Good News For NEET-UG Aspirants: Upper Age Limit Criteria Scrapped For Medical Entrance Test

New Delhi: There is good news for aspirants of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG).

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has removed the upper age limit for entrance test to MBBS courses across the country. The age limit was 25 years for unreserved candidates and 30 years for reserved candidates.

National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts entrance exams for higher education,

NMC Secretary Dr Pulkesh Kumar wrote to National Testing Agency (NTA) on Wednesday that there should not be any fixed upper age limit for appearing in NEET-UG examination.

“The process for official notification to suitably amend the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997 to this effect has been initiated,” Kumar stated.

“Good news for the aspirants of NEET-UG! The National Medical Commission removes the fixed upper age limit for appearing in the NEET-UG examination. The decision will immensely benefit aspiring doctors and further help in strengthening medical education in the country,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s office tweeted.

Upper age limit has been a debatable issue since NEET began phasing out All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) and state pre-medical tests in 2016.

CBSE’s decision to introduce upper age limit in NEET prospectus in 2017 was challenged in Supreme Court in May 2018.

The apex court passed an interim order in November 2018, granting provisional permission to candidates above 25 years to appear in NEET-UG.

The NEET-UG information bulletin theeafter stated that “candidates above 25 years are provisionally permitted to appear and their candidature is subjected to the outcome of pending petitions before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

The decision will benefit candidates who may miss the age cutoff if the exam is delayed or postponed, like it was in 2020 and 2021.