NEET-UG 2024 Results: 67 students share AIR 1; Raises doubts

On June 5th, 2024, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate NEET-UG 2024 results, which brought the unprecedented result of 67 students securing the first All India Rank (AIR 1), bagging 720/720 which was attributed by the authority to various factors including an easier exam, a rise in registrations, questions with two correct answers and grace marks due to a ‘loss of examination time’. Their percentile score is 99.997129.

The deadline for applicants in the UR/EWS category has increased from 720-137 to 720-164 this year. In 2023, AIIMS New Delhi had 48 places available for open-category candidates, even though 67 students received rank 1 admission. The institute had 132 seats in total, with three designated for candidates from the open PWD category, 11 for General-EWS, 32 for OBC, 18 for SC, 9 for ST, and one for each of SC-PwD and Gen-EWS PwD. There were two seats set aside for OBC-PwD. Out of the 20.38 lakh students who registered for the exam, 11.45 lakh candidates qualified.

When queried about the high number of students getting perfect 720 marks, a senior NTA official explained, “There was a question that had two right answers as per the change in the NCERT book.” According to the official, two options were marked correct by NCERT in their old and new books. Consequently, marks for 44 candidates increased to 720 from 715. The large number of applicants and top scorers with 718 and 719 scores has raised concerns. Allegations of “massive irregularities” during the tests are circulating on social media, raising concerns about the impact on admissions and cut-off times. Social media users also questioned how scores of 718 and 719 could be attainable given that there are 720 potential marks overall and 716 should be the next highest number.

NEET-UG 2024 Results: Percentile Categories and Qualification Numbers

The NEET UG 2024 cut-off for students belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes has been raised from 136-107 to 163-129. Likewise, for the SC and ST NEET UG 2024 cutoff and OBC-PH candidates, the cut-off has increased from 120-107 last year to 145-129 this year. As many as 11,65,904 students in the UR/ EWS category have been placed in the 50th percentile category The NEET cut-off is 40th for applicants who identify as OBC, SC, or ST, and 50th for MBBS and BDS candidates in the general category. The highest score on the all-India common merit list is used by the NTA to calculate the NEET UG percentile.

“NTA received few representations and court cases from the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024 raising concerns of loss of time during the conduct of the examination on May 5, 2024,” the NTA mentioned in a statement. The agency considered these cases/representations and implemented the normalization formula devised and adopted by the Hon’ble Apex Court in its June 13, 2018, judgment to address the time loss faced by the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024.

A total of 24,06,079 students enrolled for the medical entrance exam this year, and 23,33,297 of them showed up. 13,16,268 candidates applied for medical school and qualified for the admission exam. Of the total number of qualifying students, 5,47,036 are male, 7,69,222 are female, and 10 are transgender, according to data released by the NTA. The number of people registered for NEET UG 2024 increased by 16.85% this year. As many as last year as 20.59 lakh applied.

Parent representative Ruiee Kapoor said that the explanation provided by the NTA is not satisfactory as a score of 718 or 719 is technically improbable. “Also 67 students scoring full marks is unprecedented in NEET UG and highly unusual. There is also bunching of students with higher marks, which has led to a major discrepancy in the marks and their corresponding marks. At the same scores, the corresponding ranks have gone up by three to four times. While the overall cut-off has also risen from
137 to 164, students even with 720 marks will find it difficult to get a seat in AIIMS Delhi-a sought-after institute,” said Kapoor, adding that MBBS admissions closed at rank 57 in the open merit last year in the institute.

According to an NTA official, more pupils received higher grades as a result of the normalization procedure and the comparatively simpler physics and chemistry portions, which followed the guidelines in the NCERT textbooks. According to the official, this was done to address equality and deter the coaching mafia. Another parent stated that since students had previously used the grace mark provision for time wasted, it ought to have been mentioned in the information pamphlet. A parent representative named Sachin Bangad stated that the test was “managed”.

“How is that six students who scored full 720 marks are from the same exam centre in Faridabad, Haryana,” he asked. A senior NTA official reasoned this to the fact that in this particular exam center in Haryana, “there was incorrect distribution of papers and they lost 45 minutes.When it was corrected, a formula as per previous court order was used in a few cities including this.”

When it came to state-by-state performance, Uttar Pradesh had the most qualified applicants (1,65,047 students), followed by Maharashtra (1,42,665, 1,21,240, and 89,426 students, respectively. The NTA has given the applicants the All India Rank, and for the MBBS and BDS seats that come within their purview, the admitting authorities will compile a merit list using the All India Rank. Candidates shall specify their category following the state category list when they apply to their state. In light of this, the state counseling authorities will compile a merit list.

Regarding language registration, the largest group of students (18,92,355) were enrolled in English, followed by 3,57,908 students in Hindi and 58,836 students in Gujarati. Punjabi had the lowest enrollment of pupils, with only 214 students. Refuting claims of the NEET UG paper leak, an NTA official said a background check on NEET UG 2024 toppers had been conducted. The source added that NEET toppers have also been high scorers in Classes 10 and 12.

NTA’s Response

In response to the outcry, the NTA clarified that candidates who reported losing time during the exam were awarded grace marks. The agency explained that it had received numerous representations and court cases from candidates citing loss of time during the exam, prompting the decision to award grace marks.

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