Uttar Pradesh has opened Round 1 choice filling for NEET UG 2026, and the registration window closes today. Online registration and document upload end at 2:00 PM on 2 September 2026, and the registration fee and security money must reach the portal by 3:00 PM the same day. Choice filling then runs from 5:00 PM on 2 September to 5:00 PM on 5 September.
The dates come from two orders issued by the Director General, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh on 1 September 2026. They cover state quota MBBS and BDS seats in government and private medical and dental colleges of the state.
Round 1 dates
- Online registration and document upload: 1 September 2026 (from 5:00 PM) to 2 September 2026 (till 2:00 PM)
- Registration fee and security money: 1 September 2026 (from 5:00 PM) to 2 September 2026 (till 3:00 PM)
- Merit list: 2 September 2026
- Online choice filling: 2 September 2026 (from 5:00 PM) to 5 September 2026 (till 5:00 PM)
- Seat allotment result: 7 September 2026
- Allotment letter download and admission: 8 September to 14 September 2026
You cannot fill choices until you pay the security money
The state policy order for 2026-27 is blunt about this: candidates who have not deposited the security money are not eligible for choice filling. The registration fee is ₹2,000 and is not refundable. The security money depends on which seats you want:
- Government medical or dental colleges: ₹30,000
- Private medical colleges: ₹2,00,000
- Private dental colleges: ₹1,00,000
If you want to be considered for both government and private seats, medical and dental together, you pay only ₹2,00,000. If you want government and private dental seats alone, ₹1,00,000 covers you. The money is paid online, and it comes back to the same account if you end up with no seat after all the rounds.
Round 1 is a free exit, later rounds are not
If Round 1 allots you a seat and you decide not to take it, your security money is returned in full, and you can still take part in Round 2 or Round 3. That safety net closes after Round 1. From Round 2 onwards, not joining an allotted seat costs you the whole security money. After Round 3, a candidate who leaves a private college seat also forfeits half the tuition fee already paid.
This is why Round 1 is the round to be ambitious in. You can rank the colleges you actually want without risking the deposit. Our NEET rank predictor and the Uttar Pradesh closing ranks for past years will tell you which of those choices are realistic at your rank, and there is a separate view for BDS closing ranks in the state.
Two things that catch candidates out
First, private colleges in UP do not require you to be a state domicile. Government college state quota seats do, but private medical and dental colleges and minority institutions are open to candidates who passed High School and Intermediate anywhere in India.
Second, candidates who were allotted a seat in the UP NEET UG 2025 state vacancy or special state vacancy round and did not join are not allowed to take part in the 2026 counselling at all.
The wider rulebook, including reservation, document rules and what happens at each round, sits in the state policy order. We have set it out separately in our Uttar Pradesh counselling guide.
What to do now
- If you have not registered, do it at upneet.gov.in before 2:00 PM today, and pay the fee and security money before 3:00 PM.
- Pick the security money slab that matches the seats you want. Paying ₹30,000 locks you out of private college choices.
- Keep your High School and Intermediate marksheets, reservation certificate and domicile certificate ready to upload. OBC and EWS certificates must be issued on or after 1 April 2026.
- Choose your document verification nodal centre carefully at registration. You are tied to it later.
- Fill choices between 5:00 PM today and 5:00 PM on 5 September. Do not leave it to the last hour.
Official links
- Extended time schedule for Round 1 online registration, UP NEET UG 2026 (PDF)
- Time schedule for Round 1 choice filling and admission, UP NEET UG 2026 (PDF)
- UP NEET UG 2026 admission policy government order, 1 September 2026 (PDF)
- UP NEET counselling portal, upneet.gov.in
- Directorate General, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh
Related: the UP counselling rules for 2026-27 and what every private college now charges
Source: Director General, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh — Extended Time Schedule of First Round of Online Counseling Registration for UP NEET UG-2026 (No. ME-3/2026/1590), Time Schedule for the Choice Filling and Admission Process for the First Round under UP NEET UG-2026 (No. ME-3/2026/1605), and UP NEET UG 2026 policy government order (No. I/1448377/2026/71-4099/1011/2022), all dated 1 September 2026.