NEET PG rank-based merit: NMC backs end of percentile cut-offs

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has given in-principle approval to replace the percentile-based qualifying system of NEET PG and NEET SS with a rank-based merit system, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 3 November 2026. The change was recommended by a 12-member expert committee set up after this year's steep cut in the NEET PG qualifying cut-off. The NMC has not yet framed the rules: a draft regulation is to be published soon for comments.

Every year, NEET PG decides who gets India's postgraduate medical seats: MD, MS and diploma courses. NEET SS does the same for super-speciality seats such as DM and MCh. Until now a candidate first had to clear a qualifying percentile, a figure that shows how they did compared with everyone else who sat the test. When seats stayed empty, the percentile was lowered, sometimes sharply, so that more candidates became eligible in later counselling rounds.

That repeated lowering has been contested. Petitioners in the Supreme Court argue that the January 2026 cut was arbitrary and breaches the Constitution's guarantees of equality and life. The Union government's reply says NEET PG is not meant to certify basic competence, which the MBBS degree already does, but to rank candidates for a limited number of seats. A rank-based system follows that logic: it would list candidates in order and fill seats down the list, without a separate pass mark that keeps moving.

For students, the practical change would be clarity. Under the current method, a candidate may be ineligible in one round and eligible in the next. Under a rank list, a candidate's position is fixed once results are out, and their chances depend on how many seats are filled before their rank is reached. Doctors have responded in mixed ways, with some flagging structural problems that a new ranking method alone may not solve.

Peepals calculation: The January cut was large. The qualifying score for General and EWS candidates fell from 276 to 103 marks, a drop of 173 marks, or about 63% (173 ÷ 276 ≈ 0.627). Measured against the maximum of 800, the bar went from about 34.5% of the paper (276 ÷ 800) to about 12.9% (103 ÷ 800). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Nothing changes for current counselling. The present percentile rules stay in force until the NMC publishes and finalises a new regulation, and the Supreme Court still has to hear the parties.

Long-term: If adopted, the rank-based system would end the yearly practice of lowering cut-offs to fill seats and could change how state quotas and private colleges plan their admissions. Some reports say it could apply from the 2027 cycle, but no effective date has been confirmed.

Who is affected: MBBS graduates preparing for NEET PG, doctors preparing for NEET SS, medical colleges with vacant postgraduate seats, and state counselling authorities.

What to watch next: The NMC's draft regulation and the comment period that follows, and the next Supreme Court hearing on the cut-off petitions.

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