Several NEET aspirants preparing to reappear for the medical entrance examination say they are experiencing heightened anxiety, disrupted routines, loss of confidence and increasing distrust in the examination system
after the earlier test was cancelled. Students who had spent months and, in some cases, years preparing said the cancellation was a shock that pushed them back into an intense preparation phase.
Ridhima Bansal, who took both the Class 12 board examinations and NEET this year, said the cancellation has left her emotionally exhausted and struggling to restart her studies. “I was expecting a good score that would have helped me secure a seat in a medical college. I came out of the NEET exam feeling happy and confident that I would get into a medical college. Then suddenly, the news came that the exam has been cancelled,” Bansal told PTI.
“When I reopened my books, I was not feeling like studying,” she said, adding that the uncertainty has disrupted her daily routine and affected her mental health. “Sleep issues have started because all-nighters are again happening. After the exam, I was sleeping peacefully. Now I am back to sleeping at 3 am, waking up at 7, attending classes, giving mock tests and studying again. Mental health is affected. I don’t feel like eating,” Bansal said.
She added that the controversy has also eroded her faith in the examination system. “The trust is over because when the news came, NTA was saying it was just a few questions. But even if a few questions were out, that is also a paper leak. Why should even a few questions get out,” she asked. “I don’t trust the system now,” she added. The National Testing Agency (NTA) did not respond to queries seeking its reaction to the concerns raised by students.
Another aspirant, 17-year-old Vaibhavi, said she was on a family vacation when she found out that the examination had been cancelled and would be held again. “I was disheartened about the exam being cancelled. I was on a family vacation when I got the notification that the exam is being cancelled and they are going to re-conduct the exam. So I panicked thinking what is going to happen now,” she said.
The controversy, she added, has affected her focus and motivation. She said it feels like a joke. One can study as much as they want, but it’s not going to be enough, she added.
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She said the gap between the May 3 examination and the announcement of the re-test broke her study momentum. “There was a gap after May 3 exam and then suddenly we had to start preparing again. Once that continuity breaks, it becomes difficult to get back into the same rhythm,” she said.
Vaibhavi also expressed worry about the upcoming exam. “My plan was to get around 550 or 530 marks so that I could get a government college. But everyone is saying that re-NEET will be very hard. I think the paper is going to be hard. So, I am scared,” she said.
Madhuri Sudhir Shelar, who had been preparing for NEET for two years, said she was devastated when she found out that the exam had been cancelled. “It hurt a lot because I had been preparing for two years. After studying so hard for so long, hearing this news was extremely painful. It felt very bad,” she said.
Shelar said she had walked out of the examination centre feeling that her hard work had finally paid off. “The paper was easy. Biology was especially easy. When I came out of the examination centre, I felt really happy. I thought, ‘This time I’ll make it’,” she said. However, what followed left her demoralised, and she said her confidence has dropped sharply since then.
“My confidence has definitely dropped. I don’t feel like studying at all. Everything feels very different. But I’m still studying because my future depends on it. I’m motivating myself, telling myself that I have goals to achieve and a future to build. That’s the only reason I’m continuing,” she said.
The NEET-UG for admissions to medical courses was held on May 3 but was cancelled by the NTA on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak. The CBI is currently investigating the matter, and a retest has been scheduled for June 21.
