NEET · Results, cut-off & counselling

NEET cut-off: the qualifying score by category, and what it does not tell you

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 8 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

The NEET cut-off is the minimum score you need to qualify for counselling. It is set as a percentile: the 50th percentile for General and EWS candidates, and the 40th percentile for SC, ST and OBC candidates. In the valid NEET 2026 exam (the re-examination of 21 June 2026), the General cut-off was 213 marks out of 720, up from 144 in 2025 and 162 in 2024. Clearing it only makes you eligible for counselling. The scores at which government medical seats close are much higher, and NTA does not publish them.

Two different cut-offs

Most confusion about NEET comes from one word covering two ideas.

This page covers the qualifying cut-off, with figures from NTA's result notes. For the admission cut-off there is no single number to quote, and what score a government medical college takes shows you how to read it from the official lists.

The percentile rule

The qualifying percentiles, as quoted in Tamil Nadu's 2026-27 admission prospectus from the NMC rules, are:

The 50th percentile means a candidate scoring at that point is ahead of about half the people who appeared. If too few candidates qualify in a year, the Government of India, in consultation with NMC, may lower these percentiles for that year. Candidates must also meet the minimum marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology in Class 12; see NEET eligibility.

Qualifying scores, 2024 to 2026

NTA announces the score that corresponds to each percentile in its result press note. The table gives the published range for each category, from the top score to the cut-off. The second number in each range is the minimum qualifying score.

Figures are from NTA's result notes as reported by Careers360 and Allen. The 2026 figures are reported by news outlets citing NTA. Check the NTA result notice for the official numbers.

A few things to read carefully:

• 2024 was revised. The original June 2024 result had a General cut-off of 164. It was revised to 162 after a physics question was corrected following a Supreme Court direction.
• 2026 is the re-exam. The 3 May 2026 exam was cancelled, so the 2026 column is the result of the 21 June exam, declared on 16 July 2026.
• The ranges are score bands. NTA's note also lists the number of candidates in each band. Those are not the total number who qualified in each category, so don't quote the band counts as category totals.

What a score of 213 looks like

To see what the General cut-off means in answers: 213 marks can come from 54 correct answers and 3 wrong (54 × 4 = 216, minus 3 = 213). That is 54 of 180 questions, so roughly 30% of the paper. The qualifying cut-off is a low bar compared with the ranks that win government seats, which is why it should never be your target. The NEET exam pattern page shows how the +4 and −1 marking works.

How many candidates qualify

More than half qualify each year, not exactly half, because the 40th percentile rule for SC, ST and OBC admits more candidates than a single 50th percentile would. Also note that in 2026 about 2.8 lakh registered candidates did not appear for the re-exam, and the number who appeared was about 2.1 lakh lower than in 2025.

Why the cut-off moves

A percentile cut-off follows the score of the middle of that year's test-takers. It is not a fixed target, so it rises or falls with the whole cohort. Three things can move it:

• Paper difficulty. An easier paper pushes everyone's marks up, including the middle, so the cut-off score rises. The General cut-off went from 144 in 2025 to 213 in 2026, which means the middle of the 2026 cohort scored markedly higher. This page does not claim to know why.
• Who appears. If a different mix of candidates sits the exam, the distribution changes. In 2026 the re-exam had fewer test-takers.
• Corrections. A question corrected after a challenge or a court order, as in 2024, shifts scores and then the cut-off.

The consequence for you is simple: do not plan around last year's qualifying score as if it were a target. Plan around a score that gives you the seat you want, and the qualifying score will take care of itself.

Category differences

Category affects three separate things, and they are easy to mix up:

1. Qualifying percentile. 50th for General and EWS, 40th for SC, ST and OBC, as above.
2. Reservation in All India Quota seats. For the 2026 cycle, reported central percentages were OBC-NCL 27%, SC 15%, ST 7.5%, EWS 10% and PwBD 5% (horizontal). See NEET counselling process.
3. Reservation in state seats. Each state has its own rule. Tamil Nadu reserves 69% of seats by community and has a separate 7.5% preferential quota for government-school students, covered in Tamil Nadu NEET counselling.

A lower qualifying percentile for a reserved category gives you eligibility. What you get in a seat depends on your rank in the category list and the seats set aside for it.

NEET 2027: what to expect, and what not to

The percentile rule applies whichever mode NTA uses. The Education Minister has announced that NEET moves to computer-based testing from 2027, with the 720-mark format unchanged, but NTA has not yet published how scores will be calculated if the exam runs over several days or shifts. Until it does, treat any "expected NEET 2027 cut-off" as a guess. We do not give one. The NEET marks vs rank page explains how scores become ranks, and the exam pattern page has the current format.

Using PrepMatic to aim above the cut-off, not at it

PrepMatic's free assessment shows a projected score against the paper's 720 marks, a readiness percentage and your weakest subjects. After each mock test, the predicted score updates as you take more tests, with a subject-wise breakdown and the subject that cost you the most marks. These are practice estimates from your own tests, not NTA figures. Use them to judge whether your trend is rising, not to bet on a particular year's cut-off. Full-length NEET mocks are scored with the +4 and −1 marking, and the Basic plan is free for one exam.

Frequently asked questions

What was the NEET 2026 cut-off?

For the valid exam, the re-exam of 21 June 2026, the General and EWS qualifying cut-off was 213 out of 720 (the 50th percentile). For OBC, SC and ST it was 177 (the 40th percentile). These figures are reported by news outlets citing NTA's result note.

Is NEET qualifying cut-off the same as the cut-off for MBBS admission?

No. The qualifying cut-off only makes you eligible to take part in counselling. Seats close at far higher scores and ranks, and those differ by college, quota, category and round.

What is the NEET cut-off for government medical colleges?

There is no single figure, and none that NTA publishes. The official source is the round-wise allotment lists on the MCC website for All India Quota seats and on the Tamil Nadu Medical Selection Committee website for state seats. The government medical college score guide shows how to read them.

Will the NEET 2027 cut-off be higher or lower?

Nobody can say. The cut-off depends on that year's paper and test-takers, and it can move a lot: the General cut-off was 162, 144 and 213 in 2024, 2025 and 2026. NEET 2027 will also be a computer-based exam, which adds another unknown.

Is NEET percentile the same as marks percentage?

No. Percentile compares you with the other candidates who appeared that year. A 50th percentile means roughly half scored at or below you, whatever your marks were as a share of 720.

Official sources

• NEET-UG official website (NTA): result notices with the category-wise qualifying scores.
• National Testing Agency: press notes and notices.
• Medical Counselling Committee: allotment results for All India Quota seats.
• Tamil Nadu Medical Selection Committee: rank lists and allotment lists for state seats.

Confirm all scores against the NTA result notice for the year. The complete exam overview is in the NEET guide.

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