is fierce, and student stress levels can be stratospheric.India's National Testing Agency (NTA), which oversees entrance exams across India, conducted the 2026 NEET on May 3. A few days later, however, Indian netizens noticed Telegram posts dated May 1 that included footage of the NEET questions – suggesting the exam paper leaked.
NTA insisted the exam paper had not leaked before the test but also admitted the exam paper in the videos was legitimate. The agency was able to do so because the videos included a unique identifier on the paper that NTA used to identify the candidate associated with the paper shown in the video and the test center where it was used. NTA used its ability to trace the paper as evidence that it conducted the exam securely.
