The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday released detailed data on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG).
The voluminous result data of over 32 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres in 571 cities was released on the direction of the Supreme Court.
The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets was completed earlier.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. At least 1,563 candidates who were awarded grace marks in NEET-UG were asked to take a re-test. However, 750 of them skipped it.
According to HT's analysis of the data, some centres showed a higher-than-average proportion of top performers; their success rates largely aligned with the overall performance of their respective cities.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. At least 1,563 candidates who were awarded grace marks in NEET-UG were asked to take a re-test. However, 750 of them skipped it.
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The data also showed that centres previously flagged for irregularities did not display unusual performance patterns.
{{/usCountry}}The data also showed that centres previously flagged for irregularities did not display unusual performance patterns.
{{/usCountry}}For example, at Oasis School in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, where the principal was arrested in connection with the NEET exam, only 0.71% of candidates finished in the top 1%, similar to Hazaribagh’s overall rate of 0.66%.
Similarly, at Master Adityendra Government Senior Secondary School in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, where a case of impersonation was reported, 0.71% of candidates finished in the top 1%, below Bharatpur’s overall rate of 1.4%.
Notably, the Supreme Court’s scrutiny of the NEET-UG’s validity is currently limited to two separate instances of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh.
Also Read | NEET-UG centre-wise result: Some venues have high concentration of good scorers
A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has emphasised that its decision on potentially scrapping the exam and ordering a retest will depend on whether the breaches were localised or systemic.
On its part, the NTA has maintained throughout that the leak was a localised affair and that the beneficiaries were already identified and debarred. It has told the court that there is no need to cancel the test.