NEET 2018 Latest News and Updates - With NEET 2018 being conducted by the CBSE on May 6, 2018, all the latest news and events around the exam can be seen by candidates here. One of the biggest national-level medical entrance exam of India will be held from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at 136 exam cities and 2255 exam centres around the country. Careers360 brings latest news and updates of NEET 2018 straight from ground zero, for students and parents. The NEET 2018 latest news brings to you live updates from the exam centre with photos, candidate reactions and more.
See below a brief timeline of major NEET 2018 events until now, right from the beginning of the application process till the conclusion of the exam and more. NEET aspirants will be able to know timely details about the exam by following the news updates given here. Similar to previous years, NEET 2018 has seen a rise in the number of registrations with 13,23,672 students registered for NEET 2018. In line with previous years, female candidates continue to outnumber the male candidates, with female registration being 7,46,076 and male registrations being 5,80,648. Check here for all about NEET 2018 latest news and updates.
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Numerous coaching institutes will be releasing their answer keys of NEET 2018 after the exam is concluded at 1.00 PM on May 6, 2018. The result of NEET 2018 is expected to be declared by June 5, 2018.
NEET Exam Day Updates - May 6, 2018
9:30 AM: Doors closed and no further entry is being allowed beyond 9:30.
9:00 AM: Frisking of newly entered candidates continues.
8:30 AM: Candidates with first entry-slot are being allowed beyond 8:30 as well.
8:15 AM: Some students are doing their last minute preparations hinging against pillars.
8:05 AM: Candidates with second entry slot, from 8:30-9:30, have started to reach the centre.
7:50 AM: Candidates in traditional dress or in burqa are being frisked properly. Girls are told that their burqa pins will be removed inside while frisking. Boys are informed that after proper frisking, they will be allowed to keep their caps with them in the exam hall. Girls wearing nosepin, earings, etc. are asked to remove them and give them to any of their known.
7:45 AM: Parents and candidates are informed that the centre is going to take care of all the important needs of the students. Candidates with diabetes problem will even be provided with chocolates and other eatables in case their sugar goes down.
7:40 AM: Candidates are instructed by the exam centre that a photographer has been allotted inside the premises for candidates who are not carrying a photograph with their NEET admit card. Such candidates need not panic.
7:30 AM: The gates open for the entry of candidates allotted first entry slot (7:30-8:30). Frisking starts. Only NEET admit card and a passport size photograph is being allowed inside the exam centre. Candidates are not allowed inside the exam centre with any eatable, watch, money in form of coins, pens, water bottle, metro card, jewellery etc.
Girls and boys are asked to make separate lines for a thorough frisking to take place. Candidates are given instructions about the CBSE mandated NEET dress code. They are asked to remove their shoes and are also instructed against clothes with big buttons and pendants on it. The administrative personnel at exam centres have informed that candidates wearing clothes with big buttons will be checked in every half-an-hour during the exam.
Metal detectors are in place inside the centre. As also instructed by CBSE before, there are no provisions by exam centres for keeping any of students’ belongings.
May 5, 2018: A Message from CBSE
Sending best wishes on NEET 2018 aspirants and giving last minute instructions, CBSE updated on its website a message a day before the big d-day, “All the best to the candidates. Kindly reach the centre as per reach the centre as per slot allotted. Follow the dress code. Do not carry any barred items. No provision has been made for keeping any article at the centre. Parents may ensure compliance of CBSE guidelines by their wards”.
May 2018
Various controversies such as Tamil Nadu candidates being allotted centres in distant centres in Rajasthan and Kerala create apprehensions among NEET 2018 candidates. With heavy emphasis being placed on the NEET 2018 dress code regulations by the CBSE regarding the type of attire to be worn by candidates to NEET 2018, candidates rush to prepare for the exam. The NEET 2018 dress code dictates the candidates to wear light clothes, avoid any sort of metallic items on the dress with footwear restricted to slippers only. Candidates who had opted for customary dresses also need to abide by the aforesaid rules. The Delhi High Court rules that the religious Sikhs would be allowed to carry the kirpan to the examination hall.
