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    NEET Age Limit 2026 in India for General, SC, ST and OBC Category

    NEET Age Limit 2026 in India for General, SC, ST and OBC Category

    Ujjwal KirtiUpdated on 03 Feb 2026, 11:11 AM IST

    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.

    This Story also Contains

    1. NEET Age Limit 2026: Highlights
    2. What Is NEET and Why Age Criteria Matter?
    3. What is the NEET Minimum Age Limit 2026?
    4. NEET Age Limit 2026: Category-wise
    5. What is the NEET Age Limit for Girls?
    6. NEET Upper Age Limit 2026
    7. NEET Attempt Age Limit 2026
    8. NEET Eligibility Age vs Academic Qualification
    NEET Age Limit 2026 in India for General, SC, ST and OBC Category
    NEET Age Limit 2026

    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.

    NEET Age Limit 2026: Highlights

    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.

    NEET UG Age Limit 2026: Overview

    Parameter

    Details

    Exam Name

    National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG)

    Conducting Authority

    National Testing Agency (NTA)

    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

    What Is NEET and Why Age Criteria Matter?

    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.

    What is the NEET Minimum Age Limit 2026?

    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.

    Minimum Age Limit for NEET Exam 2026

    For Candidates of General (UR)/General-EWS

    Born on or before

    December 31, 2009

    For Candidates of SC/ST/OBCNCL/PwBD/PwD Category

    NEET Age Limit 2026: Category-wise

    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-wise NEET Exam Age Limit 2026

    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

    NEET Syllabus: Subjects & Chapters
    Select your preferred subject to view the chapters

    What is the NEET Age Limit for Girls?

    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 Upper Age Limit 2026

    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.

    NEET Attempt Age Limit 2026

    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.

    NEET Eligibility Age vs Academic Qualification

    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.

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    Questions related to NEET

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to NEET ?

    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

    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,

    Will you be appearing in NEET 2026 under any reserved category or general category as the NEET cutoff varies according to the category of student?