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The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), is the qualifying test who wish to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS, etc.) courses in government and private institutions in India and also, for those intending to pursue primary medical qualification abroad.
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The exam is conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA), which provides the results to the Directorate General of Health Services under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and State Counselling Authorities for seat allocation.
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Before NTA, which is an independent autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organisation, the test was conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The examination, which offers 90,000 seats in MBBS and BDS Colleges of India, is conducted in the month of May every year.
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NEET-UG replaced the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) and many other pre-medical exams conducted by states and various medical colleges. However, due to lawsuits being filed against the exam, it could not be held in 2014 and 2015.
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NEET-UG is a single entrance test for admissions to more than 66,000 MBBS and BDS seats across India.
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After the enactment of NMC Act 2019 in September 2019, NEET-UG became the sole entrance test for admissions to medical colleges in India including the All-India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) which until then conducted separate exams.
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A candidate who wishes to study medical courses needs to have Physics, Chemistry, Biology / Biotechnology as their compulsory subjects in Class 10th and 12th and must have passed these subjects. The candidate has to show their passing certificate at the time of the counselling round. Marks in Mathematics are not considered in NEET-undergraduate exam (NEET-UG).
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Other than undergraduate courses, NTA also administers NEET post-graduation (NEET-PG), an eligibility-cum-ranking examination prescribed as the single entrance examination for admission to various MD/MS and PG diploma courses.
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The NEET exam is conducted online and in 11 languages — English, Hindi, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Marathi, Urdu Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, and Assamese. The duration of the examination is three hours and a candidate needs to answer 180 questions. The exam paper is divided into three sections — Physics, Chemistry and Biology (Botany and Zoology).
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