April 2018
NEET admit card download begins, Delhi HC overrules NEET 2018 Eligibility Criteria - The admit card of NEET 2018 was released in online mode by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on April 17, 2018. The NEET 2018 eligibility criteria as laid out by the CBSE was subsequently stayed by the Delhi High Court on April 24, 2018. As per the interim orders, all the candidates were made eligible to appear in NEET 2018. The NEET 2018 admit card was once again made available for all the students on April 26, 2018, including the NIOS/open school and the candidates above the upper age limit as per the Delhi High Court’s interim orders.
March 2018
SC rules out Aadhaar requirement, NEET application dates extended - After being ordered by the Supreme Court to not take Aadhaar as a mandatory document, the CBSE issued a notice allowing all candidates to use other valid Government ID proofs such as ration cards, passports, bank account passbooks, driving license or voter IDs while submitting their NEET application form. The last date to submit the application form was also extended from March 9 to March 12, 2018 (till 5.30 PM). Candidates were allowed to submit the NEET 2018 application fee till 11.50 PM on March 13, 2018. Also, candidates were no longer be required to submit their Aadhaar number or Aadhaar Enrollment Number in order to fill the form. They were allowed to use other valid Government ID proofs such as ration cards, passports, bank account passbooks, driving license or voter IDs.
February 2018
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2018 has been in the headlines ever since the official NEET 2018 prospectus was released on February 8, 2018. The national-level medical entrance exam has been announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) with some new and controversial changes including the barring of NIOS candidates, reintroduction of an upper age limit and other major changes to the NEET eligibility criteria. A lot of confusion has been created with regards to what the new changes in NEET 2018 are and many candidates are still in the process of trying to understand how their eligibility for NEET has been affected. Check from the article here complete details regarding NEET latest news and updates. Along with the NEET prospectus, the CBSE has also made available the application form for NEET 2018 from February 8 and candidates will be able to fill the same by March 9, 2018 (till 11.50 PM).
NEET 2018 - Important changes and updates
Reintroduction of upper age limit (Not applicable as per Delhi High Court order on April 24, 2018): A major source of controversy in NEET 2017 which required the Supreme Court’s intervention, the upper age limit rule of NEET has been reintroduced this year. From this year onwards, unreserved candidates who have attained the age of 25 years and reserved category candidates who have attained the age of 30 years will not be allowed to appear in the exam. Only those candidates who are born on or between May 7, 1993 (1988 for reserved categories) and January 1, 2002 will be eligible for NEET 2018.
Removal of cap of number of attempts: Last year, the CBSE had introduced a cap on number of attempts available to candidates in NEET. Through this, candidates could only appear for NEET a maximum of three times, with the first attempt being counted from NEET 2017 onwards. However, as per the CBSE NEET 2018 prospectus, the cap on number of attempts has now been removed. All candidates will now be able to appear for NEET as many times as the applicable upper age limit permits them.
AYUSH admissions to be through NEET 2018: A major change to the scope of NEET is that the exam will be used to conduct admissions to Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) undergraduate courses as well. As per a Ministry of AYUSH notification from 2017, NEET 2018 scores will also be used to admit candidates to BAMS, BHMS, BUMS, BSMS and BNYS across all states in addition to admissions to the approximately 65,000 MBBS and 25,000 BDS seats. Aspirants should also note that admissions to 15% All India Quota seats in Bachelor of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (BVSc & AH) courses will also be through NEET 2018.
Urdu introduced as language option: After a prolonged struggle last year by the Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO) to convince the Supreme Court to include Urdu as one of the languages in NEET, CBSE has included Urdu as one of the language options for NEET 2018. In addition to English and Hindi, Urdu will also be a new language option available in all examination centres of NEET. Apart from this, candidates can also opt to appear for NEET in 8 other regional languages including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya and Kannada in exam centres located only in the states in which these languages are spoken.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana join All India Quota (AIQ) scheme: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the two states apart from Jammu and Kashmir which had exempted themselves from the NEET 15% All India Quota scheme since its inception, have decided to participate in the same from NEET 2018 onwards. This means that 15% of the seats available in the Government Medical and Dental colleges of these two states will now be available for All India Quota counselling. Also, candidates from these states will be able to participate in the All India Quota process without having to submit the prescribed self-declaration form. Jammu and Kashmir is now the only state exempt from the NEET AIQ scheme.
