National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)

What Is NEET Exam?
NEET is National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to 82,926 MBBS, 26,949 BDS, 52,720 AYUSH and 525 BVSc & AH seats across the nation. For the safety of students, National Testing Agency (NTA) has postponed NEET 2020 to September 13, which earlier was to be conducted on July 26 in offline mode. NTA has also made the correction window of NEET 2020 application form available from July 4 at ntaneet.nic.in. As per the latest notice, candidates can make changes as per their requirements in the NEET 2020 application form till July 15, 5:00 PM. Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and requests of medical aspirants along with their parents earlier, HRD Minister asked NTA to review the situation and submit their recommendations for NEET conduction to MHRD, latest by July 3, 2020. Earlier HRD Minister shared that a total of 16.84 lakh aspirants will be appearing for NEET UG 2020 entrance exams. The admit card of NEET 2020 is expected to release at www.ntaneet.nic.in. The authority has released a notice addressing the fake rumors that have been circulating regarding the postponement of the NEET 2020 exam. The authority has advised the candidates and their parents not to believe in these rumours as no such decision has been taken till date, The admission to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) will be done through NEET scores.

New Changes in NEET Exam

• NEET 2020 brochure which was earlier available in two languages is now available in ten different languages including Assamese, English Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali and Telugu.
• Application fee has gone up for General, SC/ST/PWD and transgender candidates. While General category now has to pay Rs 1500 (an increase of Rs 100), SC/ST/PwD and transgender have to pay Rs 800 (an increase of Rs 50). Fee for OBC NCL and EWS remains at Rs 1400.
• Payment of NEET application fee is online ONLY. It is through net banking/Credit cards/Debit Cards or UPI through State Bank of India/Syndicate Bank/HDFC Bank/ICICI Bank/Paytm as service provider.
• Now candidates have to upload their class 10 or equivalent passing certificate along with the application form of NEET.
• Also, the scanned image of left thumb impression must also be uploaded. Candidates with no left thumb must upload the image of their right-hand thumb impression.
• A new exam centre has been introduced - Leh (Ladakh) bringing the number of exam centres to 155.
• The upper age limit has been mentioned as 25 years of year with candidates to be born after
• NTA has sought permission to use Aadhaar Number for candidate identity verification. Once the permission is obtained, candidates will be updated accordingly.
• A very important change is that AIIMS and JIPMER counselling will be through the NEET All India Counselling conducted by DGHS.

NEET commonly called will be conducted by National Testing Agency for admission to the following UG medical courses -

• All India Quota Seats
• State Government Quota Seats
• Central Institutions/Universities/Deemed Universities
• State/Management/NRI Quota Seats in Private Medical / Dental /Ayurveda /Siddha /Unani Homeopathy Colleges or any Private University
• Central Pool Quota Seats
• All seats including NRI Quota as well as Management Quota, in private unaided/aided minority / non- minority medical colleges shall also be filled on the basis of merit obtained in NEET 2020.

An aspirant who applies for NEET has to meet the eligibility criteria of NEET which specifies the academic qualifications, age limit, pass percentage, nationality etc that are mandatory to appear for the exam. The NEET eligibility criteria are based on regulations of Graduate Medical Education 1997 Act. Candidates must meet the NEET eligibility as given failing which they will  not be allowed to appear for the exam. It should be noted that merely fulfilling the eligibility criteria of NEET is not sufficient for admissions. NEET admission criteria  and cutoff for MBBS, BDS and other medical courses will be separate for All India and state counselling.

Know the NEET 2020 eligibility criteria 

How to choose qualifying code in NEET?

• Candidates appearing for Class XII in 2020 should select qualifying code as 01
• Those who have passed their class 12 should fill code [02 to 07] as per their qualifying examination.
• Candidates who dont fall under the above must use "others" and furnish all details asked.

