DELHI: In a notable shift in NEET-UG performance trends, more than 2,300 candidates who have scored above 700 out of 720 are spread across 1,404 centres and many of them are from non-traditional tuition hubs, according to sources.
This year’s medical entrance exam saw a record 23.33 lakh students appearing, with 2,321 of them achieving scores of 700 or above. These high scorers were distributed across 1,404 centres in 276 cities spanning 25 states and Union Territories, apart from some international centres.
Comparatively, the NEET 2023 had a more concentrated spread of top scorers. Candidates scoring between 700 to 720 were distributed across 116 cities and 310 centres, those scoring between 650 to 699 were spread across 381 cities and 2,431 centres, and scores between 600 to 649 were seen in 464 cities and 3,434 centres.
“It is true that many students appearing from traditional tuition hubs like Sikar, Kota and Kottayam were able to score 700 or more. However, the silver lining is that many students appearing from other cities were also able to come within this bracket. It appears that aligning the syllabus of NEET with that of higher secondary has started to bear fruits,” official sources said.
For instance, 35 students appeared from Lucknow, 27 students appeared from Kolkata, 25 from Latur, 20 from Nagpur, 19 from Faridabad, 18 from Nanded, 17 from Indore, 16 each from Cuttack and Kanpur, 14 each from Kolhapur, Noida, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, 13 each from Agra and Aligarh, 10 each from Akola and Patiala, eight from Davangere, seven from Banaskantha, have scored 700 or more.
The distribution of scores further exemplifies this trend. Candidates scoring between 650 to 699 were spread across 509 cities and 4,044 centres, while those between 600 to 649 were distributed across 540 cities and 4,484 centres. Similarly, candidates scoring between 550 to 599 were in 548 cities and 4,563 centres.
A rank-wise analysis of NEET 2024 results shows a widespread distribution of top rankers.
For example, the cohort of ranks 1 to 100 comes from 95 centres in 56 cities, while the subsequent range of 101 to 1,000 are from 706 centres in 187 cities. Similarly, ranks 1,001 to 10,000 are distributed across 431 cities and 2,959 centres and ranks 10,001 to 50,000 are from 523 cities and 4,283 centres.
Data showed similar distribution for ranks 50,001 to 110,000 (546 cities and 4,542 centres, and ranks 110,001 to 150,000 (539 cities, 4,470 centres).
The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday released city- and centre-wise results of the medical entrance exam NEET-UG which is under the scanner over alleged irregularities including paper leak.
An analysis of data indicated that while the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities have not done well, some centres have a high concentration of well-performing students.
Over 2,000 NEET-UG candidates from centres in Rajasthan’s Sikar scored above 650 while over 4,000 have scored more than 600.
The voluminous result data of over 32 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was not released in a cumulative format but in a drop-down menu for each centre. The data was released on the direction of the Supreme Court which is hearing several petitions over the alleged irregularities as lakhs of aspirants await a final verdict on the fate of the exam.
Zero Scorers
More than 11,000 NEET-UG candidates have scored zero or negative marks in the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam this year, according to the centre-wise results announced by the National Testing Agency.
The lowest marks scored by any candidate in the crucial exam is -180 at a centre in Bihar.
According to an analysis of the city- and centre-wise results released on Saturday by the NTA, over 2,250 candidates have scored zero marks, while over 9,400 candidates have scored marks in negative.
There are several candidates at the centre under scanner in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh who have scored less than zero marks.
While there are multiple candidates from a few centres who have scored zero marks, no clusters are seen as the number of such candidates from each centre is not very high.
According to officials, zero marks in the exam doesn’t necessarily mean the answer sheets were blank or no questions were attempted.
“It is possible that the candidate attempted some questions right and some questions wrong which led to negative marking.
In the NEET-UG, for every correct answer, four marks are awarded and for every incorrect answer, one mark is deducted. No marks are awarded or deducted for questions that are not attempted.
The NTA on Saturday released city- and centre-wise results of the medical entrance exam which is under the scanner over alleged irregularities, including paper leak.
An analysis of data indicated that while the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities have not done well, some centres have a high concentration of well-performing students.
More than 2,000 NEET-UG candidates from Sikar centres scored above 650 marks while over 4,000 have scored above 600 marks.
The voluminous result data of over 23 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was not released in a cumulative format but in a drop-down menu for each centre. The data was released on the direction of the Supreme Court which is hearing several petitions over the alleged irregularities as lakhs of aspirants await a final verdict on fate of the exam.
The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions about the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad.
The top court had ordered that the results be announced while masking the identities of aspirants. It had said it wanted to ascertain whether candidates appearing at allegedly tainted centres secured more marks than those writing the exam elsewhere.
The court will resume hearing the arguments in the matter on July 22 on a batch of pleas seeking cancellation, re-test and a court-monitored probe into the allegations of malpractice in the prestigious exam.
Opposition Seeks Discussion
Opposition parties drew the battle lines on the eve of Parliament’s Budget session on Sunday as they asked the government at an all-party meeting to allow discussion on a host of contentious issues such as the Uttar Pradesh government’s order to eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route and exam paper leaks, including of the prestigious NEET.
The government, which breaks from the recent practice invited several smaller parties for the meeting to signal its political outreach and conveyed its willingness to discuss all issues but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stressed that it should be under the rules.
SC Hearing The Case
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam, NEET-UG 2024, which was held on May 5.
According to the cause list of July 22 uploaded on the apex court’s website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra would hear more than 40 pleas, including those filed by the NTA seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations.
An analysis of data released by NTA indicated that the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities did not do well. Some centres, however, showed a high concentration of well-performing students, it revealed.
On July 11, the top court had adjourned till July 18 the hearing on the pleas, including those seeking cancellation of the exam, re-test and probe into alleged malpractices in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024, as the responses of the Centre and the NTA were yet to be received by some parties.
The bench had observed that it had received a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation on the progress made in the probe.
In an additional affidavit filed in the apex court last week, the Centre said data analysis of the results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT-Madras, which found there was no indication of “mass malpractice” or any localised set of candidates scoring abnormally high marks.
While hearing the pleas on July 8, the top court had observed that the sanctity of the NEET-UG 2024 has been “breached”.
Saying that a re-test may be ordered if the entire process was affected, the bench had sought details from the NTA and the CBI, including the timing and manner of the alleged paper leak, besides the number of wrongdoers to understand the extent of irregularities claimed by the petitioners.
The Centre and the NTA, in their earlier affidavits filed in the apex court, had said that scrapping the exam would be “counterproductive” and “seriously jeopardise” lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
