Amid empty seats, govt slashes dental PG cut-off
Anuja.Jaiswal@timesofindia.com 17.10.2026
New Delhi: For the third straight year, govt has lowered the qualifying cut-off for NEETMDS for the third consecutive year. The qualifying percentile for NEET-MDS 2026 has been reduced by 20.576 percentage points across categories, following reductions of 19.863 perc‐ entage points in 2025 and 21.692 percentage points in 2024. A senior health ministry official estimated that around 1,200 MDS seats remained vacant nationwide. The official said state-wise vacancy figures were not available and said the estimate was based on division of seats between all-India quota, which accounts for 50%, and state counselling, which covers the remaining 50%.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has listed 460 clear vacancies and 762 virtual vacancies for Round 2 of counselling this year. The seats are spread across govt and private institutions, which account for 7,716 seats in 287 colleges. Of these, 46 govt colleges have 1,103 seats, while 241 private colleges account for 6,613. Virtual vacancies are not confirmed vacancies as these seats are currently allotted to candidates who may opt for upgradation. If they move to another seat, their existing seats could become available for allotment to other candidates.
The General/EWS qualifying score has been reduced from 308 to 234 out of 960, while General-PwBD score has fallen from 289 to 218 and SC/ST/OBC score from 271 to 200. In 2025, the respective scores were reduced from 261 to 197, 244 to 182 and 227 to 168. National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences said the 2026 revision followed a letter from the ministry dated Oct 12 and was made under the MDS regulations. The notice did not explicitly state that vacant seats had prompted the decision. The NEETMDS 2026 results were declared on June 2.
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