The last All India round of NEET UG 2026 counselling is due to open on 12 October. Under the Medical Counselling Committee's (MCC) schedule, the online Stray Vacancy Round will fill seats left after Round 3 in the All India Quota and in deemed, central and other institutions that MCC counsels for, and the result is due on 17 October.

This guide sets out the dates, who can take part, the fees and the rules on joining, using MCC's UG AIQ counselling schedule for Rounds 2, 3 and 4 dated 14 September and the revised UG Counselling 2026 information bulletin dated 20 August. MCC calls the schedule tentative and can revise it, so check mcc.nic.in before each step.

Stray round dates

Registration and payment run from 12 October to 14 October. Registration closes at 3:00 PM on 14 October, while the payment facility stays open until 6:00 PM that day, as per server time.

Choice filling runs from 12 October to 10:00 AM on 15 October. Choice locking opens at 4:00 PM on 14 October and closes at 10:00 AM on 15 October.

Seat allotment will be processed on 15 and 16 October, and the result is due on 17 October. Allotted candidates must report to their colleges between 19 and 26 October 2026. MCC has told participating institutes to treat Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted holidays as working days during counselling, so reporting days include the weekend.

The schedule covers MBBS, BDS and B.Sc Nursing seats under the 15 percent All India Quota and 100 percent seats in deemed and central universities, AIIMS, JIPMER Puducherry and Karaikal, and other institutions on MCC's list.

The stray round follows Round 3, whose final allotment MCC published on 1 October. Reporting for Round 3 began on 2 October, as covered in the MCC NEET UG Round 3 final allotment report. Seats that stay empty after Round 3 joining, along with deemed university vacancies, are what the stray round will offer.

Who can join

The stray round needs fresh registration and fresh choice filling. A Round 3 login does not carry over. The bulletin says this in its frequently asked questions and repeats it in the section on the final stray vacancy round.

The bulletin lists three groups who are not eligible. They are candidates who have not registered for the stray round, candidates who have joined or are holding any seat at the time of the stray round, and candidates allotted a seat in Round 3 by MCC who did not report. Everyone outside those three groups is eligible.

There is one more filter. After Round 3, MCC shares data with the Centre and the states. Any candidate whose name appears on the allotted list of either the Centre or a state is eliminated from the All India stray round. A student holding a state quota seat, then, cannot use the stray round to try for an AIQ seat.

Candidates freshly registered in Round 3 who did not get a seat are eligible for the stray round, according to the bulletin's notes on Round 3.

Fees and the security deposit

Fees depend on the seats a candidate wants. For deemed universities, the non-refundable registration fee is Rs 5,000 for all candidates and the refundable security amount is Rs 2,00,000.

For the All India Quota, central universities such as Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University and Jamia Millia Islamia, AFMC, ESI, AIIMS, JIPMER and B.Sc Nursing, the registration fee is Rs 1,000 for UR and EWS candidates and Rs 500 for SC, ST, OBC and PwD candidates. The security amount is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. A candidate opting for both groups pays only the higher fee.

The deposit is where the stray round bites. The bulletin says a candidate allotted a seat in the stray round has to join it. A candidate who does not join loses the security deposit and is not eligible for any further round. For a deemed university applicant, that means Rs 2 lakh at stake.

Planning your choices

Fill only seats you will actually take. Earlier rounds left some room to exit, at a cost. The stray round leaves none. Look at fees, bond conditions and stipends college by college before you lock, since the bulletin says these vary by state and institution and MCC will not entertain complaints on those grounds later.

MCC also shares stray round allotment data with states, so that those candidates are weeded out of state stray rounds. An AIQ stray round seat, in practice, closes the door on state stray rounds as well.

Those still in state processes should keep both calendars in view. Kerala's third phase for MBBS and BDS, set out in the Kerala third phase option registration report, and Tamil Nadu's Round 3, covered in the Tamil Nadu MBBS and BDS Round 3 story, are separate from MCC's process and carry their own rules.

Students who joined a Round 3 seat should know where they stand. The bulletin says that after Round 3 all candidates have to join the allotted seat, and a candidate who joins is not allowed to resign. That is why those holding a seat are kept out of the stray round.

Keep the NEET UG 2026 scorecard, admit card, Class 10 and 12 documents, category and PwD certificates and identity proof ready before 12 October, and make sure the bank account used for payment is the one you want any refund to go back to.