Big Change: You Can’t Choose Exam City for JEE, NEET, CUET From 2026

In a significant policy change the National Testing Agency (NTA) will introduce a new system of exam center allocation of national level entrance exams such as JEE Main, NEET-UG and CUET-UG beginning with the 2026-27 academic session.

There will be no more options of the candidates to select the cities they want to take their exams under the proposed system. Rather, the exam centers will be assigned on strict residential basis as indicated in the Aadhaar card of the candidate.

Nowadays, students have an opportunity to choose one to three or four of their favourite cities when they apply to these very competitive exams. This will be eliminated as soon as the new rule is implemented.

It is also said to be done with the aim of increasing transparency and decreasing malpractices, including impersonation and cheating, since the candidates would have to take the exams close to their registered place of residence. This is one of the steps in an overall move to ensure that exam integrity is enhanced.

Nevertheless, the revision of the rule will affect the lakhs of students, primarily, those who always were used to selecting the exam centers according to the distance to their coaching school or other logistical factors achievement.

Even though the NTA has not yet officially published an announcement informing the public of this policy change, various reliable news sources in the area of education have covered the development. Moreover, the agency has also released warnings to the candidates to renew their Aadhaar information especially the residential address to prevent inconvenience in assigning exam centers.

It is highly recommended to students to always update their Aadhaar card with their current residential address long before the application cycles of 2026.