The NExT exam has not replaced FMGE yet: as of November 2026, no NExT has been held and the National Medical Commission has published no official start date. Foreign medical graduates still take FMGE, and their degree must meet the NMC FMGL Regulations 2021, which decide whether a course in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan counts in India.
The National Exit Test (NExT) is a planned common final-year MBBS exam in India that would do three jobs at once: license doctors to practise, rank them for postgraduate seats, and replace the separate screening test for foreign medical graduates. It is written into Section 15 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which says that a person with a foreign medical qualification must pass NExT to get a licence and be entered in the register.
The idea is one standard for everyone. An Indian student from a government college in Delhi and an Indian student from a university in Kazan would sit the same paper. Today they do not: the Indian graduate finishes university exams, while the foreign graduate must also pass FMGE.
No. As of November 2026, NExT has not been held, and FMGE is still the licensing exam for foreign medical graduates. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) ran FMGE in June 2026 and the information bulletin for that session does not change the rules because of NExT.
The official record shows a long list of missed starts. The NMC Act gave the government three years from 2020 to start NExT. A Gazette order in September 2022 (the National Medical Commission (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2022) extended that to four years, meaning by September 2024. NMC notified NExT regulations in June 2023, then withdrew them after the Health Ministry intervened, and asked for public comments on new draft regulations in January 2024. That date also passed without an exam.
In December 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health repeated its recommendation that NExT be introduced and asked a reconstituted committee to report on schedule, but did not name a date. In a Rajya Sabha answer reported in January 2026, the Minister of State for Health, Anupriya Patel, described the current route for foreign graduates as FMGE plus a compulsory internship in India.
No official NExT exam date has been published by NMC, the Health Ministry or the Gazette of India as of November 2026. You will see dates such as 2027, 2028 or 2029 on YouTube and agency sites. We could not find any of them in an NMC public notice, a Gazette notification or a Parliament answer, so treat them as guesses.
Several news reports from late 2025 quote the NMC chairman saying the Commission wants to run mock tests and "perfect the model" before a full rollout. That fits the official picture: NExT is planned, but it has no start date.
For a student starting MBBS abroad in 2026 or 2027, the honest answer is that you may graduate under FMGE or under NExT, and you should prepare for a clinical, problem-based exam either way. The table compares what is official today with what the NMC Act says about NExT.
| Point | FMGE (in force) | NExT (planned) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Screening Test Regulations 2002 and FMGL Regulations 2021 | Section 15, NMC Act 2019; regulations not in force |
| Who sits it | Only foreign medical graduates | All MBBS graduates, Indian and foreign |
| Run by | NBEMS | NMC through a designated authority |
| Format | 300 MCQs, two parts of 150, English only, no negative marking | Not final |
| Pass mark | 150 out of 300 | Not final |
| Attempts | No limit; once you pass, you cannot sit it again | Not final |
| Used for PG entrance | No (NEET PG is separate) | Yes, by law |
| Start date | Held in June and December | No official date as of November 2026 |
To sit FMGE you must be an Indian citizen or an Overseas Citizen of India with a primary medical qualification recognised in the country that awarded it and confirmed by the Indian Embassy there. Under the June 2026 information bulletin, your final university result had to be declared on or before 30 April 2026.
FMGE is hard, and recent sessions show it. In June 2026, NBEMS results listed 4,635 candidates as passed, out of about 36,280 who sat the exam. In a Lok Sabha answer on 7 August 2026, the Health Ministry put the overall pass rate at 12.78% and said that first-time candidates passed at more than 35%. In December 2025, 10,264 of 43,933 candidates passed, about 23%.
Many of the people who fail are repeat candidates, which pulls the overall figure down. The first-attempt rate is the more useful number for a new student.
NBEMS publishes yearly institute-wise FMGE performance reports on its statistics page. The country totals below for 2024 (both sessions combined) are a media compilation of those reports by Careers360; we could not recheck each line ourselves, so use them as a rough guide, not an official ranking.
| Country | Appeared (2024) | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 11,276 | 3,331 | 29.5% |
| Kazakhstan | 5,018 | 1,261 | 25.1% |
| Kyrgyzstan | 15,135 | 3,792 | 25.1% |
| Uzbekistan | 490 | 197 | 40.2% |
A country average hides large gaps between universities. Ask the university for its own FMGE record by year and check it against the NBEMS institute-wise report before you pay.
The NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 came into force on 18 November 2021 and apply to every Indian student who began a foreign medical course on or after that date. If your degree breaks one condition, you cannot get permanent registration in India, even if you pass FMGE or NExT. NMC's own FAQ and the Minister's Rajya Sabha answer list the same conditions:
Two more rules catch many students. The whole course, training and internship must be done in one institution in one country, so no part may be done in India or a third country. And the full course must be finished within ten years of joining.
The FMGL rules do not approve or ban countries. They test each programme, so the right question is not "Is Kyrgyzstan allowed?" but "Does this university's programme meet all seven conditions, in writing?"
Russian medical degrees run for six years under the state standard 31.05.01 General Medicine (Order No. 988 of 12 August 2020), so the 54-month rule is usually met. RUDN University, for example, states in its official programme document that its English-medium General Medicine course lasts six years. The licence question works through Russian law: under Federal Law No. 323-FZ, Article 69, a person educated at a Russian university gets the right to practise after passing specialist accreditation. Check that your English-medium track lets you take that accreditation, and ask how the 12-month internship requirement is shown in your transcript.
Both countries host large numbers of Indian students, and FMGE results from both are close to the average. Course structures differ between universities, and some programmes have been reorganised in recent years. Before you join, ask for the official curriculum, the length of the degree in months, and a written statement on whether foreign graduates can get a licence to practise there on the same terms as citizens.
On 1 April 2026 NMC issued an advisory for Indian students considering medical universities in Uzbekistan, after the Embassy of India in Tashkent raised concerns about admissions above approved capacity, clinical training and the language of instruction at specific institutions. The Embassy later said the advisory was a precaution, not a ban. Read the advisory on nmc.org.in yourself before choosing a university there.
Across all four countries, the weakest points are usually the language used on hospital wards and the separate 12-month internship. Univenter connects applicants directly with universities and checks documents before submission, which helps you get the curriculum and internship terms in writing from the university itself.
We found only two video sources on this topic, and both speakers sell admission or counselling services for medical study, so we do not quote them. We used their claims only as leads and checked each one.
No. As of November 2026, NExT has not been held and foreign medical graduates still take FMGE, conducted by NBEMS. The NMC Act says NExT will replace it once it starts, but no start date is official.
FMGE is held twice a year, in June and December. The June 2026 session was held on 28 June 2026; check natboard.edu.in for the December 2026 notice and dates.
They apply if you joined a foreign medical course on or after 18 November 2021. Students who joined earlier stay under the Screening Test Regulations 2002, but still do a compulsory internship in India.
Not as a replacement. FMGL requires 12 months of internship in the same foreign institution, and then a further 12 months of supervised internship in India after you pass FMGE.
A Russian degree can be valid if the specific programme meets every FMGL condition: at least 54 months, English medium, required subjects, the 12-month internship and a licence to practise in Russia. Check each one with the university in writing.
Last updated: 1 November 2026. Fees and regulations change; check the official sources above before you apply.
MBBS in Kazakhstan costs about US$4,000 to US$6,700 a year in tuition at public medical universities, for example 3,000,000 KZT at Astana Medical University in 2026/27. Students admitted since 2023 study a 6-year programme with a 12-month internship, which fits the NMC rules on paper. Check the price list, the English requirement and your hostel before you pay.
MBBS in Kyrgyzstan fees at accredited universities start at about US$3,000 a year for tuition, and from US$3,500 at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, as of November 2026. Since 2026 only universities that passed state accreditation may enrol students. Before you apply, check accreditation, the 12-month internship the NMC requires, and the safety situation in Bishkek.
An MBBS in Russia for Nigerian students leads to a licence in Nigeria only after you pass the MDCN Assessment Examination for foreign-trained graduates (₦250,000) and complete 12 months of housemanship. The Russian school must be in the World Directory of Medical Schools, and you need proof that you may practise in Russia. English-medium tuition costs about ₦6.3 million to ₦20.1 million a year as of November 2026.
Create a free applicant account. We check your documents before submission, and a Univenter coordinator guides you to enrolment.