NEET SS 2025 Qualifying Percentile Cut to 30 as Board Revises Cutoffs

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has lowered the qualifying percentile for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Super Speciality (NEET SS) 2025, bringing the threshold down from the 50th percentile to the 30th. The change, announced on Tuesday, was made with reference to a Supreme Court order dated September 17, 2026.

Under the revised criteria, candidates who score at or above the 30th percentile in their respective question paper groups will be treated as qualified. The board has also released updated cutoff scores for each group.

The qualifying marks at the 30th percentile include 249 for the Anaesthesiology Group, 254 for the Critical Care Medical Group, 247 for the ENT Group, 325 for the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Group, 302 for the Psychiatry Group and 243 for the Surgical Group.

Candidates have been told that group-specific ranks declared on January 23, 2026 will remain unchanged, and no revised scorecards will be issued.

The decision follows the Centre's submission before the Supreme Court on September 17 that it had agreed to lower the qualifying percentile for super speciality seats. In a note placed before the court, the government said 1,857 super speciality seats were lying vacant after the second round of NEET SS counselling, with a substantial share of them in highly specialised medical and surgical disciplines.

The Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, stated that the reduction was intended to ensure available seats do not remain unfilled and that training capacity is used optimally for the proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round. The move is expected to make approximately 6,000 additional candidates eligible to participate.

NEET SS serves as the single window entrance examination for admission to DM, MCh and PDCC courses.