NEET Counselling 2025 Round 1: Tamil Nadu shows lowest retention at 1.33% for MBBS Government Seats

NEET Counselling 2025 Round 1: Tamil Nadu shows lowest retention at 1.33% for MBBS Government Seats

Deep PathakUpdated on 16 Sep 2025, 02:39 PM IST

In the 2025 NEET counselling process (round 1), the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) allocated 824 MBBS seats out of the 835 available seats across 38 government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu including AIIMS Madurai. Around 718 out of the 824 allotted students took the “Free exit” option, while 95 students chose for an upgrade option. This means that only 11 (1.33% students) retained their round 1 allocated seats.

NEET Counselling 2025 Round 1: Tamil Nadu shows lowest retention at 1.33% for MBBS Government Seats
NEET Counselling 2025 Round 1: Tamil Nadu shows lowest retention at 1.33% for MBBS Government Seats

This is surprising as it indicates students filing choices that they have no desire to take up if allotted. This is not just with Tamil Nadu but an overall scenario. Take a look. A total of 10887 students were allotted government MBBS seats in the NEET 2025 round 1 counselling. Out of these, 7140 students chose the “Free exit” option, while 2260 students chose the upgrade option.

The overall retention rate for government MBBS seats in round 1 NEET counselling stands at 13.65%. Tamil Nadu has the least seat retention rate at 1.33% in comparison with the other states. The details are below.

NEET UG 2025 round 1 govt MBBS seat allotment: Tamil Nadu vs All India stats

Location

Total Allotted Seats

Clear Vacancy (Free Exit)

Virtual Vacancy (Upgrade Option)

Total Seats Retained

Allotted Seat Retention Rate

Tamil Nadu

824

718

95

11

1.33%

All India

10,887

7,140

2,260

1487

13.65%

Key points from the NEET counselling round 1 seat allotment result

  • Tamil Nadu had a notably low retention rate of only 1.33% of seats allotted in NEET Round 1, significantly below the All India average retention of 13.65%. This indicates a very high preference among candidates to either exit or upgrade their seats after Round 1.

  • The high number of free exits (718 out of 824) in Tamil Nadu suggests that most candidates prefer not to join their allotted seats immediately and plan to participate in further rounds for better and more preferred seats.

  • The 95 students opting for the upgrade option chosen by candidates who accept their seats but wish to try for a better seat in later NEET counselling rounds shows an active participation in seat upgradation to secure more competitive or desired medical colleges.

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This low retention is not a good sign on account of the following reasons:

  • It means, students are not planning their choice filling processes and entering all probable colleges that they are likely to get. This can be to avoid losing a precious government seat.

  • It also disallows Tamil Nadu students from obtaining these seats that students from other parts of the country are reluctant to take up. These MBBS seats are offered in round 2 and will not be available to students who are in favour but have opted for other seats on account of non availability.

NEET counselling: Comparison of free exit and upgrade option

Feature

Free Exit

Upgrade Option

Eligibility

Only in Round 1 counselling

Available from Round 1 to Round 3

Meaning

Candidate declines allotted seat without penalty

Candidate accepts seat but opts to try for a better seat in next rounds

Security Deposit Impact

No deduction or loss of security deposit

No deduction, seat is held till upgrade happens

Seat Status

Seat becomes clear vacancy available for allotment

Seat is "virtual vacancy" held for upgrading

Reporting

Candidate does not report/join the allotted college

Candidate reports and joins allotted college

Participation in Next Rounds

Candidate remains eligible for subsequent rounds

Candidate remains eligible to upgrade seats

Option Availability

Only after Round 1 seat allotment

Available until Round 3

Students must be given clear instructions and equipped with the knowhow of how choice filling works and how they should shortlist the colleges. This exercise if done properly with a good understanding of the system will help avoid such situations and vacant seats after the allotments will be much less.

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