NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is a national level entrance test for admission to undergraduate (UG) degree courses in medical or dental streams. Conducted earlier by CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), from 2019 onwards, the examination will be organised by the National Testing Agency (NTA), an autonomous, specialist and premier testing organisation established by MHRD, Government of India. As per the official announcement made by NTA, the NEET 2020 was previously scheduled to be held on 26th July 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the examination has been rescheduled. As per latest announcement made by the HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, “The Joint Entrance Examination (main) exams will now be conducted from September 1 to September 6, 2020 and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Under Graduate (NEET-UG) will be held on September 13, 2020.” NTA has also reopened the Application form correction window for the NEET 2020 aspirants from 4th July to 15th July 2020. Every year, lakhs of students appear for this examination to get admission in an MBBS/BDS course at the top medical and dental colleges in India.
What are the important dates for NEET 2020? Who are the eligible students to appear for this examination? How can the students apply for it? What is the pattern of the examination? What syllabus do students have to prepare? When can a student obtain the admit card? When will the results for this examination be announced? These are some common questions that every medical or dental aspirant must be wondering about. The answers to all your questions related to the NEET examination are covered in this article. It provides you with in-depth knowledge about its key dates, examination pattern, eligibility, application process, admit card, result, syllabus and more.
Important Update- National Testing Agency conducted the NEET UG 2020 on 13th September 2020. More than 15.97 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. Exam Analysts have rated the exam comparatively “easier” than the previous year. Surprisingly, Physics section proved to be comparatively easier than Chemistry and Biology. Candidates have also praised the exam conducting body for utmost safety measures taken throughout the day of the exam.
Latest Update: In view of the COVID 19 outbreak, the NEET UG 2020 examination has been postponed. As per the latest announcement made by senior HRD minister, the NEET (UG) 2020 exam will be now conducted on 13th September 2020.
NEET – Key Dates
Are you willing to appear for the NEET examination? If yes, then you need to have complete information about all the important dates related to it. The examination involves a number of events which begins with online application submission and ends until the counselling process. Knowing every whereabout of all these events is important for all the aspirants. The table given below highlights all the key dates for NEET 2020 including application submission, fee submission, application correction, admit card, examination date, result and more.
List of Important Dates for NEET 2020
| S.No. | Particulars | Key Date |
| 1. | Online application submission starts | 2nd December 2019 |
| 2. | Online application submission closes | 31st December 2019
Extended till 6th January 2020 |
| 3. | Timeline for fee submission | 2nd December 2019 to 1st January 2020 (Extended till 7th January 2020) |
| 4. | Timeline for making corrections in the application form | 4th July 2020 to 15th July 2020 |
| 5. | The release of NEET admit card online | 30th August 2020 (tentatively) |
| 6. | NEET exam date | 13th September 2020 (As per latest announcement) |
| 7. | Display of answer keys and recorded responses | Actual dates will soon be announced on NTA website |
| 8. | Result Declaration | Not Announced Yet |
| 9. | NEET Counselling schedule | Dates will soon be announced on NTA website |
NEET – Examination Pattern
What is the NEET exam all about? What is the amount of application fee to be paid while applying for the NEET 2020? Which payment mode is applicable for paying the application fee? How many questions does a student have to attempt? What is the medium of question paper? Which are the subjects covered in the NEET syllabus? Is there a provision of negative marking for wrong answers? The answers to all these questions are covered in the table below. It provides detailed information about the NEET examination pattern.
Detailed NEET Examination Pattern
| S.No. | Particulars | Details |
| 1. | Name of the Examination | NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) |
| 2. | Application fee | INR 1,500 (for General category)
INR 1,400 (for General EWS and OBC-NCL category) INR 800 (for SC/ST/PwD/Transgender) |
| 3. | Mode of submitting the application fee | Credit Card/Debit Card/Net Banking or UPI |
| 4. | Duration and time of the examination | 3 hours (between 2 pm and 5 pm) |
| 5. | Mode of examination | Pen and paper-based (multiple-choice questions) |
| 6. | Subjects covered | Physics, Chemistry and Biology |
| 7. | Total number of questions to be attempted | 180 |
| 8. | Subject-wise distribution of questions | Physics – 45 questions
Chemistry – 45 questions Biology – 90 questions |
| 9. | Maximum marks for each question | 4 marks |
| 10. | Negative Marking | 1 mark for each wrong answer |
| 11. | Medium of question paper | Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese, Kannada, Odia, Tamil and Telugu |
NEET – Eligibility Conditions
What are the conditions to be fulfilled by the students to appear for the NEET examination? Is there any age limit to appear for the examination? Get an answer to all these questions in this section. As per the amended Dentists Act 1948 and Indian Medical Council Act 1956, the candidates fulfilling the following conditions are eligible to appear for the NEET 2020 examination.
