NEET UG 2026 Round 3 Vacancy — 6,191 AIQ Seats, College-wise

By Sampath Kumar · Updated 25 Sept 2026

MCC released the Clear Vacancy, Virtual Vacancy and Newly Added Seats files for Round 3 on 25 September 2026. 6,191 seats are clear vacant across 605 institutes, against 11,302 at the start of Round 2 — 5,111 fewer, a 45.2% fall. Every figure below is counted from MCC’s own files and reconciles with their printed totals.

Round 3 result: out — MCC published the final list on 1 October 2026. College-wise closing ranks and what moved since Round 2 →

Stray vacancy round: NEW special stray round for MBBS (+ 5th round BDS / B.Sc Nursing): 1,219 seats (946 MBBS); register 2–4 Nov, choices till 5 Nov 11 AM, result 7 Nov. Seats college-wise → · Schedule · first stray round: 3,108 allotted, closing ranks

Round 2 vs Round 3 — where the seats went

The vacancy pool shrank by 5,111 seats (45.2%) between the two rounds. It did not shrink evenly: government AIQ seats went faster than deemed seats, which is the pattern every year.

Where the vacancy actually is

Deemed universities hold 3,608 of the 6,191 seats (58.3%) and government AIQ colleges 2,168 (35.0%). Read the national figure with that split in mind.

By course

By category

MCC publishes the vacancy category by category. 4,742 of the 6,191 seats (76.6%) are open-category; 243 across all categories carry a PwD designation.

State-wise Round 3 vacancy

Tamil Nadu alone holds 1,532 seats and Puducherry 471 — together 2,003, or 32.4% of the national pool.

Tamil Nadu & Puducherry — college by college

2,003 of the 6,191 seats (32.4%) sit in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, more than any other part of the country, spread over 76 colleges. Largest vacancy first.

Seats new to Round 3

MCC added 183 seats that were not in Round 2 at all, in a separate file issued the same day.

Round 3 schedule

From MCC’s UG AIQ Counselling Schedule 2026 — Round 2, 3 and 4 dated 14 September 2026. Choice filling closed at 12 noon on 28 September; MCC is processing allotments and the result is due on 30 September.

How to use this list

1. Read clear and virtual side by side. Clear vacancy is today’s position; virtual vacancy is MCC’s projection once upgrade movement is counted. They are not nested, so check both for every college on your list.

2. Order by preference, not by expected rank. MCC allots strictly down your list and stops at the first choice your rank reaches.

3. Check the deemed fee before you list it. 58.3% of Round 3 vacancy is in deemed universities; look at the full-course fee, not the first year.

4. Read the exit rules for your quota. Free exit, forfeiture and security-deposit rules differ by round and by quota, and Round 3 is stricter than Round 2.

Frequently asked questions

Source

Counted row by row from MCC’s own Round 3 files on mcc.nic.in, all dated 25 September 2026: Clear Vacancy Round 3 (MBBS BDS B.Sc Nursing) (93 pages), Virtual Vacancy Round 3 (142 pages) and Newly Added Seats Round 3. Our totals reconcile exactly with the grand-total line MCC prints in each file — 6,191, 10,808 and 183 seats. Vacancy moves as allotment runs; verify on mcc.nic.in before you lock. Checked 29 September 2026.