Open school candidates ineligible (Not applicable as per Delhi High Court order on April 24, 2018): Candidates from the NIOS board or those who have completed their Class 12 as private candidates will no longer be eligible to apply for NEET 2018.
Biology compulsory subject (Not applicable as per Delhi High Court order on April 24, 2018): It will be mandatory for all candidates to have studied Biology/Biotechnology with practicals in both Classes 11 and 12. Candidates cannot opt for Biology as an additional subject in or after Class 12 alone.
No gap between Classes 11 and 12 permitted (Not applicable as per Delhi High Court order on April 24, 2018): As per the revised Code 2 of the NEET Qualifying examination codes, candidates will be required to undertake two years "of regular and continuous study of Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Bio-technology". This means that no gap year will be permitted between Classes 11 and 12. Also, Code 2 will be the minimal qualification requirement all candidates will have to satisfy irrespective of whether they are appearing for NEET post completion of any of the other permitted qualifying exams.
Class 11 details required: As per the NEET 2018 application form, candidates will have to enter Class 11 details as well, in addition to Class 10 and Class 12 details. The required information includes name of school, year of passing and the location of the school. However, candidates can still submit the application form despite having a gap year between Class 11 and 12 and they are advised to do incase the rule is revoked at any point.
Reservation for differently-abled candidates increased: With the adoption of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016 in NEET, 5% of seats in All India Quota across all Government medical and dental colleges will be reserved for differently-abled/PH/PwD candidates through NEET 2018, an increase from 3% last year.
Exam cities increased: As compared to 104 cities in 2017, NEET 2018 will be held in more than 2000 exam centres across 150 cities in India.
Only one question paper set to be used: Only one question of NEET 2018 will be prepared in English which will then be translated to Hindi and other vernacular languages. The lack of uniformity in questions and alleged differences in the difficulty level of question papers of regional languages had led to numerous complaints from students and parents in NEET 2017.
Instant Aadhaar authentication (Not applicable as per Supreme Court instructions): A new feature introduced in the NEET 2018 application form is that the CBSE will immediately authenticate a candidate’s Aadhaar Card details with that contained in the UIDAI database as soon as one consents for Aadhar authentication while filling the NEET application form. The details that will be authenticated include name, date of birth and gender. Candidates will not be allowed to proceed with the submission of the application form if the details do not match. Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya candidates will be exempt from this.
Admissions to foreign institutes to be through NEET - As given in the NEET prospectus, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India has decided for the Indian students who wish to pursue MBBS/BDS from a foreign Medical Institute need to qualify NEET (UG)." Until now, regular board students needed to only obtain an eligibility certificate from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to be eligible for MBBS/ BDS admissions in institutions outside India. However, now they will be required to clear the minimum category-wise percentile cut off in NEET to be able to apply for the eligibility certificate. NIOS and open school students had already been made ineligible from applying for the certificate last year itself.
While some of the changes introduced by the CBSE such as increase in number of exam centres and inclusion of Urdu can be hailed as positive, others such as the introduction of the upper age limit and barring of NIOS students can be rightly criticized since they have been introduced without warning and have deprived thousands of aspirants of the opportunity to pursue a career in medicine in one stroke. The emerging controversy is sure to have many repurcussions, with prominent education activists preparing to file petitions before the Supreme Court demanding for the revocation of these rules. An important point that has been raised by students and activists while criticizing these rules is that the other two MBBS entrances in the country, AIIMS MBBS and JIPMER MBBS, neither have an upper age limit rule and also allow candidates of all ages to appear. Candidates who are interested in AYUSH courses but are above the upper age are also no longer able to fill the form, depriving many candidates the opportunity to pursue even any of these alternative medical courses which they were allowed to so far. It is expected that the CBSE will soon be issuing a clarification on many of these new rules to deflect some of the criticism that is being levelled at it currently. Until then, candidates who are able to fill the NEET application form for now are advised to do so while the decision to change at least some part of the NEET 2018 eligibility criteria or other rules is made.
