NEET PG 2026 Round 1: 582 seats went unallotted, 566 in deemed colleges

NEET PG 2026 Round 1 left 582 seats without an allotment. That is 2.2% of the 26,104 seats we can count with certainty, and 566 of the 582 are deemed university management seats. Every All India Quota (AIQ) seat in the Round 1 seat matrix was allotted, as was every DNB and diploma seat.

We compared MCC's Round 1 seat matrix with the Round 1 final allotment result of 24 October, seat by seat. Joining for Round 1 closes today, 2 November. Round 2 registration runs from 6 to 11 November (until 12 noon) and the Round 2 result is due on 14 November, according to MCC's schedule.

How we counted

A seat counts as unallotted when the Round 1 seat matrix lists more seats for a college, course, quota and category than MCC allotted in the Round 1 result.

We only count seats where that comparison is certain:

• every AIQ seat, every central university quota seat (Delhi University, IP University, BHU, AMU), every Muslim and Jain minority quota seat, every DNB seat and every NBE diploma seat;
• 2,723 deemed management seats at colleges and courses that have no separate NRI quota.

We leave out the other 3,048 deemed management seats. At those colleges, NRI seats may be counted inside the deemed seat number, so a gap in the count would not prove an empty seat. The real number of empty deemed seats can therefore be higher than 566.

Allotted is not the same as joined. Seats freed by candidates who don't join their Round 1 seat, or who upgrade in Round 2, are added to the count MCC uses for Round 2.

Where the empty seats are

Quota	Seats counted	Not allotted in Round 1
All India Quota	13,471	0
DNB (post-MBBS)	6,658	0
NBE diploma	2,409	0
Deemed management seats	2,723	566
Central university quotas (DU, IP, BHU, AMU)	749	15
Muslim and Jain minority quotas	94	1

The 566 empty management seats are spread over 49 deemed colleges. Four states hold most of them: Tamil Nadu (188), Karnataka (126), Maharashtra (96) and Puducherry (68).

Which branches were left

Almost all empty seats are in pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects, plus Anaesthesiology and a smaller number in General Surgery and Orthopaedics. Across all quotas, no counted seat in Radio Diagnosis, General Medicine, Dermatology, OBG, Paediatrics or Psychiatry was left unallotted.

Branch (deemed management seats)	Counted	Not allotted	Share empty	Median annual fee
Pathology	360	138	38%	₹13 lakh
Anaesthesiology	499	112	22%	₹30 lakh
Community Medicine (SPM)	155	87	56%	₹5 lakh
Microbiology	113	50	44%	₹5 lakh
Pharmacology	138	44	32%	₹5 lakh
General Surgery	163	38	23%	₹40 lakh
Biochemistry	48	23	48%	₹1 lakh
Physiology	36	20	56%	₹3 lakh
Orthopaedics	98	18	18%	₹43 lakh

In these branches, the management seats that were filled went to candidates with All India Ranks as late as about 1.5 to 1.6 lakh. Seats stayed empty even though candidates that far down the merit list took part. Fees are the annual fees in our seat data; check the college's own fee notice before you choose.

Here are the Pathology management seats with their Round 1 closing ranks:

What it means for Round 2

• If your rank is late, deemed management seats in these branches are realistic. Round 1 already shows seats that no one took. Filter the cutoff explorer to management seats with vacancies to see them by college.
• Clinical branches will not open up from empty seats. In Radiology, Medicine, Dermatology, OBG, Paediatrics and Psychiatry, any Round 2 movement will come from candidates who don't join or who upgrade, not from seats nobody wanted. Our Round 2 expected cutoff analysis shows how far those seats moved in past years.
• Check the fee first. The cheapest empty seats are in Community Medicine, Microbiology and Pharmacology (about ₹5 lakh a year). Anaesthesiology and General Surgery seats cost ₹30–40 lakh a year. The deemed university cutoff page lists fees next to each seat.
• No new registration if you got no seat. Candidates who registered for Round 1 but were not allotted a seat don't need to register again for Round 2, according to MCC's information bulletin. Everyone has to fill and lock choices again.

A later closing rank means a seat was easier to get. In this article, "unallotted" means no candidate was allotted the seat in Round 1. It does not mean the seat will be empty in Round 2.