NEET-SS Cut-Off May Drop From 50 To 30 Percentile, Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it is ready to reduce the qualifying percentile for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) from the existing 50th percentile to 30th percentile for a proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round.

The move comes after 1,857 super-speciality seats remained vacant following the second round of NEET-SS counselling. The Centre said a substantial number of these seats are in highly specialised medical and surgical disciplines.

In a note filed before the top court on September 17, 2026, the government said the decision was reconsidered in consultation with stakeholders to ensure that available seats do not remain vacant and that the country's medical training capacity is fully utilised.

According to the Centre, lowering the qualifying percentile could make around 6,000 additional candidates eligible to participate in the counselling process. This would create a candidate pool roughly three times the number of vacant seats.

However, meeting the proposed 30th-percentile threshold would not guarantee admission. Candidates would still have to participate in the Special Stray Vacancy Round and compete for the seats available in different super-speciality disciplines.

The Centre also addressed the issue of 40 vacant in-service seats in Tamil Nadu. It said these seats would be returned to the state government for one week, allowing it to conduct its own Stray Vacancy Round.

Any seats left vacant after the state-level exercise would then be added to the national pool with the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). The MCC would conduct the Special Stray Vacancy Round for these seats along with the other vacant super-speciality seats and complete the process within two weeks.

The Supreme Court had earlier asked the Centre to reconsider its decision not to lower the qualifying percentile amid concerns over the large number of super-speciality seats remaining unfilled.

NEET-SS is taken by doctors seeking admission to DM and MCh super-speciality programmes after completing postgraduate medical training. If implemented, the proposed change could give thousands more doctors an opportunity to compete for seats that otherwise risk remaining vacant.