NEET Made Mandatory for Allied, Healthcare UG Courses by 2026

• NEET will be compulsory for key allied healthcare programs from 2026–27.
• NCAHP updates curricula and standardizes entry rules to improve education quality.
• New regulations expand and formalize allied healthcare pathways under the revised framework.

The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) has declared that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) will be mandatory for enrollment in various undergraduate allied and healthcare programs beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

The commission specified that students aiming to take certain allied and healthcare professional courses after Class 12 or an equivalent exam must take NEET along with meeting all other specific eligibility requirements for the courses.

In the latest update released in November, NCAHP announced that it has notified 13 curricula for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the Allied and Healthcare category, which are all scheduled to be implemented in the next academic cycle. Additional curricula are anticipated to be published shortly as part of the commission's continuous reforms.

As per the NCAHP Act, 2021, the eligibility conditions for these programs have been incorporated into the newly established curricula, with most explicitly stating that NEET qualification is a necessary criterion in addition to other academic prerequisites.

The enrollment period for these updated programs is set to start in 2026-27, indicating a notable change in the access procedure for allied health sciences. Earlier this year, the commission likewise suggested ceasing the use of the term “paramedical,” substituting it with the broader and officially acknowledged term “Allied and Healthcare,” illustrating the advancing scope and professionalism of these areas.

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Among the significant changes implemented with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), physiotherapy graduates are now allowed to use the title ‘Dr,’ as long as it is accompanied by the suffix ‘PT’ to differentiate them from medical doctors and PhD graduates.

The updated regulations require NEET qualification for admission to programs including physiotherapy, optometry, nutrition and dietetics, dialysis technology, and several therapy-oriented courses, strengthening initiatives to standardize entry processes and improve quality in allied healthcare education.