NEET Eligibility Marks in 12th - Age Limit, Exam Requirements & Qualifying Boards

Qualifying exam requirements for NEET 2026

To appear in the NEET exam, students must have completed or appearing in Class 12 or equivalent with subjects Physics, Chemistry, Biology/ Biotechnology, and English. They must have obtained the required NEET pass percentage in 12th as determined by the NTA, which is responsible for conducting NEET. The NEET eligibility marks in 12th class varies depending on the category type a candidate belongs to.

12th marks required for NEET 2026

Students are required to have passed Class 12th or equivalent examination with Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Bio-technology and English as core subjects. The minimum pass percentage in 12th for NEET 2026 is 50% for general category candidates. 40% marks are required for reserved categories (such as SC,ST, OBC-NCL and PwBD/PwD).

NEET eligibility criteria marks in 12th

Note: In the above table, the pass percentage is given for PCB subjects only.

NEET 2026 age limit

Age limit is an important factor in NEET eligibility criteria 2026. The age limit of NEET is categorized into two factors - Minimum age and Maximum age. Medical aspirants who want to appear in NEET 2026 must meet the age limit criteria set by the conducting body. The minimum age requirement in NEET is 17 years or above at the time of admission on or before December 31 of the same year they are seeking admission. In respect to the maximum age requirement, there is no upper age limit for NEET candidates. The only condition in NEET in terms of age limit is candidates have to cross a certain age to appear in the exam. However, there is no category-wise age relaxation for candidates. The NEET follows the uniform age limit for all categories.

NEET eligibility marks in 12th: Number of attempts

There is no limit on the number of attempts in the NEET UG exam. Medical aspirants can take the entrance test as many times as they wish. The NEET attempt limit is set by the NTA. The NMC removed the upper age limit in NEET in 2022. Earlier, the authority put a cap on the number of attempts by allowing only 3 permissible attempts. The upper age limit was set at 25 years as on the date of exam with a relaxation of 5 years for the reserved category candidates

NEET eligibility marks in 12th: Qualifying boards

Candidates who have completed their last qualifying exam from boards as specified by the NTA are eligible to appear in NEET 2026. The qualifying boards in NEET include all recognised boards which can be checked below.

• CBSE

• ICSE

• State boards

• International boards (with equivalence to Indian standards)