New Delhi: A complete of 12,36,531 candidates have certified the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2025, the outcomes for which was declared by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday, marking a 6% lower from final 12 months, when 13,15,853 aspirants cleared the national-level check for admission to undergraduate medical and para-medical programs.

NEET-UG 2025 was held in pen-and-paper mode in a single shift on May 4 throughout 5,468 centres in 552 cities in India and 14 overseas. (Representational picture)

A complete of 5,14,063 male, 7,22,462 feminine and 6 transgenders are among the many over 12 lakh certified candidates. There are 9 male and just one feminine candidate among the many high 10 rank holders and all of them belong to the overall class.

None of the 22,09,318 candidates who appeared for NEET-UG 2025 — held in pen-and-paper mode in a single shift on May 4 throughout 5,468 centres in 552 cities in India and 14 overseas — scored an ideal 720 marks. This marks a change from final 12 months, when a record-breaking 17 candidates secured All India Rank (AIR) 1 with full marks (720) within the re-revised outcomes, down from 67 within the first iteration which triggered main controversy reaching the matter to Supreme Court and later paved the best way for reforms in NNTA by a authorities appointed panel.

Following studies of malpractices in NEET-UG 2024, which reached the Supreme Court, the Centre fashioned a seven-member panel led by former ISRO chairman Dr Ok Radhakrishnan in June 2024 to reform the NTA. The panel’s report, submitted on October 21 final 12 months, really helpful that from 2025, the NTA will focus solely on entrance exams for greater training, excluding recruitment exams.

Rajasthan’s Mahesh Kumar is the NEET-UG 2025 topper with AIR 1 after scoring 686 marks. Utkarsh Awadhiya from Madhya Pradesh and Krishang Joshi from Maharashtra have secured second and third spots by scoring 682 and 681, respectively.

NEET topper Joshi stated that he switched to easy keypad telephones throughout his examination preparations as smartphone was distracting him from research.

“I took Akash Institute’s coaching in Pune and cleared the exam in the first attempt. I studied for 7 hours at a coaching institute and 5 to 6 hours at home. In the initial days of my NEET preparations, I was experiencing distractions due to my smartphone and hence I switched to a keypad phone. After my NEET exam, I switched back to my smartphone. My parents and teachers supported me in my exam preparations,” Joshi advised HT.

Joshi is hoping to get admission in MBBS at prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi as “it is the most renowned institution, and it has the topmost faculties to develop exceptional skills as a doctor.”

According to college students, teaching lecturers and mentors, the issue degree of query paper in comparison with final 12 months is the rationale behind a smaller variety of college students qualifying in NEET-UG 2025 even after the discount within the cut-off marks from earlier 12 months.

The NEET-UG examination 2025 consisted of 180 a number of selection questions (MCQs) with a complete rating of 720. Of the 180 questions, 90 questions are from Biology, 45 questions from each Chemistry and Physics with every query having a weightage of 4 marks. The NEET marking scheme follows a structured sample the place candidates obtain 4 marks for every appropriate reply 1 mark is deducted for every incorrect response. No marks are given or deducted for unattempted questions.

Compared to final 12 months, the length of the examination was lowered from 200 minutes final 12 months to 180 minutes this 12 months. This 12 months, NTA additionally eliminated the availability for elective questions, launched quickly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, there have been two sections (Section A and B) within the NEET paper and from part B, candidates needed to try 10 out of the 15 questions in Physics and Chemistry and 20 out of the 30 in Biology. Candidates acquired 20 extra minutes to try the questions in part B.

A NEET aspirant from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Anika Mishra scored 585 marks final 12 months however secured solely 530 marks this 12 months. “I did well in the Biology and Chemistry part but the sentences in Physics questions were lengthy and I could not attempt all questions as I wasted my time reading them. “Even though I could solve a few questions in physics, I could not mark them on the OMR sheet,” she stated.

Another NEET aspirant from UP’s Hardoi Nitesh Patel stated, “Compared to last year, it took more time to solve physics questions. Last year, we were getting answers to questions in just one step by putting values in formulas but this year we could get answers only after solving questions in two-three steps.”

Dr Rahul Chawla, a NEET mentor from Delhi, stated that there was a change in sample this 12 months. “Last year, questions were easy and hence we saw so many candidates scoring over 600 marks. I think this year paper was not that tougher and not that easier compared to last year.”

Pritesh Maurya, a instructor at a NEET teaching centre in Lucknow, stated that the language of questions this 12 months was more durable than final 12 months. “Ideally, a student gets less than one minute to solve a question if he or she has to attempt all questions but this year students took 5 to 10 minutes to solve a question and hence we are seeing a smaller number of qualified candidates and a drop in qualifying cut-off marks.”

Maximum, 1,70,684 candidates certified from Uttar Pradesh adopted by 1,25,727 from Maharashtra. Rajasthan, house to India’s teaching hubs like Kota and Sikar, witnessed qualification of 1,19,865 candidates.

The NEET UG 2025 qualifying cut-offs have been lowered for all classes in comparison with 2024. For normal and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates, the cut-off decreased from 720-162 marks to 686-144 marks, with 11,01,151 aspirants qualifying. For Other Backward Classes (OBC), the cut-off dropped from 161-127 to 143-113, with 88,692 candidates qualifying. The Scheduled Caste (SC) class noticed an identical discount from 161-127 to 143-113, with 31,995 candidates qualifying. For Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, the cut-off additionally fell from 161-127 to 143-113, with 13,940 qualifying.

In government-run academic institutes, 10% of seats are reserved for candidates from the EWS class, 27% for OBC-NCL candidates, 15% for SC candidates, and seven.5% for ST candidates.

The NEET certified candidates will now majorly compete for 1,18,190 MBBS seats in 780 medical schools, whereas others will go for undergraduate dental, ayurveda, homeopathy, veterinary and para-medical programmes.