National Exit Test
NExT Exam for MBBS: Status, Pattern & What It Means
NExT is deferred, and FMGE remains the qualifying exam for foreign medical graduates. Here is what has actually been confirmed, and what has not.
Status as of 17 September 2026
Is NExT replacing FMGE? Not yet — FMGE is still the exam
NExT — not in force
- One exam taken by Indian and foreign medical graduates alike
- A single exam that is both the licence to practise and the postgraduate entrance
- Two steps — a theory paper, then a practical and viva voce
- No sitting has been held, and none has been scheduled
FMGE — the exam in force today
- The qualifying exam for foreign medical graduates, being conducted now
- One multiple-choice paper — register, sit, qualify
- Kept in force for provisional registration and for entry in the National Medical Register
- This is the exam to prepare for
- NExT, as of 17 September 2026
- Deferred
- FMGE, today
- In force
- NExT sittings held to date
- 0
What is the NExT exam? Full form and purpose
NExT stands for the National Exit Test. It is a common exit and licentiate examination proposed under the National Medical Commission Act, designed to do three jobs with one exam: grant the licence to practise medicine in India, serve as the entrance for postgraduate admission, and replace the separate screening test that foreign medical graduates currently sit.
That last job is why it matters here. If NExT is implemented as described, an Indian graduate and a foreign medical graduate would take the same exam — which is the whole argument for it, and also why it has proved difficult to bring into force.
NExT vs FMGE: which exam do foreign medical graduates take?
The short answer is FMGE, and it will stay FMGE until NMC brings NExT into force. The longer answer is worth reading if you are deciding when to sit.
| FMGE | NExT | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Being conducted now | Deferred, no sitting held |
| Who sits it | Foreign medical graduates only | All MBBS graduates, Indian and foreign |
| What it grants | Eligibility for provisional registration | Licence to practise, and PG entrance |
| Structure | One multiple-choice paper | Two steps: theory, then practical |
| Do you prepare for it? | Yes — this is your exam | Not yet |
If you are preparing now, nothing here changes your plan. The FMGE exam pattern and pass mark is what to work from, and what happens after you pass covers registration and the internship year that follows.
NExT exam pattern: Step 1 and Step 2
Two steps, taken at different points in a graduate's training, and competency-based rather than recall-based by design.
NExT Step 1 — Multiple-choice, theory
A single national multiple-choice paper taken at the end of the MBBS course, covering the clinical subjects. Passing Step 1 is what would make a graduate eligible for internship and for postgraduate admission.
Indicative date: February 2028 — taken from NMC's Competency-Based Medical Education regulations and the academic calendar published with them, which describes when the 2024 MBBS batch would reach this step. It is not an announced exam date, and it is not confirmed.
NExT Step 2 — Practical, clinical and viva voce
A practical and clinical examination with a viva voce, taken after the internship and assessed across seven clinical disciplines. Passing Step 2 is what would grant the licence to practise.
Indicative date: February 2029 — taken from NMC's Competency-Based Medical Education regulations and the academic calendar published with them, which describes when the 2024 MBBS batch would reach this step. It is not an announced exam date, and it is not confirmed.
NExT syllabus: what has actually been published
Medicine and allied disciplines
Surgery and allied disciplines
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Paediatrics
Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedics
There is no official NExT syllabus document with topic weightings.
Any site showing you a detailed NExT syllabus with mark distributions has built it from the MBBS curriculum themselves. Treat it as one reading of a curriculum, not as a published exam syllabus. Checked at nmc.org.in on 17 September 2026.
NExT exam date: what is indicative and what is confirmed
NExT Step 1
NExT Step 2
NExT registration: has it opened?
No. There is no registration portal, no application window and no fee, because no sitting has been scheduled.
Nothing that asks you to register or pay for NExT today is official.
Registration for a national examination is opened by a notification, on a government portal. Until that exists, any NExT registration form, counselling package or seat-booking offer is someone selling you a place in an exam that has not been scheduled. Checked at nmc.org.in on 17 September 2026.
What you can register for today is FMGE. How to apply for FMGE covers the process, the documents and the fee.
Your FMGE preparation starts today.
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NExT exam: frequently asked questions
NExT stands for the National Exit Test. It is a common exit and licentiate examination proposed under the National Medical Commission Act, intended to become the single exam that grants a licence to practise medicine in India and to serve as the entrance for postgraduate admission.
That is the intent, but it has not happened. NExT is deferred, and NMC’s draft registration regulations keep FMGE as the qualifying examination for foreign medical graduates until NExT comes into force. FMGE is the exam you sit today.
FMGE. NExT is not being conducted, no candidate has sat it, and the draft regulations retain FMGE for provisional registration and for entry in the National Medical Register until NExT is implemented. Prepare for FMGE.
No sitting has been confirmed. The academic calendar published with NMC’s competency-based regulations points to Step 1 in February 2028 and Step 2 in February 2029 for the 2024 MBBS batch, but those are indicative dates for a cohort reaching the exam, not announced exam dates — and NExT has been postponed more than once already.
Two steps. Step 1 is a national multiple-choice theory paper taken at the end of the MBBS course, and passing it would make a graduate eligible for internship and for postgraduate admission. Step 2 is a practical, clinical and viva voce examination taken after the internship, assessed across seven clinical disciplines, and passing it would grant the licence to practise.
Not in the sense candidates mean. NMC has described the structure of the exam and the disciplines Step 2 covers, but no separate NExT syllabus document has been published — the competency-based MBBS curriculum is the stated basis. Any site showing you a detailed NExT syllabus with mark distributions has built it themselves.
No. There is no registration portal, no application window and no fee, because no sitting has been scheduled. Nothing that asks you to register or pay for NExT today is official.
