NEET-UG applications surge for 9th year in a row, record 24L for 2024-25 Up 3L From ’23-’24, Highest Jump In 7 Yrs

NEET-UG applications surge for 9th year in a row, record 24L for 2024-25 Up 3L From ’23-’24, Highest Jump In 7 Yrs

 Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com 

New Delhi : The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) has bettered its record for the ninth straight year with 23.8 lakh registrations for the 2024-25 academic year for admissions to medical/dental and allied health programmes. The addition of a little over 6,000 seats in govt colleges for 2024-25 academic year, however, has made the competition marginally easier with 42.2 aspirants per seat, one of the lowest in the past eight years.

 The entrance test saw an increase of 2.9 lakh registrations from its 2023-24 count, recording the highest jump in the past seven years. From 2017, when it breached the 10 lakh mark, the increase till now has been 12.4 lakh. NEET-UG is by far the biggest entrance exam in India, as it leaves behind CUET-UG 2023 (application under way for 2024) by over five lakh. NEET-UG registration’s first big jump was in 2017 (11.3 lakh) when it crossed the 10 lakh mark from eight lakh in 2016. Thereafter, barring the two Covid years (2020 and 2021), the increase in applications has been more than 11% every year. Till 2023, the increase in number of seats in govt col leges has not been proportional to the rise in number of applicants. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of aspirants rose by 16 percentage points as against 2.9 percentage point rise in seats. 

In 2023, the increase in seats was 11 percentage points, marginally lower that the increase in number of aspirants (11.5). After a decade, in 2024 the increase percentage of seats (17) has been higher than that of candidates (14.1), thereby making it the year of best seat-to-candidate ratio (1:42.2) in nine years (barring the 2021 Covid year). The number of seats in govt colleges in 2024 is 56,385 across 706 colleges (up from 322 in 2023, the biggest increase in the last 15 years), up from 48,212 in 2023 and 43,435 in 2022. The biggest increase in seats was in 2021 when 8,329 seats were added to the 2020 tally of 33,893. 

For over a decade now, females have outnumbered males in this medical entrance test. This year is no different with the highest-ever (57.2%) female participation. In 2023, it was 56.7% and 53.5% in 2022 and 51% in 2019.

 UGC: Check list of debarred univs before enrolling A head of the 2024-25 academic session, University Grants Commission cautioned students seeking enrolment in programmes offered under Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and/or Online Learning (OL) mode on Wednesday. In a public notice the regulator stated that Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Maharashtra, Sri Venkateshwara University, Andhra Pradesh and Periyar University Tamil Nadu have been debarred from offering ODL/ online programmes. TNN

UAE parents relieved as India announces medical exam centres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah

UAE parents relieved as India announces medical exam centres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah

Testing agency to hold the NEET-UG entrance tests for 2024 in 14 international centres worldwide

by

Nasreen Abdulla

Published: Wed 21 Feb 2024, 10:07 AM

Last updated: Wed 21 Feb 2024, 11:13 PM

Indian parents in the UAE were relieved as the National Testing Agency (NTA) of India announced the inclusion of several foreign testing centres for its medical exam, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the NTA revealed that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduates (NEET-UG) 2024 would take place in 14 international centres.

In a notice dated February 20, the NTA wrote, “In continuation of the public notice dated February 9, 2024, it has been decided that the exam will be conducted in foreign cities.” Testing centres in other cities worldwide will include Lagos, Singapore and Bangkok.

Most parents reacted with relief and joy. “I have no words to express my happiness,” said Sherin Shafeeq, whose daughter has been preparing for the exam for over two years. “I have been praying fervently for a resolution of the issue since the first notice came out.”

Sherin said she was hopeful and had yet to fill out the form for a centre in India. “My daughter’s coaching centre had asked us to hold off filling in the application form until as late as possible to see if there was any chance of foreign centres to be announced,” she said. “I am truly grateful to everyone who took the initiative to get the international centres for the NEET exams.”

Last week, Khaleej Times reported that no foreign centres were listed in the initial document released by NTA. Speaking to KT, parents voiced their concern about removing centres, saying how it severely affected their plans.

Many parents feared that travelling to India for the test might impact their children's performance, and accompanying guardians would have to take time off work, manage other kids staying back in the UAE, and expensive air tickets might add to their monthly budget.

In 2021, India first opened international centres for the NEET-UG exams — a prerequisite for all students aspiring to study medicine in India and some international countries. The move came after thousands of students could not travel to India during the Covid-19 pandemic. It relieved parents who had been petitioning for centres outside India for years. However, no international centres were listed in the initial document this year, but the number of centres in India increased.

Now, almost two weeks after its first announcement, the NTA has announced the decision to conduct the entrance exam in several cities worldwide.

According to the NTA notice, any student who has already selected centres in India and paid the fee without the option for foreign centres will have the opportunity to correct their centre and country choice during a correction window. This window will open after the registration window closes.

Alka Malik, Founder and Managing Director of coaching centre Ascentria, said they were overjoyed with the move. “It’s so wonderful that they have considered the situation of NRI students,” she said. “Some parents who have already registered are concerned about missing the correction window, but we are making sure to keep track of it and inform parents when the window opens.”

The NTA as an independent, autonomous and self-sustained organisation that was set up by India’s Ministry of Education to conduct the NEET-UG and other such competitive exams last year.

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