Inside NTA's growing credibility crisis: A look at paper leaks and malpractices in India’s high-stakes exams

The recent NEET-UG 2026 exam cancellation is far from an isolated incident, with several major exams conducted by NTA facing allegations in recent years.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which is one of India’s largest exam conducting bodies, has found itself, time and again, at the centre of controversies involving paper leaks, cheating rackets, exam cancellations, technical failures, and irregularities.

From National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main to University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), several high-stakes examinations conducted by the agency have faced scrutiny in the past five years, adding to the growing distrust among students and parents.

Here is a look at some of the biggest controversies linked to NTA-conducted examinations in recent years.

NEET-UG 2026: The “guess paper” that led to cancellation

The latest and most dramatic controversy emerged in the NEET-UG 2026, conducted on May 3 for around 22.79 lakh candidates across more than 5,400 centres in India and abroad.

The controversy surfaced after investigators found that a so-called “guess paper” circulating through coaching circles and WhatsApp groups allegedly matched over 100 questions from the actual examination. Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has stated that 45 Chemistry questions and 90 Biology questions matched “perfectly” with the actual paper.

The alleged leak trail eventually stretched across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Kerala. Investigators have uncovered WhatsApp circulation chains, Telegram groups, and alleged paper distribution networks operating through coaching ecosystems.

Following mounting evidence and public outrage, NTA has officially cancelled the examination on May 12, an unprecedented move affecting more than 22 lakh students. The case has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

NEET-UG 2024: Inflated cut-offs and paper leak controversy

The NEET-UG 2024 controversy became one of the biggest examination scandals in recent years, involving multiple supreme court cases, CBI investigations, arrests and major protests and backlash.

Soon after results were declared on June 4, students began raising concerns over unusually high scores, and allegations of paper leaks in Bihar and Gujarat. The controversy intensified after 67 candidates secured perfect scores.

In Patna, police arrested multiple individuals accused of helping candidates obtain question papers before the examination. Investigators later alleged that some aspirants had paid between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 50 lakh to access leaked papers.

The case later expanded to Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, where investigators reportedly recovered burnt question papers linked to the leak trail. The CBI eventually took over the probe.

The matter reached the Supreme Court of India, where multiple petitions sought cancellation and re-examination. During hearings, the Supreme Court acknowledged that a leak had occurred and said the “sanctity” of the examination had been affected.

However, in July 2024, the court declined to cancel the entire examination, stating that there was no evidence of a widespread “systemic” breach large enough to justify a nationwide re-test.

The controversy led to the formation of a high-level reform committee headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review NTA’s functioning.

UGC-NET 2024: Exam cancelled a day after it was conducted

In the same year as the NEET paper leak scandal, in June 2024, the Ministry of Education abruptly cancelled the UGC-NET just one day after the examination was conducted.

It was later informed that the cancellation came after the government received inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) indicating that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.”

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan later stated that the paper had allegedly surfaced on the darknet before the exam. The matter was subsequently handed over to the CBI for investigation.

The cancellation triggered outrage among lakhs of candidates who had already travelled to exam cities far from their homes, made accommodations prior to the exam day.

NEET-UG 2021: Localised cheating rackets, arrests

Even before the massive 2024 controversy, NEET had faced repeated allegations of impersonation, paper-solver gangs, and localised cheating rackets in several states.

In 2021 police in states including Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh uncovered cases involving dummy candidates, impersonation attempts, Bluetooth-based cheating devices, and organised solver gangs during NEET examination.

Several arrests were made in different states after candidates were allegedly found using electronic devices hidden inside clothing and footwear to receive answers during the examination. In some cases, coaching-linked intermediaries and facilitators were also questioned.

While these incidents were generally treated as isolated or localised cases rather than nationwide leaks, they contributed to growing concerns over the security and integrity of large-scale medical entrance examinations.

JEE Main 2021: Computers hacked, paper-solver gangs

In 2021, JEE Main faced a major cheating controversy after the CBI uncovered a sophisticated hacking and remote-access racket.

Investigators alleged that a private firm had manipulated computer systems at selected examination centres, allowing candidates to remotely access computers and receive external assistance during the examination.

The CBI later arrested multiple individuals, including technical facilitators, centre operators, and intermediaries allegedly linked to the racket.

The case raised serious questions regarding the vulnerability of computer-based examinations and the role of private examination infrastructure providers.

Growing distrust and scrutiny over NTA

The repeated controversies surrounding NEET, UGC-NET, and JEE Main have significantly affected public trust in the examination system conducted by NTA.

Student groups, coaching institutes, education experts, and opposition leaders have repeatedly questioned the agency’s preparedness, transparency, and reliability to securely conduct examinations involving millions of candidates.

With NEET-UG 2026 now facing the second major paper leak controversy in three years, concerns over exam security and the credibility of national-level entrance tests have once again returned to the centre of public debate.