New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the NEET-UG examination will shift to a computer-based test (CBT) mode from 2027, replacing the existing pen-and-paper format.

The submission was made before a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, which is hearing a batch of petitions related to the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak that led to cancellation of the May 3 examination.

In an affidavit, the NTA said a High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE), headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, had recommended transitioning NEET-UG to CBT mode along with multi-session and multi-stage testing.

The agency said NEET-UG 2026 was the only major NTA examination conducted in pen-and-paper mode, primarily due to the scheme prescribed by the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission, while all other major examinations are already held in CBT format.

"The transition will be implemented from the next examination cycle in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the affidavit said.

The NTA informed the court that the HLCE, constituted by the Ministry of Education in June 2024 to recommend reforms in the agency, had submitted a report containing 101 recommendations in October last year.

It said a High-Powered Steering Committee under Radhakrishnan was subsequently formed to ensure time-bound implementation of the reforms.

The NTA said the re-examination scheduled for June 21 would be conducted under a strengthened standard operating procedure framework with multi-layer authentication, surveillance and inter-agency coordination.

The agency also informed the court that AI-based tools would be used for at least 85 per cent of translation work in future examinations to reduce human intervention and minimise security risks.