Every year, lakhs of medical aspirants appear in the NEET exam and understanding the NEET age limit 2026 before applying is important. NMC, with the National Testing Agency (NTA) as the conducting body, sets the age limit for NEET, which is published in the official information brochure.
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Candidates planning to appear in the NEET exam must go through all the details about the category-wise age limit. Over the years, NEET age limit criteria have gone through many changes, as earlier there was a strict NEET age limit for students, which was later removed by the NMC. To know all about the NEET 2026 age limit, detailed criteria and other information, read the full article below.
Medical aspirants preparing to get into their dream medical college must go through this brief overview of the NEET age limit 2026 to avoid any hassle while applying for the NEET exam 2026.
Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
Exam Name | National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) |
Conducting Authority | |
Academic Year | 2026 |
Minimum Age Completion Date | On or before December 31, 2026 |
NEET Minimum Age Limit 2026 | 17 years |
Maximum Age Limit for NEET 2026 | No upper age limit |
NEET UG Age Limit 2026 | Same for candidates from all the categories |
NEET 2026 Age Limit for Girls | Same as male candidates |
Age for NEET exam calculation basis | Based on date of birth mentioned in Class 10 certificate |
Courses Covered Under NEET | MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BUMS, BSMS |
The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2026), which is a single national-level entrance examination for admission to all the undergraduate medical courses, such as MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BUMS, BSMS, and others. The NEET 2026 age criteria has been set to ensure that the candidate applying for admission is ready for medical education after completing the required academic qualification. Candidates are advised to adhere to the NEET rules and regulations as provided by the authority.
As per the conducting authority, candidates who complete their age of 17 years on or before December 31, 2026, are eligible for the NEET exam. Along with the age limit, candidates need to meet the NEET criteria for 12th percentage. The NEET minimum age limit 2025 is as mentioned in the table below.
For Candidates of General (UR)/General-EWS | Born on or before December 31, 2009 |
For Candidates of SC/ST/OBCNCL/PwBD/PwD Category |
Candidates must know that no relaxation is provided in the NEET 2026 age limit as per the category of the applicant. The age for the NEET exam 2026 is the same for all the candidates irrespective of their category. Check the details in the table below.
Category | NEET Minimum Age Limit | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|
NEET 2026 age limit for General | 17 years | No limit |
NEET age limit for OBC 2026 | 17 years | No limit |
NEET age limit for SC | 17 years | No limit |
NEET age limit 2026 for ST | 17 years | No limit |
NEET age limit for EWS | 17 years | No limit |
NEET 2026 age limit for PwD | 17 years | No limit |
Also Read: Do’s and Don’ts of the NEET exam
The NEET 2026 age limit for girls is the same as that of male applicants, which is 17 years. The authority does not provide any gender-based NEET age limit relaxation. There is no maximum NEET age criteria 2026 for female candidates either.
NEET does not have any upper age limit restrictions. Earlier, an upper age limit was introduced for NEET along with the maximum NEET attempt limit in 2017, which was removed later by NMC on March 9, 2022.
There is no restriction on the number of NEET attempts. Candidates can appear in the NEET UG exam as many times as they want. Earlier, there were 3 attempts for NEET exam, which were later scrapped by the authority.
Along with the NEET age limit 2026, candidates have to meet the NEET eligibility marks in class 12th too. According to the NEET eligibility criteria, candidates who have passed or are appearing in class 12th with Physics, Chemistry, and Biology from a recognised board. The minimum marks vary by category.
On Question asked by student community
For preparing NEET entrance exam in three months, you can check the link attached below:
https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-neet-in-3-months
Hi! As per the NEET eligibility criteria , you must be 17 years of age as on December 31 of the year of admission. As you will complete the age criteria, you can definitely appear for NEET 2027. Do check the other eligibility criteria and apply for the NEET 2027
Hi Vishwajeet Nagare,
To get the best marks in the NEET 2026 exam, you need to be perfect in the fundamentals, basics, syllabus topics. However you can still have time to score good marks. Follow the below link to reach high rank in NEET 2026.
Link: https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/neet-preparation-tips
The NEET qualifying cutoff for ST category was 143-113. For ST (PWD) , the cut off marks 2025 was 126-113. As you have not mentioned the closing rank for a particular college. Here, we have provided the college wise 2025 MBBS closing rank for ST category.
Regards.
With 400-500 score in NEET, securing MBBS admission at CMC Vellore is highly challenging for students. With such score, you can apply for allied health science courses offered by the institute.
Regards,
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