NEET eligibility for admission in BUMS Course- Candidates must have passed class 10 with Urdu or Arabic or Persian language as a subject, or clear the class 10 Urdu test (wherever there is provision to conduct of such test) in the entrance examination conducted by the University or Board or registered Society or Association authorized by the Government to conduct such examination.
Eligbility through NEET for admission in BSMS course - Candidates must have passed Tamil as one of the subjects in class 10 or equivalent or candidates shall have to study Tamil as a subject during the first professional course

Mode of Application : Online

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

National Testing Agency (NTA) has reopened the correction window facility of NEET application form on July 4 to 15 till 5:00 PM. Earlier, candidates could fill details in the application form of NEET till March 19 up to 12:00 AM. Earlier, the authorities had completed the registration facility of NEET 2020 application form on January 6 (11:50 PM). The last date was extended from December 31, 2019, to January 6 (11.59 pm). The authority had opened the correction window facility for successfully registered candidates from January 15 to 31, 2020. Candidates had to upload scanned images of their photograph, signature, left thumb impression and the passing certificate of class 10 or equivalent along with the NEET application form. 

Which processes could be completed in the re-opened duration?
Candidates could complete below-mentioned steps in the application form of NEET:
Step II - Fill in the complete NEET application form 2020
Step III - Uploading of scanned images
Step IV - Payment of NEET application fee and status of online application form with fee

Changes in NEET 2020 application form

• Candidates had to upload their class 10 passing certificate.
• They had to upload their left thumb impression. In case of no left thumb, such candidates had to use the impression of their right thumb and upload the image of the same.
• Aadhaar verification could be added as a security measure subject to approval from the Ministry of Information and Technology.
• Fee amount was increased and payment was online only.

The video below can be used as a reference to fill the application form of NEET.
NEET 2020 application form can be filled in four easy steps as given below.

How to Fill NEET Application Form 2020?

Step 1 - Registration:  Candidates must first register for NEET by entering the following details

• Candidate's name
• Mother's name
• Father's name
• Category
• Person with Disability/ Disability details/ Percentage of disability/Do you need scribe?
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Nationality
• State of Eligibility for All India Quota
• Identification Type/ Identification Number - If Aadhaar is chosen only last 4 digits to be entered
• Mobile Number/ provision for alternate mobile number
• Email ID/ provision for alternate email ID
• Create Password 
• OTP Verification
  

Details should match the ones given in the Secondary School Examination or equivalent Board/ University Certificate. After submission of the above details, a provisional NEET application number is generated along with the password for login purposes.

Step 2 - Filling NEET Application Form: Candidates must login and fill the following-

• Personal details filled will be auto generated from registration
• Minority/ Minority Name
• Suffering from Diabetes 1?
• Single Girl Child
• Place of Birth/ State/ District
• Medium of NEET Question Paper
• Choice of NEET examination cities ( four must be chosen as per order of preference
• Academic Details (Class 10) - Name of School Board/ Name of School/ Address/ Year of Passing/ Place of study/ State where school is located/ District where school is located/ Percentage of marks obtained/ Roll No
• Academic Details (Class 11) - Name of School Board/ Year of Passing/ Place of study/ State where school is located/ District where school is located
• Academic Details (Class 12) -  Name of School Board/ Name of School/ Address/ Place of study/ State where school is located/ District where school is located/ Mode of preparation/ NEET 2020 qualifying code/ Year of Passing or appeared/ Percentage of marks obtained/ Roll No
• Details of subject wise marks of qualyfing exam.
• Permanent address
• Correspondence address
• Details of Father/ Guardian /Mother: Code of occupation, Income and qualification
• Dress code

Step 3 - Upload Photograph, Signature, Left Thumb Impression and Class 10 Certificate:  Candidates must upload the scanned images along with the application of NEET as specified below. Know the NEET photo requirements 2020 before you upload to avoid rejcetion by the system.

Details of documents to be uploaded

Step 4 - Pay NEET 2020 application fee: The details of fee payable and mode are given below

*OBC-NCL categories mentioned in the Central List of Other Backward Classes at ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/centralliststateview.aspx are eligible to apply for NEET under OBC NCL.  State list candidates not in the central list must choose General as category.

Step 5 - Take a printout of confirmation page: Use the print option to download the confirmation page and save it for future reference.

