Now NEET candidates only have 3 attempts, age cap introduced

The National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance-Test (NEET) has introduced limits to the number of times aspirants can attempt the paper and the age of the candidates. Now, candidates can only try their hand at the paper three times and cannot be older than 25 years (30 years for reserved category), a surprising turn to a national examination that had no limit on the number of attempts and age till date.

This has been done to bring down the number of older candidates competing with 17-year-old candidates (the minimum age limit), and to prevent fraud and cheating.

According to data collected from the Maharashtra directorate of medical education and research (DMER), the oldest candidate was 38-years-old and at least another 100 aspirants were in their early 30s, TOI reports.

This year, candidates have been eagerly waiting for the notification of NEET 2017 but it has been delayed over a long time. Even the official website of NEET is not available as it is under construction. In 2016, the NEET examination replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) which used to take place every year in the month of May. It has been made mandatory for admissions in all-India medical/ dental colleges.

This is a good decision,” says Dr Pravin Shingare, director of DMER. “There are some students who keep taking the test, and when they don’t make the cut, join a BSc college and keep taking the medical entrance test.”

*This article first appeared in Indian Express.