NEET-2026 held smoothly across Kerala

Kochi: National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), conducted by National Testing Agency for admission to medical courses including MBBS, was held across Kerala on Sunday with stringent security arrangements in place. The examination was conducted between 2pm and 5pm, with candidates undergoing biometric authentication, registration procedures and frisking before entering exam halls. Thousands of students appeared for the examination across hundreds of centres in the state. At Ernakulam Govt Girls Higher Secondary School, one of the major centres in the city, students began reporting from 11am and were allowed to enter the halls from 1.30pm. A total of 360 candidates were registered at the centre. "We received all the instructions and guidelines several days before, which we communicated with the 30 invigilators conducting the examination here. Only 25 students were absent. The number of absentees was low and the exams were conducted smoothly without any glitch," said Animma V O, headmistress of the school. Across centres, students were seen arriving with parents and close relatives. Despite the high temperatures, many parents waited outside school gates for hours to receive their children after the examination. "The exam was relatively easy, I am hoping good results, I am opting for MBBS and look forward to joining a govt college within Kerala," said Aidone Dais Romeo, a student from Koothattukulam who wrote the examination at Govt Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Kalamassery. "The exam was generally easy, although I found physics relatively challenging," said Beema Basheer, a Muvattupuzha native who intends to pursue nursing.