National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced major changes in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) 2021 paper pattern. In the new pattern, students have been given internal choice in each section of the question paper.
Students have taken to social media to ask for sample papers and OMR for the new pattern. The aspirants feel that they should have some basis to prepare for the new form of exam. Sample papers will help them understand what sort of questions will be given in the optional sections, and a sample OMR shall help in being familiar with filling the same for the new pattern.
It is unlikely for NTA to release either, as the agency does not usually provide sample papers or sample OMR sheets. Students may thus, have to resort to material available on the web or in preparation books.
What’s new in NEET 2021 exam pattern?
This year, NEET 2021 shall comprise three sections – Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Each section shall contain objective-based multiple-choice questions. This is similar to last year’s pattern then, what’s the difference?
The difference is that this time, the questions under each subject shall be divided into two sections – Section A and Section B. Section A shall contain 35 questions while Section B will contain 15 questions. Candidates are required to attempt all questions of Section A. However, in the case of Section B, aspirants have to appear for only 10 out of the 15 questions.
With the provision of internal choices, NTA is attempting to rationalise the problem of syllabus reduction in various states. The NEET 2021 examination is scheduled to be held on September 12, 2021, through the offline mode across 198 centres in the country.
Effectively, the number of questions remains the same as last year i.e. 180 questions. Even the maximum marks in the NEET 2021 exam shall also remain the same which is 720. However, students will get an internal choice to negate the reduction of the syllabus implemented by various boards. Furthermore, these internal choices can help candidates score better in the medical entrance exam.
Apart from the paper pattern, NEET 2021 will be conducted in 13 languages instead of 11. This year, two new languages – Malayalam and Punjabi have been introduced apart from the 11 existing languages.
After the announcement of the revised paper pattern, many students took to Twitter to express their opinions. Most students requested the NTA to provide sample question papers and OMR sheets for reference. Students were also in doubt about the level of difficulty or standard of questions to be asked in NEET 2021. Will the standards deviate or remain the same as before? While the question is valid, NTA is unlikely to shed any light on the difficulty of the paper. However, chances are that the difficulty of the paper shall remain more or less the same.
NEET 2021 is scheduled to be conducted on September 12, 2021, through the pen-and-paper mode across 198 cities instead of 155 last year. This is to ensure that social-distancing protocols are being followed at every exam centre. Registration process for the national-level entrance exam has already begun on the official website ntaneet.nic.in. Candidates are instructed to complete the registration formalities on or before August 06, 2021. Thereafter, the last date to pay the application fee is August 07, 2021.
