E-Paper
Upper age limit for NEET-UG candidates removed
According to earlier rules, the upper age limit to appear for the MBBS entrance exam — National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test- UG ( NEET-UG) — was 25 years for general category aspirants and 30 years for the reserved category students.
India has done away with the upper age limit to appear for the NEET-Undergraduate exam, said the country’s top medical education regulator on Wednesday.
According to earlier rules, the upper age limit to appear for the MBBS entrance exam — National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test- UG ( NEET-UG) — was 25 years for general category aspirants and 30 years for the reserved category students.
In a formal letter on Wednesday to National Testing Agency (NTA) senior director Dr Devvrat, National Medical Commission (NMC) secretary Pulkesh Kumar announced the regulator’s decision to remove the upper age limit.
NTA conducts the NEET-UG at the all India level.
“I would like to inform that it has been decided in the 4th NMC meeting held on 21st October, 2021, that there should not be any fixed upper age limit for appearing in the NEET-UG examination. Therefore, the information bulletin may be modified accordingly,” read the letter to Devvrat.
HT has seen a copy of the letter.
“Further, the process for official notification to suitably amend the regulations on graduate medical education, 1997, to this effect has been initiated,” the NMC secretary’s letter said.
Each year, 1.2-1.5 million medical aspirants take the NEET-UG examination, of which, 600,000-800,000 applicants clear the exam. The decision to remove the upper age limit was taken based on a draft information bulletin on NEET for admission to the undergraduate courses for the 2022 batch.
Medical aspirants welcomed the move.
“It is really going to help those students who are not able to take the test in time or decided to opt for MBBS later than others. It is always good to have an option open for such people,” said Suparna Kumar, an MBBS aspirant who plans to take the test next year.
The age criteria had often been questioned in the Supreme Court and high courts of the country.
With the age limit criteria removed, aspirants can now appear in the medical entrance exam as many times and even after taking admission to other courses, an official said.
