March 23, 2026
A major shift in the NEET-UG admission process could be on the way. A new proposal suggests replacing the current percentile-based system with a percentage-based system to improve the quality of students entering medical colleges.
According to the proposal submitted to the National Medical Commission (NMC), admissions to medical and dental colleges would be based on the actual percentage of marks students score in NEET-UG, rather than on their relative percentile rankings compared to others.
If implemented, this change could make the admission process more straightforward and focus more on students’ real scores rather than their position among all test-takers.
Dr. Aruna Vanikar, former president of the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) at NMC, stated that this proposal is made to ensure academic competency among the students.
At present, students need at least 50% marks in Class 12 and must qualify NEET-UG based on percentile scores. Every year, more than 20 lakh students take the exam, and around 10 lakh of them qualify.
The exam is getting bigger each year. The National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to conduct NEET-UG 2026 on May 3, and registrations are expected to cross 26 lakh, making it the largest exam so far. This rapid growth has raised concerns about how many students are qualifying and whether it could affect the quality of medical education.
What Candidates Must Expect
Explaining the reason for the proposed change, Vanikar said that a percentage-based system would set a fixed cutoff based on actual marks scored by students. She added that the proposal is under consideration and could be accepted. According to her, while this system may reduce the number of students who qualify, it is likely to improve the overall quality of candidates.
Unlike the current percentile system, where a fixed percentage of students qualify every year, a percentage-based cutoff would depend on how well students perform in the exam.
The Reason Behind This
The reason behind this change is to make sure a minimum benchmark is entered into the admission pool. If implemented, it will substantially decrease the number of eligible candidates, thereby increasing the competition for limited seats. This will further push students to score higher, despite the difficulty of the exam.
