NEET PG 2026 Qualifying Cut off Drops In The Past 6 Years: What NBEMS Data Reveals

NEET PG 2026: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) declared the results for NEET PG 2026 on September 24, where the qualifying percentile and qualifying marks of General & EWS were fixed at 50th percentile and 262 marks respectively. The above-mentioned cutoff marks is the least qualifying marks in the last five years. As per past records from 2021 onwards, there is a decline of 14 marks from last year's cut-off of 276 marks and well below the previous scores of 291 marks in 2023 and 275 marks in 2022. However, the qualifying percentile was declared for the year 2024 without mentioning any cutoff.

For other categories, the qualifying marks were decided based on the qualifying percentile which comes out to be 45th percentile and 244 marks for the category of General PwBD. Also, for the categories of SC, ST, OBC and OBC(PwBD), the qualifying marks came out to be 226 marks at 40th percentile.

NEET PG 2026: Category-Wise Qualifying Cut-off Comparison

In the case of the General and EWS categories, the new cut-off score stands at 262, which falls under the 50th percentile. In the case of the General PwBD category, the new cut-off score stands at 244, while in the case of the SC/ST/OBC category, the new cut-off score stands at 226. This is what makes 2026 especially in comparison with the previous six years, since the qualifying marks have been the lowest since 2021.

What the NBEMS Data & Experts Reveal

• Difficulty Level of Exam and Percentile Distribution: The drop in the number of qualifying marks suggests an increased difficulty level of the exam paper along with an overall low-level score distribution of the candidates despite the same percentile cutoffs.

• Effect of Change in Maximum Marks to 720: There was a change in the maximum marks criterion from 800 marks to 720 marks which automatically brought down the score criteria.

• Steps Taken to Avoid Empty Seats: Medical bodies trying to ensure no empty seats for MD/MS courses from both government and private institutes made efforts to increase candidate eligibility.

• Training Pattern: According to medical experts, the lack of cohesive training pattern along with changing clinical concepts among others led to changes in candidate score distribution.

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