NEET-PG To Adopt Rank-Based System Instead Of Percentile : Expert Committee Tells Supreme Court
Gursimran Kaur Bakshi
3 Nov 2026 7:40 PM IST
The Supreme Court was informed today(November 3) that the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has proposed to adopt a rank-based merit system for NEET-PG and NEET SS, doing away with the percentile format which is followed at present.
This was informed to the bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe in a writ petition challenging the reduction in the cut-off percentile for NEET-PG 2025-26. The proposal has come from the Union Government's Expert Committee constituted on the Court's recommendation. The Court has adjourned the matter to study the report and allow the parties to file a response on the suggestions by the Committee.
On this proposal, it has been stated that the National Medical Commission(NMC) has in principle approved moving from the percentile-based qualifying threshold towards a rank-based merit system. A draft regulation in this regard will be issued after comments from the concerned stakeholders. A letter in this regard has been written by the Secretary, NMC, to the Directorate General of Health Services informing about this proposal.
It has been stated that by introducing the rank-based merit system, the time gap between round 2 and round 3 of PG counselling will be reduced.
It has also been suggested that the reduction in percentile can't be such that the sanctity of the NEET examination is compromised by allowing candidates with 'grossly inadequate or negative performance' to be eligible for admission.
Apart from this significant proposed change, it has also been proposed that there should be a timeline for application to medical colleges for starting new courses, renewal and increase of seats, and NEET examination and including for counselling.
Further, MCC is working towards digitalising the whole counselling process with minimum human intervention to ensure transparency and accountability.
Other proposed changes
Changes on MCC portal: Some of the proposed changes relate to the Medical Counselling Committee's portal as per which, from this academic year onwards, candidates will be divided into Freeze and Float categories. In the freeze category, the candidates will have to report physically at the allotted institutions for admission or upgradation. Whereas, for the Float category, the candidates have to accept the seat online. On upgradation, the relieving from the earlier seat has been made online.
In this process, the candidates will have to pay only once when they finally decide to take admission.
Seat matrix contribution: Earlier, seat matrix contribution was done by the institutes directly, and the NMC couldn't verify it. Now, NMC has been included in the counselling software as one of the stakeholders. Since the seat matrix will be streamlined through NMC, a time schedule for counselling will be followed by MCC.
The committee is also considering taking measures to prevent seat blocking, like KYC or biometrics for entrance exams, to prevent reappearance in the exam.
Further, the committee is also studying the feasibility of sharing results online with DMEs and State Counselling authorities. The States have been advised to upgrade their computer network.
The challenge arises from the January 13, 2026 notice issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences reducing the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26.
As per the notice, the qualifying cut-off for General/EWS candidates was reduced from the 50th percentile (276 marks out of 800) to the 7th percentile (103 marks). For General PwBD candidates, it was reduced from the 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks). For SC/ST/OBC candidates, including PwBD candidates in those categories, it was reduced from the 40th percentile (235 marks) to the 0th percentile (minus 40 marks).
The petitioners contend that lowering the cut-off to zero and negative marks is arbitrary and violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, and that dilution of standards at the postgraduate level compromises patient safety and public health.
On February 6, the Supreme Court had asked the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences to file an affidavit explaining the reason behind the reduction of qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET-PG 2025-26. At that stage, Justice Narasimha had observed that the issue involved competing considerations. He added that one argument would be that standards were being lowered, while the counter argument was that seats were going waste, and that somewhere a balance had to be struck.
In its affidavit, the Union of India has stated that NEET-PG is not meant to certify minimum competence, which stands established by the MBBS qualification, but to generate an inter se merit list for allocation of limited postgraduate seats.
It has stated that all candidates are licensed MBBS practitioners and that postgraduate education is a structured three-year supervised programme, with final competence assessed at the exit level through MD/MS examinations where candidates must secure at least 50 percent marks separately in theory and practical examinations.
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences has filed a separate affidavit stating that it had no role in the decision to reduce the qualifying percentile and that its role is limited to conducting the examination and handing over the results to the counselling authority.
