NEET grace marks scrapped, Re-Exam On June 23

The scorecards of 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates seeking admission into medical colleges will be scrapped after they were given grace marks for a wrong question, the Centre told the Supreme Court today. The students can opt for a re-test on June 23 and the results will be declared on June 30.

If these candidates do not take the re-test, their earlier score will be considered the result, without the grace marks. The government's decision follows allegations of massive irregularities and unfair marking in the nationwide medical entrance exams.

"A committee meeting was held on June 10, 11, and 12 to investigate the allegations. Based on the committee's recommendations, the scorecards of the affected candidates will be cancelled, and a re-examination will be held for these students," the Centre told the Supreme Court.

Following these submissions, the court said in its order, "It has been suggested that the scorecards of the affected 1,563 candidates issued on June 4, 2024, will stand cancelled and withdrawn. These students will be informed of their actual scores. They will be given an option to appear for a re-examination. Results of the students who do not wish to appear for the re-examination will be based on their exam held on May 5." The Supreme Court reaffirmed its decision not to halt the counseling process for NEET-UG 2024.

The counseling for admissions into MBBS, BDS, and other courses will start on July 6, the Centre said.

Some 24 lakh medical aspirants took the NEET-UG 2024 - an ultra-competitive entrance test for undergraduate medical courses - conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5. The results were to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the answer sheets were evaluated earlier.

But allegations of a question paper leak and grace marks to over 1,500 medical aspirants triggered protests and lawsuits in seven High Courts besides the Supreme Court.