NEET UG 2026: 1,144 Candidates Chose Marathi Medium Despite Maharashtra Having One Of India's Largest NEET Applicant Pools.
· Free Press Journal
NEET UG 2026: Maharashtra was one of India's largest NEET applicant pools in 2026, with 2,22,849 candidates registering for the examination, the second-highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh (3,56,079). Of these, 2,01,100 appeared for the exam, and 107,304 qualified.
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According to the National Testing Agency's (NTA) language-wise data, 1,144 candidates opted to take the examination in the Marathi medium. The number of candidates opting for the Marathi medium in NEET UG has witnessed a sharp decline over the years, dropping from 31,239 in 2019 to just 1,144 in 2026.
These candidates accounted for around 0.5% of Maharashtra's total registrations and approximately 0.05% of the 22.79 lakh candidates registered nationwide.
Marathi medium trends
As per the data shared by the National Testing Agency on the official website, the figures fell consistently from 6,258 in 2020 to 2,913 in 2021, 2,368 in 2022, 1,833 in 2023, and 1,759 in 2024, before reaching a low of 927 in 2025. While the number increased slightly to 1,144 in 2026, it remains significantly lower than the 2019 level.
2019: 31,239 candidates
2020: 6,258 candidates
2021: 2,913 candidates
2022: 2,368 candidates
2023: 1,833 candidates
2024: 1,759 candidates
2025: 927 candidates
2026: 1,144 candidates
Language-wise registration data
According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), 18,08,535 candidates opted to write NEET UG 2026 in English, while 3,45,247 chose Hindi.
Among the regional languages, Gujarati recorded 49,647 registrations, followed by Bengali (38,577), Tamil (29,845), Telugu (2,638), Malayalam (1,879), Punjabi (1,251), Marathi (1,144), Urdu (988), Assamese (746), Kannada (465) and Odia (315).