The National Testing Agency (NTA) will soon be releasing the results for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or 2021 that was held on September 12, 2021. In a hearing that was held today, the Supreme Court has directed NTA to release the results, thereby reverting the earlier verdict made by the Bombay High Court. At this point, nearly 16 lakh candidates are awaiting their NEET 2021 results. However, they are advised to keep an eye on neet.nta.nic.in for any update.
Candidates belonging to the General and General-EWS categories must get the 50th percentile in the medical entrance exam. For the candidates belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories the percentile will be at the 40th. Similarly, for candidates with Benchmark Disabilities, the minimum marks should get the 45th percentile (for UR and GEN-EWS categories) and 40th percentile (for SC, ST and OBC-NCL categories). The information bulletin for NEET 2021 states that the candidate must have passed in Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biochemistry and English individually. They must have obtained a minimum of 50% marks taken together in Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biochemistry. This percentage of marks for SC, ST and OBC-NCL category candidates is 40%.
It must be noted that candidates with Benchmark Disabilities must secure a minimum of 40% marks in Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biochemistry (UR AND GEN-EWS categories). This, however, remains the same for SC, ST and OBC-NCL categories. While releasing the NEET 2021 result, the agency will prepare the All India Merit Lists of the successful candidates as per the prescribed eligibility criteria as laid down by the National Medical Commission and Dental Council of India.
Past Five Year Cut-offs for NEET UG
| Category | Qualifying Criteria | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| UR | 50th Percentile | 720-147 | 701-134 | 691-119 | 697-131 | 685-145 |
| OBC | 40th Percentile | 146-113 | 133-107 | 118-96 | 130-107 | 678-118 |
| SC | 40th Percentile | 146-113 | 133-107 | 118-96 | 130-107 | 595-118 |
| ST | 40th Percentile | 146-113 | 133-107 | 118-96 | 130-107 | 599-118 |
| UR/EWS &PH | 45th Percentile | 146-129 | 133-120 | 118-107 | 130-118 | 474-131 |
| OBC & PH | 40th Percentile | 128-113 | 119-107 | 106-96 | 130-107 | 510-118 |
| SC & PH | 40th Percentile | 128-113 | 119-107 | 106-96 | 130-107 | 415-118 |
| ST & PH | 40th Percentile | 128-113 | 119-107 | 106-96 | 130-107 | 339-118 |
It is conspicuous that over the last five years, the NEET UG cut-offs have increased. However, in 2019 that highest cut-off crossed the 700 mark. Also, it is worth noticing that the cut-offs did not increase in ascending order. Moreover, the cut-offs for all categories were higher in 2017. In 2018, there was a decrease in the cut-offs but it again jumped up from 2019. Last year, the highest marks for the NEET UG exam was equal to the maximum marks, i.e. 720.
