National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, popularly known as NEET UG, will be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA). NEET 2019 is a single window entrance exam which will be held on May 5. The date of the release of application form and conduct of the NEET 2019 exam has been notified by the regulatory body. The application form of NEET is open and will be available till November 30. The exam will be held in offline mode which implies NEET is a pen and paper test. NEET UG is a three-hour long paper which comprises three sections namely Physics, Chemistry and Biology (Botany and Zoology). 

NEET, considered to be the country’s largest medical entrance exam, is conducted for admission to medical, dental and AYUSH courses apart from AIIMS MBBS and JIPMER MBBS. After qualifying NEET 2019, candidates will be required to appear for the national and state level counselling processes as the admission to MBBS and BDS courses are taken on the basis of merit (NEET 2019 score) and preferences (choices submitted in the counselling) basis.

The eligibility criteria of NEET 2019 stipulates the minimum requirements candidates need to meet in order to appear for the exam. The regulations are laid down in accordance with the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education (1997). The following points will acquaint candidates with the NEET eligibility criteria 2019 in terms of nationality, age limit, educational qualification and attempts limit -

• Nationality:- Indian Nationals, NRIs, PIOs, OCIs and Foreign Nationals are eligible to take NEET 2019.

• Age Limit:- As per the minimum age limit of NEET, a candidate should complete 17 years of age at the time of admission. The maximum age limit of 25 years (unreserved category candidates) and 30 years (reserved and PwD category candidates) as on May 5, 2019 has for now been waived off as per the latest Supreme Court judgement. Such candidates can also apply with admission subject to the outcome of the case. Eligibility will be determined by NTA after submission of the application forms.

• Educational Qualification:- Candidate must pass Class 12 or equivalent examination by scoring qualifying marks in English, Physics, Biology and Chemistry individually. In addition, scoring an aggregate of minimum 50% in Chemistry, Biology and Physics is also mandatory for unreserved category candidates. Reserved category candidates must score at least 40% while PwD candidates are required to score a minimum of 45% in the qualifying exam.

• Number of Attempts:- The attempt limit to take NEET UG has been removed. Candidates can appear for the exam any number of times as long as they are fulfilling other eligibility criteria of NEET 2019.

Mode of Application : Offline and Online

Mode of Payment : Net Banking | Credit Card | Debit Card | Other

Application Fees

The National Testing Agency (NTA), the regulatory body for NEET 2019, started the registration and application process for NEET UG on November 1, 2018, at 11.30 AM along with the release of the official brochure for the exam. NEET 2019 application and registration process is online only. Candidates intending to register for NEET 2019 must apply by December 7, 2018. The NEET 2019 application fee is INR 1,400 for candidates belonging to unreserved and OBC categories while for reserved and PwD category candidates, the registration fee is INR 750.

Steps to Fill NEET Application Form

Correction Window of NEET 2019 Application Form

The correction window to rectify mistakes in the NEET application form will be available from January 14 to 31, 2019. Candidates can correct all permissible details. There is no clarification from NTA on which fields can be corrected but as per the brochure, mistakes in any field can be corrected.

NEET 2019 Preparation Tips are the first step towards qualifying the medical entrance exam. However, there is no fixed list of steps that one can follow to qualify NEET 2019 with a good score. Every topper of NEET has his/her own story to tell. The essential part of this journey is how well candidates utilize their time to achieve the goal of cracking NEET 2019. For competitive exams like NEET, aspirants must frame a preparation strategy that allows them to concentrate on each and every concept thoroughly.

Before delving into books, one should be well acquainted with the NEET 2019 syllabus and exam pattern. When preparing for NEET, it should be ensured that candidates are referring to the relevant study material. Since, the syllabus of NEET has been prepared in compliance with the NCERT syllabus, the NCERT textbooks of Class 11 and 12 must be referred.

In the beginning, the syllabus might look vast but it becomes simpler when one actually divides the whole syllabus into smaller units through which the path to success will get closer as candidates cover each topic. Maintain health and stay positive to ensure you are able to put in your best efforts while preparing for the NEET 2019 exam.

NEET 2019 will be conducted in offline mode which implies candidates will be provided with an OMR sheet where they will be required to submit responses. The question paper of NEET contains three sections, namely Biology which includes Botany and Zoology, Physics and Chemistry.

Section Wise breakup of NEET 2019 question Paper

The issuance of NEET admit card 2019 confirms that a candidate is eligible to take the exam. However, the authorities reserve the right to withdraw permission even after the release of admit card. The NEET 2019 admit card is a mandatory identity document which needs to be carried to the examination hall on the exam day. NTA has confirmed that the admit card will be released on April 15, 2019.