Note: Same Passport size and Post Card size photographs are to be used for uploading with Online Application Form and for pasting on Attendance Sheet at the Examination Centre/Counselling/Admission. Candidates are reminded to keep 6 to 8 passport size and 4 to 6 Post Card size (4”X6”) colour photographs with white background

NEET Correction Window

In case candidates have made mistakes in their NEET application form, they can correct the same. The NEET correction window will be now be available till May 3. Mistakes in all field can be corrected. No request for further corrections will be entertained once this NEET correction window is closed.

Application Fees

Having applied for the exam, the first step would be to start preparing for the test. Since the competition is high and seats less, qualifying with a very good NEET score will require some amount of good preparation. While there are no hard fast rules to crack NEET, some basic guidelines have to be followed to qualify with a high score. some important rules to know are:

Also Read:-
Download NEET Previous Year Question Papers
How to prepare for NEET 2020 during lockdown
How to prepare for NEET 2020 at home

Understand the NEET Syllabus - This will allow candidates to know which chapters they have to study in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This will also allow them to have an idea of the depth of the topics and syllabus to be covered

Know the NEET Exam Pattern - Well, knowing how many questions to answer, time limit within which to answer the questions, marks awarded, negative marking if any - these are some tips that will ensure that candidates are well conversant with the exam and will know exactly how things will be in the actual exam.

A timetable just for you - Having a daily schedule with a provision that allows candidates to keep track of the levels of their preparation will do wonders for preparation purposes. This timetable should allow for week wise and month wise strategy for preparation. Adhering to this is an important factor for success in NEET.

Best NEET Books 

Mock Tests and Sample Papers of NEET - Studying alone will not help. Practice helps perfect it. So the past question papers, mock tests and sample papers are good tools for this. Candidates can understand how best to strategize, improve their speed and manage their time on the exam day.

Stress Free NEET Preparation - While it is a fact that the immense competition builds on the stress on any NEET aspirant, it is also true that a correct plan will reduce some of  the stress. Candidates must keep to the timetable but also give time to their minds to relax. No one can study all day long and this is something that needs to e understood well. So some time to relax with hobbies, activities like singing, listening to music, playing a game or two, spending time with friends etc is equally important.

The official date schedule released by NTA clearly mentions that NEET 2020 is a pen and paper based exam to be held in three hours. Candidates have to mark their answers in the NEET OMR sheet provided to them at the exam centres. NEET question paper will contain questions from Biology (Botany+Zoology), Physics and Chemistry. NEET Syllabus is of 10+2 standard. The detailed exam pattern of NEET 2020 is as follows.

NEET Exam Pattern 2020

Subject-wise breakup of NEET 2020 question Paper

Option of regional language for NEET question paper is as follows

One important exercise in NEET preparation is the use of mock tests. One can only perfect what one has learnt by practising with past year question papers, mock tests and such. NTA has released the subject wise mock tests for NEET. Candidates can practise with these mock tests of NEET either on the NTA website or they can even download the tests to practise at home. NTA has also facilitated practising on NEET sample papers at TPCs which are the 2900 plus test practice centres set up at the nearest colleges in most towns and cities.
Must Read- How to prepare for NEET 2020 using mock tests

Candidates wishing to practice at the NEET TPCs must register and book the slot and go to the college  to practise. The questions asked in these mock tests for NEET will be based on the past question papers of the exam. 

Practice on the official NEET mock test on NTA website by clicking here. Select NEET and the subject to start the test. The login credentials are dummy and hence candidates must press the "enter" key to start the mock test for the chosen subject.

The mock tests are only for practice hence scores are not given out. However, the feel and look of the actual exam can be gauged with the help of these tests.

The admit cards for NEET 2020 is expected to release tentatively on August 29. As per the NTA officials, the authority NEET 2020 admit card will released on 15 days before the exam Candidates can download NEET admit card at ntaneet.nic.in in online mode. Candidates have to login their application number, date of birth and security pin to download the admit card of NEET 2020. The NEET 2020 admit card is mandatory to appear for the exam and is required at the examination hall on the exam day.

How to download the NEET admit card 2020?

• Click on the candidate login
• Enter the application number, date of birth and security pin
• Download the admit card and check the details
• Print the same if details are correct.