Detailed NEET Eligibility Conditions
| S.No. | Particulars | Details |
| 1. | Nationality | Indian nationals, NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), OCI (Overseas Citizen of India), Foreign nationals, PIO (Persons with Indian Origin) |
| 2. | Age Limit | Between 17 and 25 years of age (Relaxation of 5 years is applicable for students belonging to SC/ST/OBC/PH categories) |
| 3. | Educational Qualification |
|
NEET 2020 – Reservation Policy
As per the guidelines issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI), the students belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Persons with Disability get a reservation in seats while getting an admission at government medical colleges under the 15% All India Quota as follows –
- 15% reservation for SC students
- 7.5% reservation for ST students
- 27% reservation for OBC students
- 5% reservation for students with disabilities
NEET – Step-Wise Application Process
If you fulfil the eligibility conditions specified by the NTA, you can apply for the NEET examination. The students need to register online and create their respective NEET login. What are the steps to be followed to apply for the NEET 2020? The answer to this question is covered in detail in this section. Here is a step-wise description of the NEET registration and application process.
Step 1: Visit the official website of NEET NTA.
Step 2: Click on ‘Fill Application Form’.
Step 3: Read all the instructions carefully and click on ‘Proceed to Apply Online NEET (UG)’.
Step 4: Fill in all required details and click on ‘Preview & Next’.
Step 5: Preview the details filled and click ‘Next’.
Step 6: Provide a password and security question to register.
Step 7: Once registered, the students will get a provisional application number.
Step 8: Log in using your application number and password to complete the application process.
Step 9: Fill in information like personal details, place of birth, choice of medium of question paper and choice of examination city and click on ‘Next’.
Step 10: Provide all relevant academic details and click on ‘Next’.
Step 11: Provide address details and click on ‘Preview and Submit’.
Step 12: Preview the application form and click on ‘Final Submit’ if all information entered is correct.
Step 13: Upload scanned photograph and signature as specified and click on ‘Next’.
Step 14: Make payment of application fee through Net banking/credit card/debit card.
Step 15: After successful payment online, proceed to take the print of confirmation page.
Note: Refer to the official information brochure for state code, occupation code, income code, qualification code, category code, school education board code and other information related to the application.
NEET – Admit Card
The NEET admit card is considered to be the most important document for students appearing for the examination. The prospective students need to bring the admit card at the examination centre to get entrance in the examination hall. If a student fails to provide the admit card while entering the examination hall, he/she may not be allowed to take the examination. It contains the important details of the students such as their roll number, name and address of the examination centre, date & time of the examination and more. For the year 2020, the students can obtain the admit card online through the official website of NTA tentatively from 30th August 2020. NTA has notified on its official website that the admit cards for the year 2020 will be released online at least 2 weeks prior to the exam. As the NEET UG 2020 is now rescheduled to be conducted on the 13th September 2020, Candidates may expect the admit cards to be available for downloads from 30th August 2020.
NEET – Syllabus
What is asked in the NEET examination? Which are the major subjects that a student should cover to prepare for the NEET examination? The answer to all these questions is covered in this section. The NEET syllabus for 2020 includes topics from three key subjects namely Physics, Chemistry and Biology. It incorporates the prescribed syllabus of NCERT, CBSE and COBSE that the students have studied in class 11 and 12. The subject-wise weightage of Biology is more as compared to Physics and Chemistry in the syllabus. The table below highlights weightage of each subject in the examination.
Subject-wise Weightage of NEET Syllabus
| S.No. | Subject | No. of Questions | Total Marks |
| 1. | Physics | 45 | 180 (45 questions*4 marks) |
| 2. | Chemistry | 45 | 180 (45 questions*4 marks) |
| 3. | Biology | 90 | 360 (90 questions*4 marks) |
| Total | 180 questions | 720 marks | |
NEET – Answer Key
Once the students have given the NEET examination, they get an opportunity to roughly estimate the scores they are going to obtain with the help of the official answer key. Before declaring the final results, the NTA also displays the official answer keys for all the sets of questions papers along with the students’ recorded answers. The students can match their recorded answers with the answer key and estimate the scores accordingly. The NTA also provides a provision of challenging the answer key for the students by just paying a processing fee of INR 1000 for each answer challenged. The timeline for challenging the answer key starts after the display of the answer key. To know the exact timeline, stay connected with the official website of NTA.
