NEET Full Form: Exam Pattern, Eligibility Criteria, Total Marks, Exam History

NEET 2026 highlights

NEET exam history

The NEET was first proposed to take place from the year 2012 onwards, replacing the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT). However, for various reasons, it was postponed for a year by CBSE and the Medical Council of India. On May 5, 2013, the NEET exam was conducted by CBSE for the first time across the country for aspirants seeking admission to undergraduate medical courses. It was the first-ever medical examination where over 10 lakh students registered. On July 18, 2013, the Supreme Court gave a decision in support of 115 petitions to cancel the NEET exam and announced that MCI could not interfere with the admission process done by colleges.

Numerous states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu strongly denied the exam, stating that there was a huge variation in the syllabus. Therefore, the NEET exam was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India, due to which NEET was temporarily replaced by AIPMT in both 2014 and 2015. However, the NEET exam returned on April 11, 2016. In 2016, NEET was reintroduced and conducted by CBSE. From 2019 onward, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been responsible for conducting the NEET exam.

NEET UG full form in English

The full form of NEET UG is the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduates. It is the single largest medical entrance examination in India through which seats to various courses such as MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH are granted in India.

What is NEET and why was it introduced?

NEET is a national-level single medical entrance test for getting admission in medical undergraduate programmes. The NEET UG full form is the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate and is mainly conducted to fill medical and dental seats in all UG medical colleges of India.

The primary objective of the NEET exam is to streamline the admission process in MBBS and BDS courses. Therefore, the NEET exam was introduced to replace several medical examinations all over the country, including the AIPMT (All India Pre-Medical Test). The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test was introduced by CBSE and the Medical Council of India (MCI). Earlier, medical students had to fill out different forms for different medical entrance exams in India. NEET made sure that there was a single entrance exam for admission to all the medical courses across India.

NEET eligibility criteria by NTA

The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test is conducted by the NTA in pen and paper mode. The authority has established certain NEET eligibility criteria which need to be fulfilled by the aspirants to appear for the entrance exam. There are some mandatory parameters that an aspirant must fulfil to be able to appear in the NEET. Some of these parameters are:

• Candidates must be a citizen of India.

• Aspirant's age must be at least 17 years as of December 31 of the year of admission. However, there is no upper age limit for the NEET UG exam.

• Candidate should have passed class 12th with an aggregate mark of 50% in subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology and English individually.

• A little leverage has been given to candidates who belong to the SC/ST/OBC category as the minimum marks required to obtain by them in Physics, Chemistry and Biology/Biotechnology opted together in the HSC examination is 40% marks.

NEET exam events

• Application Form: NTA releases the NEET application form at the official website. To appear for the entrance exam, the application form must be filled out and successfully submitted before the last-mentioned date.

• Correction window: Once the application form window is closed, the NTA provides a correction window. Through NEET correction window, applicants can rectify the mistakes they have made during the application window.

• Release of city intimation slip: Once the NEET correction window is closed, the authority then releases the city intimation slip for the successfully registered candidates. Through the NEET city intimation slip, candidates can know the exam city which has been allotted to them. The NEET city intimation slip is released before the release of admit cards.

• Release of the admit card: After the registration process, it’s the NEET admit card that a candidate must keep track of. Candidates can download the NEET admit card by entering their application number, date of birth and security pin.

• Exam date as well as exam day guidelines: The NEET exam date is released along with the official notification; however, there are certain things that an aspirant must be aware of regarding the certain guidelines that ought to be followed. The guidelines are provided in the admit card as well as the information brochure of NEET.

• Answer Key: Right after the conclusion of the NEET exam, aspirants are advised to keep tracking the official website for the official answer key. The NEET official answer key is generally released by the authority after a month of the exam along with the OMR response sheet.

• Answer key challenge window: After releasing the NEET answer key, NTA provides candidates an opportunity to object to the released answer key. After reviewing the objections in the unofficial answer key, the authority releases the final answer key of the NEET exam.

• Result declaration: The result of the NTA NEET exam is declared by the authority in online mode after the release of the final NEET answer key in the form of a scorecard.

Anatomy of NEET exam

NEET anatomy addresses details such as exam, mode of paper, language, duration, question type, marking scheme, and more. Aspirants must check out the table mentioned below for NEET exam pattern.

NEET exam pattern

NEET exam sections and total marks

NEET counselling process: Final stage

After getting the scorecard of the NEET UG exam, candidates can go ahead with the MBBS counselling registration, which NTA conducts in three rounds, followed by a stray vacancy round. On the grounds of the marks scored by them in the exam, they are allotted seats in these rounds. This process goes on until all the government seats in NEET are filled. The admission to 15% All India Quota seats (AIQ) in government medical colleges is done by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) along with Deemed/Central Universities, AFMS, and ESIC institutes. While the remaining 85% of state quota seats are granted by the respective state counselling bodies.

Seat reservation in NEET UG

The basic category-wise reservation for 15% AIQ is mentioned in the table, if a candidate wants to go into the details, we suggest that they check NEET reservation criteria.

Reservation criteria for 15% AIQ for full form of NEET