For Punjab’s Aryan Gupta, bagging All India Rank (AIR) 1 in NEET-UG 2026 is not the culmination of years of heard work, but the beginning of a much bigger dream. The 17-year old, who jointly topped the country’s biggest medical entrance examination with Haryana’s Panshul Bansal by securing 715 out of 720 marks. He says that his ultimate goal is to become an oncologist and help cancer patients. The reason behind this decision is the loss of his grandmother to the disease.
According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), Gupta and Bansal were the only candidates to secure the highest score of 714. They both are leading around 20 lakh aspirants, of whom 11.21 lakh qualified for admission in the undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH and allied courses.
‘This is just a stepping stone’
Calling the result “surreal”, Aryan mentioned that the achievement still feels like a dream and termed it as only the first milestone in a much longer journey.
“This is just a stepping stone. College is yet to begin. The real goal is to treat cancer patients and contribute towards curing cancer,” he said in an interview to PTI.
Aryan comes from a family deeply rooted in the medical profession. His father, Dr Sanjeev Gupta, is an anaesthesiologist, whereas his mother, Dr Neelu Gupta is a gynaecologist. His elder brother, who got AIR 54 in NEET earlier exam, is currently doing MBBS at NIMS.
Grandmother’s cancer battle shaped his dream
Aryan stated that his decision to pursue medicine, particularly was influenced by a personal tragedy.
He remembered losing his grandmother to stage4 cancer when he was in Class 3, an experience that left a lasting impression despite growing up in a family of doctors.
“Everyone in my family is a doctor, but even then we couldn’t save her because the cancer was diagnosed at a very last stage. That was the moment I pledged to become a cancer specialist and treat people suffering from the disease.”
16-17 hours of study during the final stretch
While speaking about his preparation, Aryan credited disciplined and consistent study rather than shortcuts. During the final phase before the examination, he said 16 to 17 hours a day studying along with coping with the pressure.
“I don’t think there was anything more I could have done. There were many nights when I couldn’t sleep because of the pressure. During the final phase of preparation, I studied for 16-17 hours a day,” he said.
For future aspirants, Aryan advised students to trust their teachers, remain disciplined and focus on their own preparation instead of looking for excuses.
As per him, sincere hard work, faith in one’s mentor, and perseverance are crucial to succeeding in competitive exams.
Here are the top ten rank holders
| AIR | Candidate | Gender | Category | Percentile | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aryan Gupta | Male | General | 99.9999 | Punjab |
| 2 | Panshul Bansal | Male | General | 99.9999 | Haryana |
| 3 | Uplakshya Goyal | Male | General | 99.99985 | Rajasthan |
| 4 | Ayush Bhalotia | Male | General | 99.99965 | Bihar |
| 5 | Kudale Shravani Krishna | Female | OBC-NCL (Central List) | 99.99965 | Maharashtra |
| 6 | Riya Ranjan | Female | OBC-NCL (Central List) | 99.99965 | Bihar |
| 7 | Aryan Dubey | Male | General | 99.99965 | Uttar Pradesh |
| 8 | Geetansh Sarin | Male | General | 99.99915 | Punjab |
| 9 | Gaurav Singh | Male | OBC-NCL (Central List) | 99.99915 | Rajasthan |
| 10 | Mohanish Maruti Bhosale | Male | General | 99.99915 | Maharashtra |
What the topper data reveals
The NTA’s topper analysis shows that this year’s highest performers shared several common characteristics.
While 19 candidates scored 700 marks or above, 138 candidates crossed the 690-mark mark. Of these, more than 93 per cent were appearing for NEET-UG for the first time, while 99 per cent were between 17 and 19 years of age. The top scorers came from 66 cities across the country.
The Top 17 candidates, all scoring above 705 marks, represented Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, according to the NTA.
The agency also said 17 state toppers scored 700 marks or above, while 26 crossed 690 marks. Among the Union Territories, Jigmet Yangchan Lamo topped Ladakh with 530 marks, Dhruv Tripathi led the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with 606 marks, while Fahmida Anees emerged as the topper from Lakshadweep with 573 marks.
The NTA said more than 58 per cent of all qualified candidates this year are women, with female candidates also recording a higher qualification rate than men. Uttar Pradesh produced the highest number of successful candidates, with more than 1.7 lakh qualifiers, according to the agency.
