NEET: Here is everything an aspiring doctor needs to know
NEET 2021 was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on 12th September 2021. It is one of the most widely recognised national level exams for medical aspirants after their class XII board exams. The full form of NEET is National Eligibility Entrance Test and it is conducted at least once every year.
NEET is recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and is a mandatory entrance exam for those who wish to pursue undergraduate medical courses like MBBS or BDS in India. According to the data released by MCI, about 14,10,8000 students had applied for the exam this year, out of which the council only selected a little more than 50 percent (7,87,042) aspirants for the qualifying stage.
Every national level examination has certain aspects that students should know about, and NEET is no different. Here is a low-down on this three-hour-long test.
Eligibility criteria
- Both Indian and foreign nationals are eligible to sit for NEET.
- Students of the general category must belong to the age group of 17 to 25 years (on or before 31st December of the exam year). Students belonging to the quotas like SC/ST/OBC/PWD are given age relaxation of 5 years, that is till 30 years.
- NRIs, foreign aspirants, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) – are all entitled under the All-India Quota Seats with a 15% reservation. However, candidates from Jammu & Kashmir are not eligible under this category.
- All candidates must appear in their class XII board exams to sit for NEET.
- Candidates can sit for the exam as many times as they want, considering they fulfill the other eligibility criteria.
Exam pattern
In 2021, NTA and MCI together issued a revised exam pattern that is supposed to be followed for the next few years. There will be a total of 200 multiple choice questions (MCQs) out of which the examinee will need to attempt 180. The subjects covered are Physics, Chemistry and Biology (Botany and Zoology). The question paper will be divided into two sections, A and B for each subject. Section A will carry 35 compulsory questions while section B will have 15 questions out of which only 10 need to be answered. Candidates may choose to answer in any one of the 11 languages they prefer, namely – English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada or Urdu.
Marking scheme
The official marking scheme of NEET clearly states that every correct answer will be given 4 marks, while every wrong answer will be penalized with the deduction of 1 mark. The total marks will be 720. No marks will be awarded if a question is unanswered.
Mode of exam
According to NTA, the exam mode will be offline, based on pen and paper to be conducted from specified exam centres all across the country. Examinees will have to mark their answers on an OMR sheet using a black or blue ball point pen. Once marked, the examinee will not be able to change his/her answer.