Karnataka NEET-UG 2026 Round 3: What KEA Has Confirmed

KEA will run a third round of Karnataka NEET-UG 2026 counselling for MBBS and BDS — it says so in writing — but as of 23 September 2026 it has published no schedule for it: no option-entry window, no result date. Round 2 is fully over. This page sets out exactly what KEA has confirmed, who its notices say can take part, what giving up a seat now costs, and what to do while the date is awaited.

Verified against KEA's UGNEET 2026 portal on 23 September 2026. Every fact below links to the KEA document it comes from.

What KEA has confirmed

The evidence for Round 3 is KEA's 17 September notice itself: it states that seats cancelled in that window are considered for the third round, and its penalty table is written around "the last date to enter the options for the 3rd round". On the same day KEA published the list of medical seats left vacant after Round 2 — the pool a third round runs against. We do not transcribe counts from that list; open KEA's file for your college and category.

Who KEA's notices say can take part

KEA publishes the full participation rule for a round in that round's schedule notification, and that has not been issued. Until it is, these are the only statements KEA has made:

1. If you hold a Round-2 final seat and want a better one, the 16 September notice says an upgrade is taken by logging in at Round 3. After the Round-2 final result there is no Choice-4, and admission to the allotted seat was compulsory — so the seat you reported to is the one you hold while you wait.
2. If you cancelled your seat in the 17–20 September window, KEA says you may take part in the third round of medical and dental courses if you are interested, with conditions applying.
3. If you never registered, Round 3 is not your entry point. KEA's registration notice of 16 July 2026 says there is no fresh registration at Rounds 2 and 3; the next fresh-registration window is the stray-vacancy round.

Anything beyond those three sentences — whether an unallotted candidate from Round 2 is automatically in, whether options carry over, what "conditions apply" covers — is for the Round-3 notification to say, and this page will not guess it.

If you are thinking of giving up a seat: what KEA's penalty table says

The cancellation window closed at 5:00 PM on 20 September, and KEA has published no other route to cancel. Its 17 September notice still sets out what cancelling costs at each stage of the season:

The step between the first two rows is "the last date to enter the options for the 3rd round" — a date KEA has not set. That is why nobody can yet tell you which band a cancellation would fall in. Read KEA's notice itself before acting on money of this size.

What a Round-3 seat costs

The fee is fixed by the Government Orders in KEA's 2026-27 fee structure, not by the round. For government-quota seats in private medical colleges the order sets MBBS at Rs 1,41,621 a year, printed college-wise as Rs 1,53,571; government medical colleges print Rs 64,350. Every college's figure, by quota, is on our MBBS and BDS fees page, transcribed from KEA's MBBS fee structure and BDS fee structure.

What to do now

1. If you reported to a Round-2 seat, keep your seat confirmation slip and fee receipt safe. You are admitted; an upgrade at Round 3 is an option, not a requirement.
2. Open the vacant-seat list for the colleges you would move for, in your category. If nothing on it is better than your seat, Round 3 has nothing for you.
3. Watch KEA's UGNEET portal, not social media. KEA sends no individual intimation — a new round appears as a dated row on its portal. Our counselling tracker re-reads it daily and dates every change.
4. Nobody sells Round-3 seats. KEA allots them on merit through its own portal. Anyone offering a "confirmed Round-3 seat" for money is not describing KEA counselling.
5. If you missed Round-2 reporting, contact KEA directly. KEA has published no remedy, and we will not invent one.

How this fits with MCC

All-India-quota seats are counselled separately by the Medical Counselling Committee; this page covers only Karnataka's state counselling run by KEA. KEA's 10 September notice was written for exactly the student holding seats in both, and its choices then were the ones that mattered — they have now closed on the KEA side.

Questions students are asking

When is Karnataka NEET Round 3 2026? Not announced. As of 23 September 2026 KEA has confirmed the round in writing but printed no date for option entry or allotment. We add it to the tracker the day KEA publishes it.

Is there a mop-up round in Karnataka NEET counselling? KEA's notices this year name a stray-vacancy round after Round 3 — it appears in the penalty table, and it is where KEA's registration notice places the next fresh-registration window. No date for it has been published either.

Can I still register for Karnataka NEET counselling? Not for Round 3. KEA's 16 July registration notice says there is no fresh registration at Rounds 2 and 3; the stray-vacancy round is the next one.

Will my Round-2 options carry over to Round 3? KEA has not said. The Round-3 schedule notification decides it — read it when it comes, and log in and save during any window it opens.

Where are the closing ranks? Our NEET counselling guide carries KEA's 2026 Round-1 provisional closing ranks by seat type, and the NEET Karnataka cut-offs carry the 2024 closing ranks by college — the round and year are printed beside every figure.

Related: NEET Karnataka counselling guide · MBBS in Karnataka · BDS in Karnataka · Admission alerts