On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the National Testing Agency (NTA) to extend the deadline for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2019 by one week. This has changed from its earlier deadline of November 30. In addition, it is also permitting students above the age of 25 to apply for the NEET undergraduate examinations. It has also stated specifically that admission will be granted or not depending on the final outcome of the case regarding the CBSE’s hand in deciding the age limit for the exam.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the NTA would be taking over for the CBSE for administering and conducting the NEET examinations. Should this be confirmed, the NEET 2019 will be the first NEET examinations to be conducted by the NTA.
The NEET exam is taken by students graduating school as an entrance examination for the undergraduate medical courses in the different medical and dental colleges throughout India. AIIMS and JIPMER are two colleges which conduct their own admissions exams as they have been exempt from NEET through an established Act of Parliament.
Previously, the upper age limit for the NEET-UG examinations had been capped at 25 years of age, with a relaxation of 5 years for candidates under the SC/ST/OBC category as well as for those given reservations under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The exam paper consists of one paper with 180 multiple choice questions with four options, one of which is the correct answer. Questions will be asked from one of three subjects: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (which includes Botany and Zoology).
Students can apply for the exam online through the NEET webpage. The NEET exam is scheduled to be conducted on May 5, 2019. Candid who have applied can obtain their admit card from the NTA’s official website from April 15, 2019 onwards. Results for the NEET undergraduate examinations (NEET-UG) are expected to be in on June 5, 2019.