NEET-PG 2025 cut-off lowered to -40 to fill vacant seats
What's the story
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has revised the qualifying cut-off scores for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG). The move is aimed at filling over 9,000 vacant postgraduate medical seats across India. Under the new criteria, the qualifying percentile for general and economically weaker sections (EWS) candidates has been slashed from the 50th to the seventh percentile.
Category-wise changes
Cut-off scores revised for different categories
For general persons with benchmark disability (PwBD), the qualifying percentile has been lowered from the 45th to fifth percentile. Meanwhile, for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates, the percentile has been reduced from 40 to zero. The corresponding cut-off score for these categories is now fixed at -40 out of 800 due to negative marking in the exam.
Candidate statistics
NEET-PG 2025: Over 2 lakh candidates appeared
Approximately 2.4 lakh candidates took the NEET-PG exam for 2025. However, a high cut-off score left many seats unfilled. India has around 65,000-70,000 PG medical seats and keeping nearly one in seven vacant would impact teaching hospitals and healthcare delivery. An official said, "Leaving such seats vacant undermines national efforts to improve healthcare delivery and results in the loss of valuable educational resources."
Exam purpose
NEET-PG exam aims to create merit list, not assess competence
NBEMS officials clarified that the NEET-PG exam is intended to create a merit list and not to question the competence of doctors who have already qualified MBBS and university exams. An official stressed on the importance of filling PG seats saying, "You can't afford to let 9,000-10,000 PG seats go to waste." NBEMS also clarified that the change in cut-off does not impact exam scores or ranks but only determines eligibility for counseling.