NEET row: Number of top rankers to go down to 61 from 67 as NTA withdraws grace marks

“Six out of these 1,563 candidates shared the first rank with 61 others. The number of top rankers will now go down from 67 to 61,” a senior National Testing Agency (NTA) official said.

Unless these candidates take a retest and score 720 out of 720, they will not regain their top spot, the official added.

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The students who were given grace marks will have the option to retake the test on 23 June. The re-test results will be declared on 30 June, and counselling for admission to MBBS, BDS, and other courses will start on 6 July. In the case of students who do not wish to take the retest, their scores from the exam held on 5 May will be considered.

The Supreme Court had stated that all pleas, including those seeking the cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 due to allegations of malpractices, will be taken up on 8 July.

Asked about how the ranks of other candidates will be impacted, the official explained, “The scores of these 1,563 candidates will now be the pre-normalisation scores and not one with grace marks. A revised rank list will be issued only when we know how many of these candidates want to take a retest.”

Refusing to stall the counselling process for NEET-UG, 2024, scheduled to commence on 6 July, the Supreme Court had made it clear that the admission of successful candidates to medical colleges and other institutions will be subject to the outcome of the petitions that have sought relief such as cancellation of the examination held on 5 May on grounds of question paper leaks and other malpractices.

(Edited by Neena with PTI inputs)

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