NEET UG 2024: NTA’s 'grace marks' to 1,563 candidates triggers row; examinees, opposition protest— All you need to know

The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 on Tuesday evening, June 4, 2024. The results have been marred by allegations of irregularities and paper leaks following the inflated marks of some medical aspirants. A record 67 candidates bagged the top rank, of which six were from the same exam centre in Haryana.

According to NEET UG 2024 results, around 67 medical aspirants bagged the top rank in the entrance exam by scoring a percentile of 99.997129. The average mark out of 720 qualified candidates is 323.55 for the 2024 exam.

NEET UG 2024 exam: Controversy

Medical aspirants nationwide have expressed outrage on social media, alleging irregularities. Some candidates demanded the cancellation of the NEET UG 2024 results and a re-examination. Questions are being raised about students getting 718 and 719 marks in the exam, as the marking scheme follows the +4 -1 system.

According to experts, the mark inflation in NEET UG 2024 results is expected to make securing a spot in medical schools this year more difficult. 

One user on Reddit said, “Mathematically impossible scores in NEET 2024."

An aspirant took to X (Twitter) and said, “67 students scoring 720 out of 720 marks in the results released after the NEET exam paper leak raise suspicion. This is playing with the future of lakhs of candidates in the country, due to which there is anger among the students. The government should conduct a high-level investigation.”

Also Read | NEET Exam Row: ‘Why is govt ignoring voices of lakhs of students?’ asks Priyanka Gandhi; Congress leaders demand probe

“NTA awarded grace marks according to the court order, but the students argue this sudden decision is unjust as the agency has not mentioned any methodology to award these 'grace marks',” another X user, Nitish Rajput, said.

Some students have turned to online platforms to demand the results be cancelled and re-examined.

“Calls for transparency in the process have only grown louder. The controversy for the NTA is brewing as lakhs of students demand re-examination, citing lack of clarity in NTA's explanations, and have even pushed for the Supreme Court’s intervention. Grace marks given for lost exam time have raised concerns of fairness,” he added.

Another student posted in Hindi: “Rank toh marks ki vajah se gandi hai but reneet ko survive karna mentally toh bohot mushkil hai. 2-3 mahine fir vohi nlm and salt analysis mujhse nahi ho paayega . (Rank is not good because of the marks obtained, but to face a re-examination of NEET 2024 would be very difficult. I cannot go through the same difficulty for 2-3 months again for re-examination.)"

Also Read | NEET 2024 Results: Medical aspirants demand re-exam over allege marks inflation

Not only aspiring candidates but also Physics Wallah's Alakh Alakh Pandey raised questions regarding the results. Watch video.

Meanwhile, senior Congress member Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has demanded action against alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exams. Gandhi called for an investigation into reported irregularities and expressed concern over students' complaints.

Also Read | NEET UG 2024: NTA issues clarification over 'grace marks' & cut-offs

“First, the NEET exam paper was leaked, and now students are alleging that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised over six students from the same coaching centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to light. On the other hand, there are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced. This is very sad and shocking," Gandhi Vadra wrote in Hindi on microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

NEET UG 2024: NTA clarification

Denying any irregularities in the exam, the NTA said changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres were some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.

“The normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by Supreme Court, vide its Judgment dated 13.06.2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024,” the NTA said.

“The loss of examination time was ascertained, and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So, their marks can be 718 or 719 also,” it added.

Also Read |  NEET UG 2024 result highlights: Check how to check marks

Speaking to PTI, an NTA official said, "We received a representation on this issue as well, due to which NTA had to assign five marks to all students who had marked one of the two options. Because of this reason, marks of a total of 44 students increased from 715 to 720, which resulted in an increased number of toppers.

The NTA noted that around 1,563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time, and the revised marks of such candidates vary from 20 to 720 marks. Amongst these, the scores of two candidates also happen to be 718 and 719 marks, respectively, due to compensatory marks.

NEET UG 2024: How scores are calculated

Aspirants calculate their NEET score with the help of the answer key provided by NTA. A student can match his/her answers with the Answer Key released by the NTA after the exam. Four marks are to be awarded for each correct answer, while one mark will be deducted for each wrong answer. Unattempted questions will not get any marks.

Total NEET Marks = 180 MCQs X 4 = 720 Marks

Your NEET score = [4*(Number of Correct Responses)] – [1*(Number of Incorrect Responses)]

NEET UG 2024: How is the percentile calculated?

Candidates can easily calculate their NEET percentage with his/her NEET score and NEET topper's score in any year.

NEET percentile = (your NEET score /topper’s score) X100

The NEET UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad.