Patna: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has drastically reduced the NEET PG 2025 cutoff, making thousands of medical graduates eligible for the upcoming rounds of counselling. In a significant departure from previous years, candidates scoring as low as -40 out of 800 may now qualify for admission.
Under the revised criteria, the qualifying percentile for some categories has been lowered to zero. The move is expected to benefit MBBS doctors who were previously ineligible for counselling due to high cutoff scores, allowing them to participate in the third round and the stray vacancy round of PG admissions.
According to the NBEMS notification, eligibility thresholds have been eased across multiple categories:
- General and EWS candidates: Cutoff reduced from the 50th percentile (276 marks) to the 7th percentile (103 marks).
- General PwBD candidates: Cutoff reduced from the 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks).
- SC, ST, and OBC candidates (including PwBD): Cutoff reduced from the 40th percentile (235 marks) to 0 percentile (-40 marks).
The drastic reduction reflects the persistent issue of unfilled postgraduate seats in medical colleges. According to official figures, approximately 18,000 seats remain vacant even after the first two rounds of counselling. By lowering the cutoff, authorities aim to fill these seats and ensure maximum utilisation of available PG slots.
In a related development, the Medical Counselling Committee has extended the deadline for surrendering seats from Rounds 1 and 2 to January 15, allowing these seats to be added to the main pool for subsequent rounds.
The revised policy is expected to provide relief to many aspirants and bring the country closer to filling vacant medical postgraduate seats ahead of the academic year.
