What is an APAAR ID? NTA mandates Aadhaar verification to enhance integrity of NEET UG 2025

NEW DELHI: The Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), introduced by the ministry of education, is an initiative to help track the academic records of around 30 crore students in India from school to higher education. In an effort to support this initiative, the NTA has urged students to use Apaar ID and Aadhaar-authentication during NEET UG 2025 registration and exam process.

On Tuesday evening, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for undergraduate (NEET UG 2025) registration will begin in “due course of time”. Before the NEET UG application process, the NTA has informed aspirants about the integration of APAAR IDs with NEET UG 2025 .

“Updated credentials are highly recommended for ease of verification, registration process and to enhance the integrity of the examination process. NEET (UG)-2025 registration process shall be starting in due course of time,” the NTA said.

Multiple malpractices and discrepancies have marred the NEET UG exam for years now and has especially highlighted the paper leaks. The decision to use APAAR ID and Aadhaar authentication comes after the NEET UG paper leak allegations levelled against the NTA last year during the Supreme Court hearing.

What is APAAR ID?

APAAR is an initiative that was introduced in line with the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) and the National Credit Framework (NCrF). Like Aadhaar, every student in India will be assigned an unique 12-digit identity number for consolidating their academic achievements.

The APAAR ID embodies the vision of "One Nation, One Student ID” and serves as a lifelong academic passport, consolidating all achievements and credentials of a student in one place, the ministry said.

To fulfil the objective of integrating the all education records of school students into its ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ initiative by 2026-27, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all higher education institutions (HEIs) to upload the credit data of the last three years on the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) portal by June 2025. As per the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) portal, 1,855 academic institutions had joined the platform by March 2024, facilitating the registration of over 4 crore students.

The unique ID will help simplify record-keeping for students, parents, and educators. It will also help in securely storing academic data and achievements and facilitate smooth transitions between educational levels.

How is APAAR ID created?

The process for assigning APAAR IDs to students is given below.

• In step one, the demographic details of the students are verified by visiting the school.
• Next, parental consent of minor student is obtained.
• The identity of the student is authenticated through the school.
• Upon successful verification, the APAAR ID is created and added to DigiLocker for secure online access.