NEET UG Counselling 2026 Schedule: MCC All India Quota and State Quota Dates, Round by Round

MCC published the NEET UG 2026 counselling schedule on 1 August 2026, and it covers both tracks at once: the All India Quota rounds the committee runs itself, and the outer windows every state counselling authority has to fit inside. All India Quota Round 1 registration opens on 5 August 2026 and closes at 3.00 p.m. on 12 August 2026. The Round 1 result is declared on 17 August 2026. State quota Round 1 runs from 13 to 22 August 2026. The last joining date anywhere in this cycle, on either track, is 10 October 2026.

Two documents were released together and you need both. One is the AIQ and State Schedule for UG 2026, the master calendar. The other is the detailed All India Quota counselling schedule, which covers 15% All India Quota seats plus 100% of the seats in deemed universities, central universities, AIIMS institutions and JIPMER at Puducherry and Karaikal, for MBBS, BDS and B.Sc Nursing. Everything below comes from those two documents.

All India Quota Round 1

• Verification of tentative seat matrix by participating institutes: 4 August 2026
• Registration and payment: 5 August to 12 August 2026, registration up to 3.00 p.m. on 12 August, payment facility open until 6.00 p.m. on 12 August
• Choice filling and locking: 6 August to 13 August 2026, choice filling available up to 11.00 a.m. on 13 August; choice locking opens at 4.00 p.m. on 12 August and runs to 11.00 a.m. on 13 August
• Processing of seat allotment: 13 August to 16 August 2026
• Result: 17 August 2026
• Reporting and joining: 18 August to 22 August 2026
• Verification of joined candidates data by institutes: 23 August 2026

Every cut-off time in that list, and in the three that follow, is server time.

All India Quota Round 2

• Verification of tentative seat matrix: 24 August 2026
• Registration and payment: 25 August to 29 August 2026, registration up to 3.00 p.m. on 29 August, payment until 6.00 p.m. on 29 August
• Choice filling and locking: 25 August to 30 August 2026, choice filling up to 11.00 p.m. on 30 August; locking from 4.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. on 30 August
• Processing of seat allotment: 31 August to 1 September 2026
• Result: 2 September 2026
• Reporting and joining: 3 September to 8 September 2026
• Verification of joined candidates data by institutes, and sharing of data by MCC: 9 September 2026

All India Quota Round 3

• Verification of tentative seat matrix: 10 September 2026
• Registration and payment: 11 September to 15 September 2026, registration up to 3.00 p.m. on 15 September, payment until 6.00 p.m. on 15 September
• Choice filling and locking: 11 September to 16 September 2026, choice filling till 11.00 a.m. on 16 September; locking from 4.00 p.m. on 15 September to 11.00 a.m. on 16 September
• Processing of seat allotment: 16 September to 17 September 2026
• Result: 18 September 2026
• Reporting: 19 September to 26 September 2026
• Verification of joined candidates data by institutes, and sharing of data by MCC: 27 September 2026

Round 3 allows eight days for reporting, the longest reporting window in the cycle.

Online Stray Vacancy Round

• Verification of tentative seat matrix: 27 September 2026
• Registration and payment: 28 September to 30 September 2026, registration up to 3.00 p.m. on 30 September, payment until 6.00 p.m. on 30 September
• Choice filling and locking: 28 September to 30 September 2026, choice filling up to 11.00 p.m. on 30 September; locking from 4.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. on 30 September
• Processing of seat allotment: 1 October to 2 October 2026
• Result: 3 October 2026
• Reporting: 4 October to 10 October 2026

Three days to register and three days to fill choices. This is the shortest round in the calendar, and the one candidates most often miss outright.

The Three Timing Traps

This schedule is not a list of dates. It is a list of dates with cut-off times bolted to them, and the times do not repeat identically from one round to the next.

Registration closes at 3.00 p.m. Payment closes at 6.00 p.m.

In all four rounds, registration shuts at 3.00 p.m. and the payment facility stays open until 6.00 p.m.

Those three hours exist so you can pay against a registration you have already created. They are not three extra hours in which to register. If you have not registered by 3.00 p.m., the payment window is worth nothing to you.

