The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2025 was conducted on May 4 by the National Testing Agency (NTA), with nearly 22.7 lakh students participating at 5,453 centres in almost 500 cities—a rise from 4,750 centres last year. As a follow-up to the paper leak controversy of the previous year, this year’s examination was monitored most vigilantly for transparency and fairness.
The NTA will come out with the provisional answer key in May, while the final key and results are to be released in June. NEET UG 2025 cut-off will be announced along with the results, and will decide the eligibility for MBBS, BDS, BAMS, and other medical courses at the undergraduate level.
What is the NEET UG cut-off?
The NEET UG cut-off means the minimum qualifying marks obtained by the candidates to be eligible for admission. It comes as a percentile on the basis of the highest marks in the all-India merit list. For general category candidates, the qualifying percentile is 50th, and for SC, ST, and OBC categories, the qualifying percentile is 40th. Candidates with disabilities (PH category) have a slightly relaxed cut-off.
NEET UG 2025: Expected Cut-Off Marks, Result Date, Answer Key, and Admission Insights
Expected NEET UG 2025 cut-off marks
According to experts, NEET 2025 was more difficult compared to other years. The question paper had 720 total marks, with 180 questions—90 from Biology and 45 from each of Physics and Chemistry. With the higher difficulty level, education specialists anticipate the cut-off for admission to government medical colleges would decline by 40–50 marks from last year.
Below is the anticipated cut-off range for NEET UG 2025 under different categories:
- General/EWS: 720 to 155 marks
- General-PH: 154 to 135 marks
- SC/ST/OBC: 154 to 125 marks
- SC/OBC-PH, ST-PH: 135 to 125 marks
For all-India quota (AIQ) admission, the anticipated cut-off range is between 530 and 560 marks. AIIMS Delhi, which is one of the best institutions, can expect its cut-off to be around 660 to 670 marks. The qualifying marks for general category candidates are expected to be between 130 and 150.
NEET UG previous year cut-off trends
The NEET UG cut-off has shown a general upward trend in recent years, reflecting increased competition and performance:
- General/EWS (50th percentile): 720–162 (2024), 720–137 (2023), 715–117 (2022), 720–138 (2021), 720–147 (2020), 701–134 (2019)
- General-PH (45th percentile): 161–144 (2024), 137–105 (2023), 116–105 (2022), 137–122 (2021), 146–129 (2020), 133–120 (2019)
- SC/ST/OBC (40th percentile): 161–127 (2024), 136–107 (2023), 116–93 (2022), 137–108 (2021), 146–113 (2020), 133–107 (2019)
- SC-PH/OBC-PH/ST-PH (40th percentile): 143–127 and 142–127 (2024), 120–107 (2023), 104–93 (2022), 121–108 (2021), 128–113 (2020), 119–107 (2019)
What’s next?
Aspirants can anticipate the official NEET UG 2025 answer key and response sheets by the end of May. Upon reviewing objections, the final answer key and results will be announced in June. The counselling for medical and allied courses will soon start.
Aspirants are told to follow official notifications on the NTA NEET website and get started on the preparation of required documents for the counselling procedure, taking into consideration the anticipated drop in cut-offs and increasing competition for seats at government medical colleges.
