NEET 2021 may be held twice in a year, also check updates on syllabus and criteria for 2021
NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is an offline pen-paper based entrance examination which is conducted every year for the admission in various medical colleges in India. There are slim chances of being held online. Students have to sit for the NEET 2021 entrance test and clear it to get admission to medical colleges and pursue an MBBS degree in the country.
Earlier AIIMS, PGIMER, and other institutes used to conduct their individual medical entrance examinations for MBBS courses admission. But now, the HRD Ministry has prescribed only a single entrance test to get admission to the undergraduate medical courses like MBBS and BDS in India.
Various medical seats are filled in the medical institutes across the country via the common NEET entrance examination. All the top government colleges, private medical institutes, state-run medical colleges accept the scores of NEET examination to fill the seats of the respective medical courses in them.
MAJOR CHANGES INTRODUCED IN NEET 2021
NTA (National Testing Agency) is being responsible for conducting NEET from 2019 onwards which has decided to conduct the paper online and twice in a year. But, Due to certain issues, this wasn’t possible in the year 2019 and 2020 too. But, there are slight chances that NEET 2021 may be conducted online and twice in a year. But there is no confirmation yet so till now the exam is to be conducted offline.
Any official confirmation regarding this will be updated as soon as the official notification is released by NTA. However, this does not mean that there will be any changes in the paper pattern or syllabus of the paper, thus, not affecting the candidates preparing for NEET-UG 2021. But the NEET Syllabus may be reduced based on situation and demand.
Conducting NEET twice in a year may be of great help to the candidates as their chances of securing a seat in any of the reputed medical colleges may increase eventually. Also, the best scores from both the attempts will be considered for evaluation which gives an edge to the aspirants appearing for it.
NEET 2021 IMPORTANT DATES
| EVENTS | TENTATIVE DATES |
| Release of Application forms | November 2020 |
| Last date for submitting the application form | December 2020 |
| Last date for the payment of fees | December 2020 |
| Opening of correction window | January 2021 |
| Availability of admit card | April 2021 |
| Date of NEET Examination | May 2021 |
| Release of OMR and Answer key | After a week from the date of examination |
| Result declaration | June 2021 |
| Commencement of Counselling | 2nd week of June 2021 |
NEET 2021 ELIGIBILITY
Before applying for the NEET 2021, candidates must check the eligibility criteria set by the National Testing Agency (NTA), India. The candidates who will meet the eligibility criteria will be allowed to appear in the examination. Below is the eligibility of NEET Examination. Students should take a quick view of all the details before making an application.
- Nationality: The students applying for NEET 2021 must be Indian citizens or OCI (Overseas citizens of India). Only these candidates can apply for the examination.
- State Candidates: The candidates who have Birth Certificate/ Domicile Certificate/ Residential Certificate that is issued on the name of Indian Government are eligible to apply for NEET 2021.
- Qualifying exam: Candidates must have passed 12th examination or its equivalent from a recognized board or University are eligible to apply for NEET 2021. Also, one must have passed with subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology or Biotechnology along withEnglish as the compulsory subjects in the qualifying examination.
- Qualifying Marks: Candidates must obtain at least 50% marks in case of General category, 45% for General-PH candidates and 40% marks for SC/ST & OBC candidates in the qualifying exam.The candidates who are appearing in the qualifying examination can also apply for NEET 2021.
- Age Limit: The minimum age limit required for an applicant should be 17 years of age as on 31st December of the year of admission. Also, the maximum age limit to appear in the examination is 25 years for those who belong to general category and 30 years for those who belong to reserved category.
- Number of Attempts: One can attempt multiple times.
NEET 2021 EXAM PATTERN
- Mode of Examination: NEET Exam will be conducted offline as of now.
- Number of Questions: The total number of questions asked in the question paper will be a total 180 questions.
- Types of Questions: The type of questions in the NEET Examination will be Multiple choice questions having four alternatives.
- Duration of Examination: The duration of the paper will be 3 hours.
- Marking scheme of the paper: Every question will be of four marks. So, every correct answer will fetch you 4 marks (+4 marks).
- Subjects: The question paper will consist of questions from subjects such as Zoology, Physics, Chemistry and Botany. The questions asked in the paper will be based on the 11th and 12th standard books.
- Negative Marking: Negative marking is applicable in NEET paper. Hence, it means that 1 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer (-1 mark).
| SUBJECTS | NUMBER OF MCQs | TOTAL MARKS |
| Physics | 45 | 180 |
| Chemistry | 45 | 180 |
| Zoology | 45 | 180 |
| Botany | 45 | 180 |
NEET 2021 SYLLABUS
The syllabus of NEET will consist of topics from Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Zoology and Botany) subjects. Questions will appear from the subjects that appear in class 11th as well as 12th NCERT and CBSE syllabus. However, some questions will be asked from other boards too.The syllabus for the NEET examination of various subjects is given below:
Physics:
- Electrostatics
- Laws of Motion
- Properties of Bulk Matter
- Electromagnetic Waves
- Electronic devices
- Dual nature of matter and radiation
- Magnetic effects of current
- Magnetism
- Behaviour of Perfect Gas and Kinetic Theory
- Physical World and Measurement
- Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body
Chemistry:
- Some basic concepts of Chemistry
- Solid State
- Surface Chemistry
- States of Matter: Gases and Liquids
- Electrochemistry
- p- block elements
- d- block elements
- Hydrogen
- Alcohols
- Hydrocarbons
- Equilibrium
- Phenols and Ethers
- Coordination Compounds
- Organic Compounds Containing Nitrogen
- Classification of Elements and Periodicity in Properties etc.
Biology:
- Plant Physiology
- Genetics and Evolution
- Cell structure and function
- Diversity in Living world
- Reproduction
- Ecology and Environment
- Human Physiology
- Biology and Human welfare
- Biotechnology and Its Applications
- Structural Organization in Animals and Plants etc.
There are no changes in the exam pattern, syllabus and the criteria to write NEET examination as of now. However, some news is coming up on the syllabus to get reduced. But it is not official yet. The only changes will be that the exam may be held twice in a year. Hence, it does not affect a candidate’s preparation who is preparing for NEET 2021.
More than 15 lakhs students appear for NEET examination every year. After the merger of AIIMS, JIPMER and other medical entrance examinations, the number of candidates appearing for the examination may increase.
