INI SS Good Attempts Analysis 2026: Expected Attempts & Exam Review

What a "Good Attempt" Means in INI SS

Let a be the number of questions you attempt, and p your accuracy, as a fraction. Your score is the number correct minus one-third of the number wrong. This simplifies to one formula.

Score = a × (4p − 1) / 3

To find the attempts you need for a target score T, rearrange it.

Attempts needed = 3T / (4p − 1)

Two things follow. If your accuracy is 25% or lower, extra attempts add nothing. And the same target needs fewer attempts as accuracy rises. The pattern comes from AIIMS's published scheme: 80 questions, 90 minutes, +1, −⅓, and no marks for unanswered questions or those marked for review.

Good Attempt Numbers by Accuracy

The table shows the attempts needed to reach each target score at each accuracy. A dash means the target cannot be reached, because it needs more than 80 attempts. Figures are rounded up to a whole number. Because accuracy is assumed exact, whole-number rounding can shift a real score by up to about one mark.

The next table shows the ceiling at each accuracy if you attempt all 80 questions.

Read the two tables together. At 65% accuracy, attempting everything gives about 43, barely above the bar. At 75%, you reach 40 with 60 attempts and cannot reach 56 at all. Accuracy moves your ceiling far more than attempt count does.

The Value of One More Attempt In INI SS Exam

Each extra answer adds (4p − 1) / 3 marks on average, where p is your chance of being right on that question.

A blind guess breaks even. A question where you remove two options is worth attempting. This is the practical rule for a good attempt: answer when you can narrow the options, and leave the rest.

Targets From Recorded Cut-offs

Careers360's INI SS cutoff page lists speciality-wise cut-offs. We counted the entries in the table it labels as the January 2025 session.

For the first group, a good attempt is one that reliably gives 40 to 42. The table above shows how: about 60 attempts at 75% accuracy, or about 50 at 85%.

The AIIMS and PGIMER figures include Stage II, which carries 20 marks. If a specialty closes at the 54.2 median, Stage I must supply the rest. With 8 marks in Stage II, you need about 46.2 in Stage I. With 12 marks, you need 42.2. With 16 or more, the 40-mark bar is the binding limit. For the highest entry of 82.667, you would need at least 62.7 in Stage I even with a full 20 in Stage II. These are illustrations from one session's table. Cut-offs change each session with seats and applicants.

INI SS Expected Good-Attempt for January 2027 Session

No one can state the real attempt pattern in advance. What we can give is a planning band, built from the tables above. Choose your band by the accuracy you have shown in recent timed practice, not by hope.

Three cautions to mind. First, accuracy usually falls when you attempt more questions near your limit. So, the lower end of each range is safer. Second, a hard paper lowers accuracy across candidates, which pushes the right attempt count up for the same target, so check your accuracy during the paper. Third, your speciality matters, because the syllabus mixes the general component with your speciality component. Read both parts with equal care.

On the day, use two passes. In the first, answer what you know and flag long items. In the second, attempt flagged items where you can remove at least two options. Keep to about 67 seconds a question, which is 90 minutes divided by 80. The INI SS exam day guidelines for the January 2027 session cover documents and reporting.

What We Will Add After the Exam

We will update this page once the exam is held. We will add only candidate-reported attempts and accuracy, shown by speciality where feedback allows

Also Read:

• INI SS 30-Day Revision Plan

• INI SS 45-Day Preparation Plan for Working Senior Residents