NEET – Results
Besides handling the responsibility of conducting the examination, the NTA also looks after the declaration of results after the examination is over. Usually, the results are declared within one month of the examination i.e. in the month of June (Since the examination is conducted in the month of May). For the year 2020, the NEET result is expected to be announced by 13th October 2020*. The students can check their results online through the official website of NTA. The NEET result facilitates the students with their respective score card that includes information like marks obtained by the student in each section and overall, qualifying status, All India Rank (AIR), State Quota Rank, cut-off score and more.
*Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the NEET 2020 results may get delayed. Latest updates awaited.
NEET – Cut Off
The minimum qualifying score that a student should obtain in the NEET examination is commonly known as the NEET cut-off. The cut-off score for each year may vary depending on the total number of students appearing for the examination and the maximum number of marks that a student has obtained. With the percentile score gaining significant importance, the NTA has set a minimum percentile score as a qualifying criterion for the students. The table below highlights the category-wise percentile score requirement for NEET 2020.
Category-wise percentile score for NEET 2020
| S.No. | Category | Minimum percentile |
| 1. | For Unreserved (UR) category | 50th percentile |
| 2. | For SC/ST/OBC students | 40th percentile |
| 3. | For Physically Handicapped (PH) students (UR) | 45th percentile |
| 4. | For PH + SC/ST/OBC | 40th percentile |
NEET – Counselling
The students who qualify the NEET cut-off get an opportunity to appear for the online counselling conducted by MCC (Medical Counselling Committee). It is an independent body of Directorate General of Health Services functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The counselling is held to offer admission to students for medical or dental seats reserved under 15% All India Quota and in Central Institutions such as AFMC, ESIC, BHU, AMU, etc. The counselling is conducted in three main rounds namely Round 1, Round 2 and Mop-up Round. The tentative timeline for NEET counselling 2020 is between June and August. The students can appear for online counselling by following the below-given steps –
- Register at MCC website by providing mandatory details.
- Pay counselling fee through online banking/debit card/credit card.
- Submit and lock the choices.
- Seat Allotment.
NEET – Dress Code
The students, who are preparing for the NEET 2020 examination should also be aware of the dress code specified by the NTA. Yes, the students will be allowed to enter the examination hall only if they follow the prescribed dress code. The key reason behind introducing the dress code is to ensure sanctity and fairness in conducting the exam thereby avoiding any use of unfair means. The table below provides a list of things that are allowed in the examination and the list of things that are not allowed in the examination hall.
List of Things Allowed and Barred in the NEET Examination Hall
| S.No. | List of Things Allowed in the Examination Hall | List of Things Barred in the Examination Hall |
| 1. | Half-sleeves shirt/t-shirt/top/kurta (light) | Shoes |
| 2. | Trouser/Jeans | Eatable items |
| 3. | Slipper, sandals or low heels | Stationery items |
| 4. | Admit card | Any kind of communication devices |
| 5. | Student’s ID proof | Handbags, cap, belt, wallet, belt, etc. |
| 6. | – | Ornaments |
| 7. | – | Wristwatch, bracelet or camera |
NEET – About NTA
NTA (National Testing Agency) is an autonomous, self-sustained and premier organisation established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India for conducting various entrance examinations that offer admission to different higher educational institutions. The key objective behind the establishment of NTA is to ensure efficiency, transparency and maintenance of international standards in the tests to assess the competencies of the students. Besides conducting the NEET examination, the agency is responsible for conducting engineering, management, pharmacy and college/university examinations.
NEET – FAQs
Q. When will the NEET 2020 examination be conducted?
As
Q. When is the last date to submit the NEET 2020 application form?
The applications for NEET examination generally open in the month of December and continues till January. The last date to submit the NEET 2020 application form was 6th January 2020. Furthermore, the last date to submit the application fee was 7th January 2020.
Q. When will the NEET 2020 result be declared?
The results for NEET 2020 are expected to be announced on 13th October 2020. However, the official dates will soon be notified on the official website of the National Testing Agency.
Q. When will the NEET 2020 counselling schedule be released?
As per the NEET 2019 counselling schedule, the counselling for NEET 2020 may be scheduled in the 2nd half of October 2020.
Q. How many times can a student appear for NEET examination?
There is no limitation on attempts for NEET UG examination. The students may appear for the examination as long as they are eligible for it.
Q. Is NEET UG similar to JIPMER UG and AIIMS UG examination?
According to the latest announcement by the Union Health Minister, from 2020 onwards, JIPMER UG and AIIMS UG will be merged into the NEET UG examination. Thus, there will be only one medical entrance examination in the country.
Q. Is NEET 2020 going to be cancelled?
No. As of now, the NEET 2020 examination has been scheduled to be held on 13th September 2020. However, if the current situation of the country is aggravated even further (due to Covid 19 pandemic), then governing body of the exam may take the decision cancelling the exam.