Details mentioned in the admit card:

The details mentioned in the NEET 2020 admit card include application number, name, father’s name, mother’s name, birth date, gender, category, residential address and medium of the question paper. In addition, the NEET roll number, exam centre details and test schedule will also be mentioned.

What to carry along with the NEET 2020 admit card?

• A photograph mjust be carried to the exam hall. This must match the one uploaded with the NEET application form as it 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, (only for PwD candidates)

What to do in case of discrepancy in NEET admit card 2020?

In case of any discrepancy in the particulars, photograph or signature in the NEET 2020 admit card or  Confirmation Page, candidates must immediately approach the NEET Help Line between March 27 to April 10, 2020 (between 10.00 am to 5.00 pm). Candidates will be allowed to appear for the exam with the already downloaded admit card. NTA will rectify and issue the correction at a later stage. Candidates must mail NTA with the details of correction along with the requisite proof.

Email ID: neetug-nta@nic.in and phone number of NTA help desk is 0120-6895200

NEET Dress Code for Boys and Girls

Customary Dress Code for NEET - Candidates following a certain religion prescribing a customary dress code can appear for NEET for example Sikh candidates can carry traditional Kangha, Kara, Kirpan with them. Reporting for such candidates will be one hour before the exam

Leading coaching Institutes like Allen, Akash, Resonance will release NEET Answer Key for various codes like P, Q, R, S (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) in the last week of May after the completion of the entrance exam. National Testing Agency will release the official answer key 2020 tentatively by second week of June. NTA will also release the response sheets of the candidates to cross check with the answer key and estimate the probable score. To download the response sheet and answer key of NEET, candidates will have to login through their credentials. 

Any objection to a question or answer given in the NEET provisional answer key can be raised by candidates within a given time. They will have to raise their challenge to the official answer key through the online provision made by NTA after paying Rs 1000 per question. Candidates are required to submit the proof of the same. The amount paid to challenge the answer key will be refunded if the claim of the candidates is found to be tru else it is non-refundable.

Every exam has its share of happy students who have done well and students who may not have performed as per their expectations. What can be always learnt from all is how to adapt in case of adverse situations, how best to make out of a bad situation, how to overcome all odds etc. Student reactions for NEET 2020 will be provided on May 3 from the exam centres while the exam is held and after it concludes. However past year student reactions can give a glimpse into those last minute thoughts before the commencement of the exam and the mixed feelings once the exam is done.

NEET 2019 - post exam student reactions 

Most students agreed that a major chunk of the questions asked were NCERT based. The paper was found relatively easy as compared to NEET 2018 with Physics and Biology being found easier compared to Chemistry. The scoring could be higher on account of the easy paper with NEET cutoffs expected to go higher than the previous year.

Some of the pre NEET reactions in 2019 are

Keshab who was writing NEET for the second time had undergone coaching from Allen Kota. His strategy was to aim and answer all question he knew to score a good rank. He felt he would do good in Physics which was his forte while depending on his intense preparation for Biology and Chemistry to pay off.

Shivam who was from Panipat was attempting NEET exam for the first time and was relying on his self study not having releied on any coaching. His strong point being Biology, he looked forward to do well in the exam.

Saaksh from Bahadurgarh, Haryana wished to pusue MBBS from AFMC. Biology being her strong point, she wished that this second NEET attempt of hers would be successful.

The analysis of any exam can be only given after the exam concludes. However, previous year exam analysis always helps understand what the trends may be like. NEET analysis for 2019 is given here to enable students to gain an insight from the experiences of those who have written the exam last year. The expert opinion has also been added as this adds to the weightage of what to expect, how best to prepare. The exam analysis for NEET 2020 will be updated here on May 3 after the conclusion of the exam.

NEET Analysis by Students

Mariam Khan from Aligarh, found that most of the questions were from NCERT. Having done her coaching from her home town, she felt that the paper was relatively easy and could have be tackled with strategic preparation. She found no glitches in the NEET exam that day.

Mayank for whom this was the second attempt, found Physics and Chemistry to be easy as compared to Biology. He felt that about 40% of the questions were from the NCERT syllabus and expected to score anywhere between 450-550 marks. His ambition is to pursue medicine from Maulana Azad Medical College.

