NEW DELHI: Significant changes are anticipated for the undergraduate medical/dental entrance test, as the govt is considering dividing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) into a two-tier exam system, with dual organisers. Another major amendment likely is transitioning to a hybrid mode of delivery.
According to govt sources, there are a number of options that are presently being weighed, even as the fate of the NEET-UG 2024 is to be decided by the Supreme Court which is hearing a bunch of petitions including pleas for cancellation and retest of the exam conducted on May 5, 2024, due to an alleged paper leak.
Some of the changes under discussion involve overhauling NEET-UG to a two-tiered exam – preliminary and finals. According to sources in the knowledge of the developments, the number of candidates to be selected for the finals is likely to be four to five times the number of seats, and the eligibility cutoff will be determined based on the preliminary scores and the total number of seats.
“There are also deliberations on whether the finals can be delivered on CBT mode, while continuing with pen-paper mode for the prelims. Another aspect being looked into is to engage separate agencies for prelims and finals. For example, if the preliminary test is conducted by the NTA, can the finals be entrusted to the National Board of Examinations (NBE)/ Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)/ All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)?” said the senior govt official.
This, according to the source, is to introduce multiple layers of security. “In case there are doubts that some candidates did manage to sneak in via wrong means in the prelims as the numbers are getting bigger every year, it will be difficult to make the cut in the finals.”
NEET was introduced in 2016 after a five-year legal battle when a constitution bench of the Supreme Court on April 11, 2016, struck down its 2013 judgment, thereby reviving the Centre’s December 21, 2010, notification for holding a single common entrance test for MBBS/BDS courses in India. Since the first NEET conducted by CBSE on May 1, 2016, where 6 lakh aspirants attended, this year over 24 lakh registered and over 23 lakh appeared, making it one of the most competitive exams in the country, with a ratio of nearly 21 candidates per seat, and approximately 42 aspirants per govt seat.
As in the latest edition, NEET-UG has courted controversies including accusations of paper leaks and other irregularities, including in the first edition in 2016 when there were pleas filed in the SC over the alleged compromise of the question paper in Uttarakhand.
According to govt sources, there are a number of options that are presently being weighed, even as the fate of the NEET-UG 2024 is to be decided by the Supreme Court which is hearing a bunch of petitions including pleas for cancellation and retest of the exam conducted on May 5, 2024, due to an alleged paper leak.
Some of the changes under discussion involve overhauling NEET-UG to a two-tiered exam – preliminary and finals. According to sources in the knowledge of the developments, the number of candidates to be selected for the finals is likely to be four to five times the number of seats, and the eligibility cutoff will be determined based on the preliminary scores and the total number of seats.
“There are also deliberations on whether the finals can be delivered on CBT mode, while continuing with pen-paper mode for the prelims. Another aspect being looked into is to engage separate agencies for prelims and finals. For example, if the preliminary test is conducted by the NTA, can the finals be entrusted to the National Board of Examinations (NBE)/ Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)/ All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)?” said the senior govt official.
This, according to the source, is to introduce multiple layers of security. “In case there are doubts that some candidates did manage to sneak in via wrong means in the prelims as the numbers are getting bigger every year, it will be difficult to make the cut in the finals.”
NEET was introduced in 2016 after a five-year legal battle when a constitution bench of the Supreme Court on April 11, 2016, struck down its 2013 judgment, thereby reviving the Centre’s December 21, 2010, notification for holding a single common entrance test for MBBS/BDS courses in India. Since the first NEET conducted by CBSE on May 1, 2016, where 6 lakh aspirants attended, this year over 24 lakh registered and over 23 lakh appeared, making it one of the most competitive exams in the country, with a ratio of nearly 21 candidates per seat, and approximately 42 aspirants per govt seat.
As in the latest edition, NEET-UG has courted controversies including accusations of paper leaks and other irregularities, including in the first edition in 2016 when there were pleas filed in the SC over the alleged compromise of the question paper in Uttarakhand.