NEET PG cut off: qualifying percentile and what it means for counselling

How the NEET PG cut off is decided

The qualifying percentile comes from the regulations on postgraduate medical education, not from a decision taken after the result. NBEMS ranks every candidate, finds the score sitting at each required percentile, and publishes that score as the cut off for the category.

Percentile here means the share of all candidates who scored below you. If you are at the 50th percentile, half the people who sat the exam scored lower. Because the score at a given percentile depends on how everyone performed, the mark changes every year even though the percentile stays the same.

NEET PG cut off scores in recent years

NBEMS ran the 2025 paper on 3 August 2025 and declared results on 20 August 2025. The qualifying scores were:

Scores from earlier exams, as reported at the time of each result:

The 2024 exam ran in two shifts with normalised scores, and no single cut off score for it could be confirmed by us, so it is left out here; the NBEMS result notice of that year is the place to look.

When qualifying percentiles are lowered

In several years, PG seats stayed empty after the early counselling rounds, and the percentile was cut so that more doctors could take part in later rounds. In the 2023 cycle, the health ministry reduced the qualifying percentile to zero for every category. In the 2025 cycle, the revision before round 3 was as follows:

A zero percentile meant that anyone who sat the paper, even with a negative score, became eligible to register for the remaining rounds. The decision drew legal challenges and public debate.

NEET PG counselling cut off and closing ranks

Once you qualify, admission works on rank. For the All India Quota, the Medical Counselling Committee is in charge; that quota covers half the PG seats of government colleges, and MCC also allots seats in deemed and central universities, while each state runs its own counselling for its state quota seats.

The NEET PG counselling cut off people talk about is really the closing rank: the rank of whoever was the final person to get a given course in a given college, for a given category, in a given round. It differs for every combination. Radiology or dermatology in a large government college closes at a far smaller rank than a pre clinical subject in a newer college.

• After every allotment the counselling body releases that round's closing ranks.
• State lists use state merit positions and domicile rules, so they differ from All India ranks.
• Fees, bond conditions and stipend often push candidates to accept a seat late, which shifts closing ranks between rounds.

The new paper format and old scores

The latest information bulletin moved NEET PG to 180 questions, so the maximum mark is 720 instead of the earlier 800. Scores from earlier years, all out of 800, can no longer be compared mark for mark with what you will see next.

Percentiles still compare fairly, because they measure your position among candidates. If you want to set a target, think in terms of rank and percentile rather than a raw score. Our NEET PG syllabus page explains the five timed sections and the marking scheme.

What shapes the next set of numbers

• Paper difficulty: a harder paper lowers the score at each percentile.
• Number of candidates: more than two lakh doctors usually sit the exam, and the size of the pool moves the score at each percentile.
• Seat matrix: new PG seats in government and private colleges lower closing ranks for many courses.
• Later reductions: if seats remain vacant, the qualifying percentile may again be cut, as in 2023 and 2025.

Checking NEET PG cut offs officially

Qualifying scores are printed in the result notice posted on the NBEMS website, and your scorecard shows your score, rank and percentile. Any revision is announced through a fresh notice. For closing ranks, look at the MCC allotment files and each state counselling body's round results.

For undergraduate cut offs, see NEET cut off, and for one premier institute, AIIMS cut off. Medical, law and engineering admissions are grouped in our entrance exams hub.