NEET UG 2024: When was answer key released in last five years?

NTA will prepare the all-India merit list based on cut-off and marks secured by the candidate. Those who will score more than the cut-off will become eligible for 15 per cent of all India quota counselling. The 15 per cent All India Quota shall only be filled based on NEET UG 2024 rank and as per the statutory regulation of MCI/NMC/DCI. For the admission to 85 per cent, the states shall conduct individual counseling.

Before there is any update on the NEET UG final answer key, here is when the Agency released the keys in the last five years: 

In 2023, the examination was conducted on May 7 and the final answer keys were released on June 4. Over 20.87 lakh students registered for the exam. NEET UG cut-off for 2023 for general category candidates shot up from 715-117 in 2022 to 720-137 in 2023. This is because the number of candidates who appeared for the exam had also increased.

In 2022, the answer key was released on September 8 while the exam was held on July 17. In total, 5.63 lakh candidates cleared the exam in 2022. Overall, the pass percentage stood at 56.28, nearly the same as 2021. There were 16 female candidates in the list of the top 50, including the all India topper – Tanishka from Rajasthan. She scored 715 marks.

In 2021, Karthika G Nair emerged as the girl topper in the NEET-UG for which the exams were held on September 12 and the final answer key was out on October 15. The examination was conducted amid the pandemic with lockdown and various restrictions in the country.  Majority of the exams were postponed due to pandemic but students had to wait long to get confirmation from the Authority about postponement of the medical exam. In fact at the exam hall, candidates were asked to maintain all the social distancing guidelines other than the usual one.

In an unprecedented order, the Bombay High Court on October 20 had directed the NTA to hold a fresh exam for the two students and declare their results along with the main results of the test. Over 95 per cent of registered candidates had appeared for the medical entrance exam NEET at over 3,800 centres across the country on September 12, according to officials.

In 2020, the examination was conducted on September 13 and the final answer key was released on September 26. The number of cities where the examination was conducted was 3,862. Over 14.37 lakh candidates had appeared for NEET UG 2020 while nearly 16 lakh had registered for it. In fact the Agency changed exam centers for some of the candidates due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also released the safety guidelines according to which, exams are now not allowed to be held in containment zones.

With examination on May 5, the final answer key was released on May 25 for the 2019 exam. A total of 7,95,031 candidates living in India cleared NEET UG. As many as 315 foreign nationals, 1,209 NRIs, 441 candidates holding OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) cards and 46 PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin) also cleared the exam. Two candidates scored 700 marks out of 720 but secured different ranks, five scored 695, two 691, 16 candidates scored 690, three scored 687, 13 scored 685 and five scored 686 marks.