NEW DELHI: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has announced that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2025 will be conducted on June 15.
An official notification issued by the NBEMS said the examination would be held in computer-based format in two shifts, adding that the official information bulletin outlining the eligibility criteria, exam pattern, and NEET PG marking scheme would be released later on the official website, natboard.edu.in.
To see the detailed notification, click here.
In December last year, the NBEMS announced the internship completion date to become eligible for the NEET PG. The internship completion date for eligibility is July 31, 2025.
Around two lakh MBBS graduates take NEET PG every year for around 52,000 postgraduation seats across India.
Nomalisation process
However, plans to conduct the examination in two shifts, like last year, sparked a controversy as many candidates, doctors, and activists have expressed concerns on the normalisation process being followed and the fairness of the examination.
The NEET PG was held in two shifts for the first time last year and the NBEMS explained that the candidates were assigned different shifts randomly to ensure that each group was approximately equal in size.
The random distribution would help eliminate potential bias in the allocation of candidates, it said, adding that a process of normalisation would be adopted. The NEET PG results last year for each shift were prepared in the form of raw scores and percentages.
Percentiles up to seven decimal places for the total score was calculated. The method adopted for breaking ties (similar percentiles) shall be based on age — the candidate older in age was ranked higher.
Also, the percentile scores for the total marks for all the shifts was merged and arranged to arrive at an overall merit list and ranking. The overall NEET PG merit or ranking was based on the percentile score of the raw score.
However, the system drew a flak from several quarters, especially candidates.
United Doctors Front writes to Nadda
After the notification on NEET PG 2025 was issued, many candidates questioned the rationale behind repeating the two-shift format of the examination, despite the controversy last year.
“NEET-PG 2025: A Flawed Decision? #NBEMS has announced #NEETPG 2025 in TWO SHIFTS despite the #normalization mess in 2024! Unfair scoring, Legal disputes, Candidate anxiety— Why repeat the same mistakes?,” Dr. Lakshya Mittal posted on social media platform X.
The post also said that the United Doctors Front (UDF) has written to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to reconsider the decision and ensure that the NEET-PG 2025 is conducted in a single shift. Th epost also added a screenshot the letter written to Nadda.
🚨 NEET-PG 2025: A Flawed Decision? 🚨#NBEMS has announced #NEETPG 2025 in TWO SHIFTS despite the #normalization mess in 2024!
❌ Unfair scoring, ❌ Legal disputes, ❌ Candidate anxiety—
Why repeat the same mistakes?
United Doctors Front (UDF) has officially written to… pic.twitter.com/zlMIe5BeW3
— DR.LAKSHYA MITTAL (@drlakshyamittal) March 17, 2025
Dr. Jakir Khan, director of Doctors Welfare Federation of India (DWF), in a post on X, said that the federation has written to the NBEMS to reconsider the decision to conduct the NEET PG in two shifts.
I am writing to formally request the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to consider conducting the NEET-PG 2025 examination in a single shift instead of two shifts, as currently planned for 15th June 2025.@PMOIndia @JPNadda @DWF_INDIA #neetpg2025 #NEETPG… pic.twitter.com/O0RrdZ9gJS
— Dr. Jakir Khan (@dr_jakir_khan) March 18, 2025
“#NEETPG examination in Two shifts is not at all acceptable. When last yr we had seen strong protests from students as well as multiple court cases & alleged malpractices in Normalisation of marks. @FAIMA_INDIA_
strongly opposes the idea of two shifts of examination of #neetpg2025 #NEETPG,” Dr. Rohan Krishnan wrote on X. Dr. Krishnan identifies himself as an orthopaedic surgeon and chief patron at Federation Of All India Medical Association (FAIMA)
#NEETPG examination in Two shifts is not at all acceptable.
When last yr we had seen strong protests from students as well as multiple court cases & alleged malpractices in Normalisation of marks. @FAIMA_INDIA_ strongly opposes the idea of two shifts of examination of… pic.twitter.com/Uj2044lcvq
— Dr. Rohan Krishnan (@DrRohanKrishna3) March 17, 2025