Missed NEET UG 2025 cut-offs? Top medical courses, career options beyond MBBS

Medical aspirants who do not qualify the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) often assume their opportunities to make careers in healthcare sector are closed. However, several academic programmes allow aspirants to build careers in the healthcare sector without a NEET UG score.

Courses such as Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm), Diploma in Pharmacy (DPharm), Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (BOT), Bachelor of Public Health (BPH), and Bachelor of Hospital Administration (BHA) admit students without NEET UG. Admission to these programmes is based either on merit or through entrance exams conducted by individual institutions or state-level authorities.

Medical aspirants who did not clear the NEET UG 2025 can pursue their career in BSc courses in nursing, radiology, medical laboratory technology, anaesthesia technology, and physiotherapy. Admission to these courses is primarily determined by the marks secured in Class 12. Several government and private institutions shortlist candidates through their own counselling processes, where selection is made based on academic performance at the higher secondary level.

The BSc Nursing course spans four years and is governed by the Indian Nursing Council. Admission to the programme is based on national-level entrance exams and other central institutions, as well as various state-level tests.

Students can also get admission into paramedical courses such as BSc Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), BSc in Operation Theatre Technology, and Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT). The graduates can get the opportunity to work in hospitals, diagnostic labs, rehabilitation centres, and other clinical settings.

This year, the NEET UG 2025 cut-off marks saw a decline across all categories compared to the previous year. For the general category, the cut-off range dropped from 720–162 in 2024 to 686–144 in 2025. NEET cut-off scores for reserved categories also fell. SC, ST and OBC categories all recorded a drop to the 143–127 range, while the general-PH cut-off declined to the same band from 720–161 last year.

NEET UG 2025: Top colleges offering BSc in health sciences

Medical aspirants can refer to the table below for the list of institutes based on NIRF ranking offering admission to BSc nursing, medical imaging, radiology, and other related courses.