Choice locking ends in the morning in two rounds and at night in the other two

This is the detail that catches people who assume the pattern repeats:

• Round 1: choice filling until 11.00 a.m. on 13 August, locking opens 4.00 p.m. on 12 August
• Round 2: choice filling until 11.00 p.m. on 30 August, locking opens 4.00 p.m. the same day
• Round 3: choice filling until 11.00 a.m. on 16 September, locking opens 4.00 p.m. on 15 September
• Stray vacancy: choice filling until 11.00 p.m. on 30 September, locking opens 4.00 p.m. the same day

Rounds 1 and 3 spill into the next morning and stop at 11.00 a.m. Round 2 and the stray vacancy round finish the same night at 11.00 p.m. Read the a.m. and the p.m., not just the number 11.

The size of the locking window changes with it. In Round 1 you have from 4.00 p.m. on 12 August to 11.00 a.m. on 13 August, nineteen hours. In the stray vacancy round you have from 4.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. on 30 September, seven hours, and that is the entire allowance.

Server time, not the clock on your phone

Every cut-off in the document is qualified with the words "as per Server Time". Your handset clock, your network clock and the MCC server clock are three different things, and only one of them decides whether your submission counted. Work to a deadline half an hour earlier than the one printed.

State Quota Windows

The master document fixes the outer dates that state counselling authorities work inside:

• Round 1: 13 August to 22 August 2026. Last date of joining 28 August 2026. Verification of joined candidates data by state DMEs and counselling authorities, 29 August 2026.
• Round 2: 31 August to 8 September 2026. Last date of joining 14 September 2026. Verification 15 September 2026.
• Round 3: 16 September to 26 September 2026. Last date of joining 1 October 2026. Verification 2 October 2026.
• Stray vacancy round: 3 October to 5 October 2026. Last date of joining 10 October 2026.

Your state publishes its own detailed calendar inside these blocks. Whatever dates appear on a state portal have to sit within the window above; they cannot run past it.

How the Two Tracks Interlock

The staggering is deliberate, and the overlaps tell you what to plan for.

State quota Round 1 opens on 13 August, the same morning All India Quota Round 1 choice filling closes. State quota Round 1 ends on 22 August, the same day All India Quota Round 1 joining ends. If you are in both, the two processes are live in the same fortnight, and you will be committing to one while still waiting on the other.

There is also a data handshake written into the schedule, and it has teeth. The master document states that the data of joined candidates will be shared by state DMEs and state counselling authorities to MCC for weeding out during seat processing of Round 3. In plain language: if you have joined a state quota seat, MCC knows in time for All India Quota Round 3 processing, and you are removed from consideration there. Joining a seat is not a quiet decision the other track never hears about.

The traffic runs both ways. For the stray vacancy round, the data of candidates allotted by MCC is shared on 3 October 2026, the same day the All India Quota stray result is declared.

Every Saturday, Sunday and Gazetted Holiday Is a Working Day

Both documents carry the same instruction in the same words. For faithful obedience of the time schedule, and keeping in view the limited time available for conducting counselling, all participating institutes and colleges are directed to treat all Saturdays, Sundays and Gazetted Holidays as working days.

Set that against the calendar and it stops being boilerplate:

• 15 August 2026, Independence Day, is a Saturday, and it sits inside All India Quota Round 1 seat allotment processing, 13 to 16 August.
• 30 August 2026, the last day of Round 2 choice filling and locking, is a Sunday.
• 2 October 2026, Gandhi Jayanti, falls inside stray vacancy seat processing, 1 to 2 October.
• 22 August, 26 September and 10 October 2026 are all last dates of joining, and all three are Saturdays.

So a college cannot send you away to come back on Monday, and you should not assume a helpdesk is shut. If the schedule puts your reporting date on a national holiday, report on the national holiday.

The Academic Session Starts on 8 September, Mid-Counselling

The master schedule fixes the commencement of the academic session for UG courses at 8 September 2026. Put that beside the rest of the calendar and the arithmetic is blunt.

