Will NEET 2025 Be Online?- NTA Updates Here

Will NEET 2025 be conducted online?: Latest update

January 16, 2025: NTA has released a notification regarding the mode of conduct of NEET UG 2025. As per this notification, the NEET 2025 exam will be conducted in offline mode.

November 23, 2024: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an interview said that the authority has started implementing the suggestions given by the Radhakrishnan committee. The committee and NTA both are in support of moving towards CBT mode. He also said that NTA will remain the conducting body to conduct the NEET 2025.

November 1, 2024: The committee submitted its report to the education ministry. The panel suggested that online mode of exam must be encouraged wherever possible. Otherwise, it advises hybrid mode of exam where NEET question papers can be sent to exam centres digitally and students can record their answers on the OMR sheet. The report futher explanied that the NEET UG exam can be conducted in two-stages like JEE. Along with this, the committee in its report also suggested that the number of attempts should be restricted in NEET exam.

July 16, 2024: As per the media reports, the committee headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan is expected to submit its recommendations by August 24. The committee has consulted officials from the NTA, NMC, UGC, CSIR and NBE on the same matter. Amid the talks of shifting the NEET 2025 exam to online mode, a seven-member panel, led by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, was formed by the Centre to suggest changes to testing procedures and data security protocols. The Committee was also asked to examine the structure and functioning of the NTA. The seven-member committee requested feedback from students and parents in this regard which could be submitted on the website, innovateindia.mygov.in/examinations-reform-NTA until July 7, 2024.

Will NEET be conducted twice a year in 2025?

No! NEET 2025 will not be conducted twice a year. NMC has decided that NEET UG 2025 will be conducted in a single shift in a single day. Earlier, as per various media reports, it was speculated that just like JEE mains and advanced, the NEET 2025 will be conducted in two phases - Preliminary and mains. As per the NEET 2025 news, there might be separate bodies to conduct the prelims and mains exams, with NTA being the conducting body of prelims, while mains could be conducted by AIIMS.

NEET exam mode history

The Medical Council of India (MCI) introduced NEET in 2013 to ensure uniform admissions to medical and dental colleges. The exam was replaced with multiple state and national-level tests to simplify the process and guarantee fairness and transparency in admissions.

In 2018, Education Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that NEET would be conducted online and twice yearly starting in 2019. However, due to the Health Ministry's objection to the announcement being made without formal consultation, the Education Ministry had to withdraw the decision. The Health Ministry was concerned that computer-based tests would put poor and rural students at a disadvantage.

After that, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the use of online education and examinations worldwide. In 2020, NEET was carried out offline in the wake of the pandemic with rigorous health protocols and safety measures. This experience showed that conducting large-scale exams like NEET UG in online is the need of the hour.

NEET in two phases: Students say

Due to the various irregularities and NEET paper leaks, students are raising their voices over the online conduct of the NEET exam. Candidates are hopeful that the online NEET exam will increase the transparency in the examination process. Careers360 also conducted an online survey asking students what they have to say about the online conduct of the NEET UG exam. Out of the total recorded responses, 31.6% of students voted in favour of the offline NEET exam. Whereas, 68.4% of students voted in the favour of NEET online exam.

NEET 2025 in two phases: Pros

The NEET 2025 exam if conducted online, not only will ensure the fairness of the exam conduction but also will restore the trust of students and parents in the NTA. Some of the pros, if NEET 2025 is conducted online are stated below -

• Fair conduct of NEET exam - NEET 2024 has been surrounded by news of paper leak and cheating. NEET UG in online mode will ensure the fair conduct of examination by minimising the chances of paper leak. NEET 2025 in online mode will prevent cheating and malpractice, enhancing the integrity of the examination process.

• Increase in the efficiency - NEET UG in online mode will increase the efficiency allowing for quicker result processing and reduced logistical challenges associated with offline-based exams.

NEET 2025 2 phases: Challenges

Over 24 lakh students appeared for the NEET 2024 exam, and this number is likely to increase in coming years too. While the benefits of online NEET 2025 are compelling, the transition of NEET UG from offline to online format presents several challenges.

• Infrastructure readiness - The NEET UG is conducted for over 24 lakh students which presents the biggest challenge for NTA, which is the readiness of infrastructure for online conduction of NEET. Ensuring all NEET exam centres have robust internet connectivity and systems is crucial for conducting online NEET exam seamlessly.

• Need of normalisation - As of now, NEET is conducted in a single shift and hence doesn’t require normalisation. If NEET 2025 is conducted online, the NTA will have to conduct the exam in multiple shifts. Multiple shifts mean that there will be different papers for each shift and hence there will be parity in the difficulty level of NEET question paper. If that's the case, there will be a need for a normalisation process in NEET UG.