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    NEET SS Counselling 2026: Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile, 6,000 Candidates Eligible for Stray Round

    NEET SS Counselling 2026: Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile, 6,000 Candidates Eligible for Stray Round

    Deep PathakUpdated on 18 Sep 2026, 10:34 AM IST

    The NEET SS Counselling 2026 cutoff has been reduced to the 30th percentile from the existing 50th percentile for the proposed special stray vacancy round. The Centre informed the Supreme Court about the decision to lower the NEET-SS qualifying cutoff to 30 percentile to fill the vacant super speciality seats. This decision has been taken after several NEET SS seats remained vacant after the second round of counselling. The reduced cutoff will allow more eligible candidates to participate in the NEET SS special stray vacancy round 2026.

    This Story also Contains

    1. NEET SS Counselling 2026 Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile
    2. NEET SS Seats Vacant After Round 2
    3. NEET SS Counselling 2026 Special Stray Vacancy Round
    4. Tamil Nadu Gets 40 Vacant In-Service Seats Back
    5. Why NEET SS Cutoff Is Lowered?
    6. NEET SS Counselling 2026 Special Stray Vacancy Round Date
    NEET SS Counselling 2026: Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile, 6,000 Candidates Eligible for Stray Round
    NEET SS Counselling 2026: Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile, 6,000 Candidates Eligible for Stray Round

    NEET SS Counselling 2026 Cutoff Reduced to 30 Percentile

    Under the existing criteria, candidates need to secure at least the 50th percentile in NEET-SS to qualify for counselling. For the proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round, the Centre has decided that the qualifying percentile may be reduced to 30th percentile.

    According to the Centre's submission before the Supreme Court, the reduced qualifying percentile is specifically for the special stray vacancy round. Candidates who have already taken admission and joined a seat will not be permitted to participate in the special round for upgradation.

    NEET SS Counselling 2026 Cutoff: Existing vs Proposed

    Particular

    Existing

    Special Stray Vacancy Round

    Qualifying Percentile

    50th percentile

    30th percentile

    Purpose

    Regular counselling eligibility

    Filling vacant super speciality seats

    Additional candidates to become eligible

    -

    Approx 6,000

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    NEET SS Seats Vacant After Round 2

    The decision to lower the NEET-SS qualifying percentile comes after 1,857 super speciality seats remained vacant following the completion of the second round of NEET SS Counselling 2026. The vacant NEET SS seat matrix includes 1,094 DM/MCh seats and 763 DNB-SS seats.

    NEET SS 2026 Stray Round Seats

    Seat Category

    Vacant Seats

    DM/ MCh

    1,094

    DNB - SS

    763

    Total seats

    1,857

    NEET SS Counselling 2026 Special Stray Vacancy Round

    The NEET SS Special Stray Vacancy Round 2026 will be conducted by MCC to fill the super speciality seats left vacant after the regular counselling rounds. The round will follow the existing rules for stray vacancy counselling.

    Candidates who have already taken admission and joined a seat will not be allowed to participate in this round for upgradation. The special round will mainly benefit candidates who are eligible but could not secure a seat in the earlier counselling rounds.

    Tamil Nadu Gets 40 Vacant In-Service Seats Back

    The Centre has also agreed to return 40 vacant in-service super speciality seats in Tamil Nadu to the state government. The Tamil Nadu Medical Selection Committee will be allowed to conduct its own Stray Vacancy Round for these seats for a period of one week.

    Seats that remain vacant after the state-level round will then be added to the vacant seat pool handled by the Medical Counselling Committee. The remaining seats will be included in the national Special Stray Vacancy Round, which the Centre said would be conducted and completed by MCC within two weeks.

    Why NEET SS Cutoff Is Lowered?

    The NEET SS cutoff has been lowered from the 50th to the 30th percentile to help fill the large number of vacant super speciality seats. The decision came after the Supreme Court asked the government to reconsider the qualifying percentile.

    After reviewing the matter with the concerned stakeholders, the Centre agreed to reduce the cutoff for the NEET SS Special Stray Vacancy Round 2026. The lower cutoff will make more candidates eligible for counselling and provide an opportunity to fill vacant DM, MCh and DNB-SS seats.

    NEET SS Counselling 2026 Special Stray Vacancy Round Date

    The NEET SS Special Stray Vacancy Round 2026 date has not been announced yet. The Centre informed the Supreme Court that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will conduct and complete the special round within two weeks after the Tamil Nadu counselling process and the addition of the remaining vacant seats to the MCC seat pool.

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    Questions related to NEET SS

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to NEET SS ?

    Good Morning

    Hope you are fine

    You question seems incomplete but you have tagged National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Super Specialty (NEET SS) 2022, so I am answering for this exam, as per you query 4 marks awarded for your correct answer, 1 mark deducted for incorrect response and 0

    Hello,

    The Directorate General of Health Services on  behalf of MCC will conduct NEET SS Counseling in online mode, as of now there is no official announcement made yet regarding the commencement of counseling process, since the results are already declared the process may start by this month, however to

    Hello There,

    Listen, your question is Incomplete , you have not specified any thing more about the topic , I am not able to get what you exactly wanted to ask . Due to your Incomplete question I am unable to answer your concern. Try to send complete Question next

    Hello,

    The NEET SS exam was conducted on 10th January 2022, and the results have not been released yet. However, the results are expected to be out by today, that is, 31st January 2022. The result will be abailable for 32 specialities and at the official website which is nbe.edu

    Hi

    NEET UG All India counseling is expected to start soon

    On January 7, the Supreme Court of India gave decision regarding the validity of OBC reservation in NEET counselling.

    Counseling will be held in 4 rounds- 1st round, 2nd round, mopup round and filling of stray vacancies

    The NEET