For Sumita, this attempt was relatively easier compared to the 2018 one with Physics being more easy as compared to the other subjects. Again she felt that questions were predominantly from NCERT and faced no technical glitches in her exam.  

Expert Analysis from last year

Mr. Shailendra Maheshwari (Career Point) found that "Physics questions were equally from Class 11 and 12 syllabus with emphasis on Mechanics and Modern Physics which covered 50% of the questions asked. Current Electricity and Magnetic Effect of Current questions were easy ones. Physical Chemistry dominated the Chemistry section with 19 questions while 14 and 12 questions were from Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, respectively. Biology paper was moderate with 40 questions from Zoology and 50 questions from Botany."

Resonance Experts felt that questions from Biology and Chemistry were moderate while Physics was difficult for most. They opined  that 452 questions were easy, 200 were moderate and 60 were difficult. As the paper was relatively easier compared to 2018, the cutoffs could go high they felt.

NEET Exam Analysis by coaching centres

National Testing Agency will declare NEET 2020 result in online mode that can be downloaded by candidates by entering their roll number and date of birth. The result of NEET 2020 will be released in the form of a scorecard that has to be downloaded and kept safe since it will not be sent via any other means. The NEET result will be required during counselling. The steps to download the result is as mentioned below.

How to download NEET 2020 result?

• Click on the link given on official website
• Enter the NEET Roll Number (as given on admit card) and date of birth in dd/mm/yyyy format
• The scorecard will be displayed
• Download the same and check details for accuracy

Check video on NEET result (past year)

Details mentioned on NEET Scorecard

• Candidate's personal details like roll number, application number, name, mother’s name and father’s name etc. 
• Marks obtained by the candidate in total
• Subject wise and overall percentile score 
• All India Rank 
• Cutoff percentile score and marks (lowest and highest) for each category
• Details of total number of candidates who appeared and qualified

NEET 2019 result statistics

NEET Toppers - Last Year

To qualify in NEET, candidates must score equal to or above the specified cutoff. This is the minimum percentile that is pre-decided by MCI and stipulated in the Graduate Medical Education Regulations (1997) as the score which a candidate must obtain to be eligible for admissions. 

The NEET qualifying percentile has been specified category wise and can be summarized as given in the table below. To aid candidates, the actual marks secured in the past years have also been mentioned such that candidates get an idea of how much to score to qualify in the exam.

NEET cut off marks will be announced after the result is declared on June 4, 2020. The cutoff score is determined on the number of applicants, difficulty levels of the question paper, seats available and past cutoff trends. 

Previous years' NEET qualifying percentile

Mode of Counselling: Online, Offline

As per the information brochure and the latest guidelines, NEET counselling is broadly of two types. One is the All India counselling conducted by DGHS for 15% All India Quota seats in goverment medical colleges and all seats in Central Institutions including AIIMS, JIPMER, AFMC, ESI, Delhi University (DU), BHU, AMU and Deemed Universities . The second is the state counselling held by each individual state medical council for the rest of the 85% of the seats in the government colleges, state run universities and the private medical colleges of the state. Only students who qualify in NEET will be eligible for the counselling subject to certain regulations.

NEET counselling is generally held in two rounds followed by a mop-up round for any vacant seats left after the first two rounds. Candidates must apply for the counselling as per their eligibility. An important point to note is that all candidates who qualify in NEET 2020 will be eligible to apply for the All India counselling. However, for the respective state counselling processes, admissions will be based on factors like domicile, residency in state etc. Candidates must check whether they meet the state admission criteria before applying for the state counselling.

NEET seat allotment will be based on the All India Rank of the applicants, choice of colleges entered, seat availability, reservation criteria etc.

NEET Counselling guidelines

NEET Seat Intake:

• AIIMS MBBS (15 institutes) - 1205 seats 
• JIPMER MBBS (2 institutes) - 200 seats  
• MBBS seats in 532 colleges - 76,928 
• BDS seats in 313 colleges - 26,949
• Ayush seats in 914 colleges - 52,720 seats