NEET Merit List: NMC Revises Regulations, Physics Marks to Get Priority Over Biology in Case of Tie

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has made a decision to revise the procedure for determining rankings of candidates who have the same NEET score. Under the new guidelines, priority will be given to marks obtained in Physics, followed by Chemistry and Biology. This marks a departure from the current practice, which gives precedence to Biology marks, followed by Chemistry and then Physics. The Graduate Medical Education Regulations-2023, which were recently issued, state that if subject marks fail to resolve the tie, a computerized lottery system will be used to determine the merit list. The draw of lots will be conducted without any human intervention. The new regulations, set to be implemented from next year, are currently under discussion by the National Testing Agency and the NMC, the two bodies responsible for conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate medical courses.

The regulations state, "In the event of a tie in NEET-UG marks among students, the marks obtained in Physics, followed by Chemistry and Biology, shall be considered. If the tie persists, a computerized draw of lots will be conducted, with no human involvement, to select the eligible candidates."

The NEET-UG results for this year were announced on June 13. As per the current guidelines, when two or more candidates achieve the same marks or percentile scores, a tie-breaker rule is followed to determine their rankings. The candidate with higher marks in Biology is given a higher rank. If the Biology marks are also identical, the same rule is applied for Chemistry, followed by Physics. If the tie persists, the older candidate is awarded the higher rank.

According to the new regulations, students pursuing an MBBS course must complete it within nine years from the date of admission. They will only have four attempts to clear the first year. The NMC has also specified that there will be a centralized counseling process for admission to graduate medical courses in all institutions across the country based on the NEET-UG merit list.

The NMC regulations state, "Under no circumstances shall a student be allowed more than four attempts for the first year (First Professional MBBS), and no student shall be allowed to continue the undergraduate medical course after nine years from the date of admission." Additionally, a student admitted to a graduate medical education program will not be considered a graduate until they complete the compulsory rotating medical internship as per the 2021 Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations.

The notification issued on June 2 emphasizes, "Without prejudice to any other NMC regulations, there shall be a common counseling process for admission to graduate medicine courses in all medical institutions in India, based on the NEET-UG merit list." The counseling will be conducted using the seat matrix provided by the NMC, and multiple rounds may be held as necessary.