Students With '0' Or Lesser Marks In NEET Secure MBBS Seats; Sparks Debate
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam has been surrounded by multiple controversies, sometimes due to its challenging exam level and sometimes for alleged exam-related irregularities. This time, the minimum marks for admission for MBBS have caught netizens’ attention.
A screenshot of a 2018 ToI report is being circulated online showing marks obtained in individual subjects and respective ranks. The data shows that candidates who secured ‘zero’ or even ‘negative marks’ in the NEET respective subjects have secured MBBS seats. Netizens are questioning the effectiveness of the health system in India once these candidates come into the workforce and treat patients.
Apparently, you can score negative in Physics and Chemistry and still get into medical school.
Not satire. Just NEET reality.
Ranks of 5.8 lakh+… and we’re trusting this with our long-term health?This is exactly why taking ownership of your health isn’t just smart — it’s… pic.twitter.com/AYHh62eHeZ
— Sayan Dutta (@sayandutta) July 3, 2025
Read also: CUET UG 2025 Final Answer Key Is Out; When Will The Result Be Coming?
While responding to the MBBS courses with such low marks in NEET another user wrote on X, “it’s not an expansion of healthcare, it’s the collapse of its foundation. No amount of seat increase in medical education or medical colleges will fix this. We are producing doctors without merit, without skills, and soon, without jobs.”
When students scoring zero or even negative marks in NEET are getting MBBS seats, it’s not an expansion of healthcare, it’s the collapse of its foundation. No amount of seat increase in medical education or medical colleges will fix this. We are producing doctors without merit,… pic.twitter.com/hoO5OHv5em
— TheSpeakingScalpel (@DrSaurav5) July 2, 2025
The question is how these students can get admission to the MBBS courses despite securing low marks in the NEET exam. This could have been possible as there is no cut-off for individual subjects – physics, chemistry, and biology in the NEET entrance exam. Candidates who secured zero or negative marks got admission to the private medical colleges, or if they belonged to any reserved categories.
As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) gazette notification of 2010, administered by the government-appointed Board of Governors. The notification specified that eligibility for the MBBS course would be at least 50% of marks and 40% for the reserved categories in each paper of NEET. However, in a subsequent notification in February 2012, the eligibility criteria were changed from 50% and 40% to 50 percentile and 40 percentile, also did away with minimum marks in each paper.
The minimum percentile criteria allow candidates to secure MBBS seats in colleges, especially in private colleges. Candidates with marks higher than 50% of the total students under the Unreserved Category can easily get admission to the medical colleges.
Read also: NEET UG 2025 Counselling: Top Medical Colleges In India