On 8 September, All India Quota Round 2 joining ends that same day. Round 3 registration has not opened. The Round 3 result is still ten days away, on 18 September, and Round 3 joining runs to 26 September. Stray vacancy joining does not end until 10 October, over a month after teaching begins.

This is not a drafting error. It is how recent cycles have run. What it means in practice is that a seat won in Round 3 or in the stray round comes attached to a class that is already weeks old. If you are weighing whether to hold a Round 2 seat or gamble on an upgrade, that lost month is part of what you are betting.

Which Seats This Schedule Covers

The All India Quota counselling schedule applies to:

• the 15% All India Quota seats in government medical and dental colleges
• 100% of the seats in deemed universities
• 100% of the seats in central universities
• AIIMS institutions
• JIPMER, Puducherry and Karaikal
• MBBS, BDS and B.Sc Nursing courses

Everything else, meaning the remaining 85% of government college seats and the private college seats under state control, is filled by your state counselling authority inside the state windows listed above.

Common Questions About NEET UG Counselling 2026

When does NEET UG 2026 counselling registration start?

All India Quota Round 1 registration opens on 5 August 2026 and closes at 3.00 p.m. on 12 August 2026, server time. The payment facility stays open until 6.00 p.m. that day.

When is the NEET UG 2026 Round 1 seat allotment result?

17 August 2026. Reporting and joining run from 18 August to 22 August 2026.

How many rounds of NEET UG counselling are there in 2026?

Four on each track: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3 and the online stray vacancy round, for All India Quota and for state quota alike.

What is the last date of joining in NEET UG counselling 2026?

10 October 2026, at the end of the stray vacancy round, on both the All India Quota and the state quota track.

When does the MBBS academic session start in 2026?

8 September 2026, as fixed in the MCC schedule, which is before Round 3 and the stray vacancy round have finished.

Does the state quota counselling follow the same dates as MCC?

No, it is staggered. State Round 1 runs 13 to 22 August 2026, Round 2 from 31 August to 8 September, Round 3 from 16 to 26 September, and the stray vacancy round from 3 to 5 October 2026. Individual states publish their own calendars inside those windows.

Are counselling deadlines relaxed on Sundays or national holidays?

No. Both schedules direct all participating institutes and colleges to treat all Saturdays, Sundays and Gazetted Holidays as working days.

Does MCC counselling cover B.Sc Nursing?

Yes. The All India Quota schedule covers MBBS, BDS and B.Sc Nursing for the 15% All India Quota and for deemed universities, central universities, AIIMS institutions and JIPMER.

What time does choice locking close?

It depends on the round. Round 1 closes at 11.00 a.m. on 13 August and Round 3 at 11.00 a.m. on 16 September. Round 2 closes at 11.00 p.m. on 30 August and the stray vacancy round at 11.00 p.m. on 30 September. Locking opens at 4.00 p.m. in all four.

Where Gyan Sanchaar Fits In

Registration, choice filling, seat allotment and reporting are run by the Medical Counselling Committee for All India Quota, deemed and central university seats, and by your state counselling authority for state quota seats. Gyan Sanchaar has no role in either process and cannot register, allot or influence a seat for you.

One thing is worth saying plainly at the start of counselling season. Every seat in this schedule, All India Quota, deemed university, central university, AIIMS and JIPMER alike, is allotted by software running your NEET rank against the choices you locked. Nobody sells access to that. If a consultant offers you a confirmed deemed university seat outside this calendar, they are describing something the process does not contain.

What Gyan Sanchaar can help with, while your counselling runs: if you are keeping a second option open, you can browse colleges verified against UGC, NAAC and AICTE or NMC records, compare fees and courses state by state, and apply directly from your dashboard, free, with no agents and no application fee. B.Sc Nursing and allied health courses at many private colleges admit directly against your NEET UG 2026 score, outside this counselling system entirely, so those applications do not clash with an MCC round.

Filling one form here does not put your phone number on a list sold to fifty colleges. Only the colleges you choose see your details, and a counsellor from that college gets in touch, not a call centre. Keeping a second door open costs you nothing while you wait on a seat allotment result.