MCC announces special stray round for about 2,000 vacant MBBS seats; registration from November 2

About 2,000 MBBS seats in medical institutions across the country remain vacant despite several rounds of NEET UG 2026 counselling. To fill them, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) have decided to hold a special stray vacancy round. The full schedule has been released on the MCC's official website.

The round is also meant to give relief to eligible students who missed out on admission because of low marks or by a narrow margin. Candidates who have qualified in NEET UG 2026 and have not yet got a seat can use the process, which begins on November 2, as another chance.

Seats remained unfilled even after several stages of counselling in medical colleges and deemed universities in states such as Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal and Rajasthan. Most of these seats are in private medical colleges and in Delhi University, where annual fees are very high. Some government seats have also stayed vacant. The MCC announced the special round at the request of institutions and state governments, with the permission of the National Medical Commission (NMC).

According to the MCC schedule, registration and fee payment will run from November 2 to 4, 2026. Registration will remain open until 3 pm, while fee payment will be available until 6 pm.

Choice filling will run from November 2 to 5, 2026, during which students can select their preferred colleges. Choice locking will begin at 4 pm on November 4 and continue until 11 am on November 5.

The MCC will release the final seat allotment result on November 7, 2026. Students who are allotted a seat must report to their college between November 7 and 5 pm on November 16.

Besides MBBS, the MCC has also issued a schedule for the remaining BDS and BSc Nursing seats. Registration has opened for the sixth round for both courses. Registration and choice filling will run from November 17 to 3 pm on November 19, 2026. Choice locking will run from 4 pm on November 18 to 9 am on November 19.

In this sixth round, seat allotment will take place on November 19 and the final result will come on November 20. Students can then report to their colleges between November 21 and November 28.