NEET records 95% attendance with record 18.72 lakh applicants

NEW DELHI: About 95 percent attendance was on Sunday recorded in the medical entrance exam NEET, which had received the highest number of applications ever, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Breaching the 18-lakh mark, a total of 18,72,329 candidates had registered for the largest entrance exam in the county of which 10.64 lakh were female, NTA officials said.

“About 95 per cent attendance was recorded today,” a senior NTA official said. This was the first time that the number of registrations for the NEET medical entrance exam surpassed 18 lakh, a considerable increase of over 2.5 lakh from 2021. Last year, the NEET-undergraduate exam was held on September 12, with over 95 percent of the registered candidates appearing for it. Over 15.44 lakh candidates appeared for the exam, which was conducted at 3,858 centres. Of these, at least 8.70 lakh students had qualified.

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NEET-UG is the qualifying entrance exam for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) and BSc(H) Nursing courses. The exam was conducted at 3,570 centres in 497 cities, including 14 cities (Colombo, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Sharjah, Kuwait City, Doha, Manama, Riyadh, Lagos) outside India on Sunday in 'pen and paper' mode. A large number of aspirational districts were also added for the first time this year.

"The number of candidates within India were maximum in Jaipur (52,351) and minimum in West Sikkim (105). Similarly, the number of candidates outside India were maximum in Dubai (646) and minimum in Thailand (6),” the official said. According to the official, 494 city coordinators, 3,911 observers, 7,877 deputy observers, 3,570 centre superintendents, 1,56,504 invigilators, 39,330 support staff, 7,877 admin staff and 684 flying squad members were involved in the conduct of the examination.