It should be ensured by the candidates that they are in possession of their NEET admit card 2019 throughout the admission process as it will be required even after the conclusion of the exam. The mode of release of the NEET hall ticket will be online only. Candidates must have their application number/registration number with them in order to access the admit card. The birth date and security pin must also be entered to download the hall ticket.

How to download the NEET Admit Card?

• Click on the candidate login
• Enter the application number  and password
• Download the admit card and check the details
• Print the same if details are correct

Details mentioned in the admit card:

NEET 2019 admit card will provide the application number, name, father’s name, mother’s name, birth date, gender, category, residential address and linguistic medium of the question paper which the candidate has selected while filling the application form. The hall ticket will also display the roll number and exam centre along with the exam schedule that has been allotted to the candidates.

Discrepancy in NEET admit card 2019:

Candidates must intimate the authorities if they find there is any discrepancy in the details mentioned on the NEET admit card.

What to carry along with the NEET 2019 admit card?

• A photograph - similar to the one uploaded while filling the application form. This will be pasted in the attendance sheet at the exam hall
• A valid original Photo ID - PAN Card/ Passport/ Ration Card/ Aadhaar Card/ Any Govt ID
• PwD certificate if applicable

NTA will release the NEET Answer Key 2019 in the fourth week of May tentatively. The answer key will be made available before the declaration of the result. With the NEET answer key 2019, candidates can cross-check the responses submitted by them in the OMR sheet and the answers deemed correct by the authorities. For the ease of candidates, NTA will release the scanned copy of the OMR sheets of individual candidates. Candidates will be given an option to challenge the answers of the OMR sheet and the answers given in the official NEET 2019 answer key. In order to challenge the answers, candidates will be required to pay a fee of INR 1,000/- per answer challenged in the official answer key or per OMR response. This amount will not be refunded to the candidates even if the challenged answer is accepted by the conducting body.

NTA will announce the result of NEET 2019 on June 5. NEET result 2019 will be issued in the form of scorecard which clarifies whether a candidate has qualified the exam. The mode of the declaration of NEET result will only be online. The scorecards will not be sent via mail or post to the candidates.

To access the result, candidates will be asked to enter their NEET 2019 Roll Number (as given on admit card) and date of birth in dd/mm/yyyy format. The scorecard will display the candidates’ personal details like roll number, application number, name, mother’s name and father’s name etc. In the next section, the marks obtained by the candidate in each section along with percentile score and their NEET All India Rank will be displayed.

The cutoff section of the NEET 2019 scorecard will reflect the cutoff score for each category and this will confirm the eligibility of the candidate for further admission rounds. Since NEET 2019 is the sole gateway for admission to all the MBBS (apart from those offered AIIMS and JIPMER), BDS and AYUSH courses available across the country, the NEET score 2019 will be the basis on which admissions to these courses will be conducted. It must be noted that merely qualifying NEET 2019 will not guarantee candidates admission to medical and dental seats. Rather, their admissions will depend on the various counselling processes they choose to participate in.

The cutoff percentile to qualify NEET 2019 is decided by MCI prior to the conduct of the exam which is also stipulated in the Graduate Medical Education Regulations (1997). Candidates belonging to the unreserved category must secure not less than 50^th percentile in NEET UG while the reserved category candidates and PwD candidates belonging to the reserved categories must secure a minimum of 40^th percentile. PwD candidates belonging to the unreserved category are required to secure at least 45^th percentile in order to qualify the exam.

The corresponding marks to the minimum qualifying percentile will be disclosed with the release of NEET result 2019. The NEET cutoff score varies every year as it depends on various attributes of the exam like the total number of students taking the exam, seats available in a particular academic year and the level of the test paper.

Mode of Counselling: Online, Offline

The NEET counselling process will commence after the release of the NEET result 2019. The seats of the government medical and dental colleges will be divided as 15% All India Quota and 85% State Quota (except for Jammu and Kashmir where all the seats are in control of the state authorities). The counselling for 15% seats will be conducted by the centralised body, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on behalf of Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). For 85% State Quota seats, the responsible body for conducting the NEET 2019 counselling will be the various state authorities where the respective colleges are located. Along with the NEET counselling 2019 for 15% All India Quota seats, the DGHS will also be regulating the counselling for seats available at AFMC Pune, ESIC colleges, Central Universities (AMU, BHU, DU, and JMI) and Deemed Universities.

The mode of conduct of the counselling will be online or offline depending on the rules laid down by the conducting bodies. Candidates who will qualify the NEET 2019 exam by securing equal to or more than the cutoff percentile will be eligible to participate in the counselling process. In order to apply for the state counselling processes, candidates will be required to fulfil the domicile rules of the particular state as applicable.