CBT Mode Will Be More Secure, Says Re-NEET 2026 Topper Panshul Bansal
NEET AIR 2 Panshul Bansal took the cancelled NEET 2026 exam as an extra time to prepare himself and improve his score in the re-examination conducted on June 21.
The Re-NEET 2026 examination result was announced on July 16, 2026. The counselling process is set to begin in the coming days. India's top medical entrance examination has been causing quite a stir across the country, with thousands of students protesting against the examination paper leak, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on grounds of accountability for the paper leak.
NEET 2026 topper Panshul Bansal (AIR 2) spoke to the media regarding his take on the re-NEET Exam, the ongoing protests and his plans in medicine. Panshul mentioned that his score, as compared to the first NEET exam held on May 3, 2026, improved in the Re-NEET 2026 examination.
The news of the cancellation of the first exam was sad, and he questioned why such a thing happened. Speaking about his initial reaction to the cancellation of the NEET Exam, Panshul mentioned how he was sad about the news for a few hours but then regained composure and tried to look at it as an opportunity to improve his score.
According to his calculation in the previous exam, he would score 706 marks, and in the Re-NEET examination, Panshul managed to score 715 marks, making him the topper for this year's NEET Exam.
Advice from his mother helped a lot in terms of looking at the cancellation of the exam in a positive light, he says. His mother advised him to take the opportunity of the cancelled exam as extra time for him to improve his scores in the entrance exam. He mentioned that, like every student, he too feared what would happen in the next exam, but instead of taking the situation in a negative way, he tried to look at the good side, which eventually gave him the success he achieved.
Panshul met with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who congratulated him on his feat of achieving the top score in the NEET Exam.
Met Panshul Bansal from Haryana, who has secured AIR 2 in NEET UG 2026. Congratulated him on this outstanding achievement and wished him success in his career .
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) July 19, 2026
His accomplishment reflects the dedication, perseverance and aspiration of India's young minds. I am confident he… pic.twitter.com/siO8NhoE7l
Speaking about his interaction with the Education Minister, Panshul said that the minister asked him about his opinion on the exam and what more can be done to improve. Panshul responded and stated that since the exam has now moved to CBT mode from the next academic year onwards, there are far fewer chances of a paper leak. He was also of the opinion that tough exams like JEE Main will help in filtering out better students to the best colleges in the country. He stated that the difficulty level of the paper does not change for every student, and with CBT, he is of the opinion that exams will become much better.
Panshul has a strong inclination towards surgery as his future specialisation. Though there are a lot of aspects in surgery itself, he is doing proper research now to know more about the field to make an apt decision about what he wants to do ahead.
Sherin is an education journalist with over 7 years of experience. Over her tenure of working with top media houses like Careers 360 and then Jagran Josh, Sherin has covered various entrance examinations liek JEE Main, NEET, CUET, GATE, etc. as well as various state board and CBSE results. Her understanding of the education ecosystem coupled with her own experience of teaching as an Assistant Professor of nearly 2 years helps her provide a comprehensive perspective to students. She has a Masters Degree in Communication from Madras Christian College. Apart from covering education news, Sherin also enjoys reading and cooking.
