NEET 2026: Telangana, AP see drop in qualified candidates

In the NEET 2026 exam, both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh saw fewer students qualifying compared to the previous year.

Telangana had 38,026 qualified candidates, down from 41,584 in 2025, while Andhra Pradesh had 33,221, down from 36,776.

Despite Telugu being the primary language in both states, most students prefer to take the exam in English or Hindi.

The number of candidates choosing Telugu has fluctuated, with a slight increase in 2026 after a drop in 2025.

Nationally, English is the most popular language for the NEET exam, with over 1.8 million registrations each year.

Hindi is also growing, but Telugu has never reached 2,000 registrations.

Other languages like Tamil and Bengali have much higher numbers.

The decline in qualification rates, despite steady registrations, suggests potential issues in exam preparation or performance.