NEET UG Round 3 Vacancy 2026 — Every Seat MCC Has Put Back on the Table

MCC published the Round 3 vacancy on 23 September 2026, the day choice filling opened, and re-issued revised files on 25 September 2026 — this page uses the revised set. 6,191 seats are clear vacant across 605 institutes — 5,480 MBBS, 597 BDS and 114 B.Sc Nursing. A separate virtual-vacancy file carries 10,808, and 183 seats are new to this round. This page breaks the file down by who holds the seats, where they are and what that means for your options now that choice filling has closed (noon, 28 September) and the result is due on 30 September.

How much smaller Round 3 is

Round 2 opened with 11,302 clear vacant seats. Round 3 opens with 6,191. That is 5,111 seats absorbed in one round, and it changes what a realistic choice list looks like: the colleges that were comfortably reachable three weeks ago are, in many cases, simply no longer on the list.

Who is holding the Round 3 seats

This is the table to read before any other. A large national vacancy figure does not mean government seats are going spare — most of what is left is priced, not competed for.

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.

The states that hold it

Vacancy concentrates hard. Ten states hold most of it; everything else is one row, because at a handful of seats per state the distinction stops mattering when you are ordering choices.

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. Listed alphabetically, so you can find a specific college rather than read a ranking.

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.

Three things worth doing before you lock

1. Read both columns, not just clear vacancy. A college at zero clear vacancy can still allot if upgrade movement frees a seat, and a healthy clear figure can come with a thin virtual one. The college-wise table carries both.
2. Price the deemed options first. They are the majority of what is left. Look up the full course fee, not the first-year figure, before you rank one above a government seat elsewhere.
3. Order by preference, not by prediction. Allotment walks your list in order and stops at the first reachable choice. A college you would actually attend must never sit below one you would not.

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.