The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is the sole entrance examination for all undergraduate medical programmes like MBBS and BDS in India. Every year lakhs of candidates take up the examination to fulfil their MBBS, BDS and AYUSH dreams. Earlier institutions like All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) had their entrance exams to fill up their medical seats. But from the academic year 2020-21, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had abolished separate entrance examinations and began to fill up their seats with NEET scores. A total of 83,075 MBBS, 26,949 BDS, 52,720 AYUSH and 525 BVSc in 500+ medical colleges and 300+ dental colleges are filled every year with NEET results.
NEET UG 2021 – Seat Allotment Procedure
After locking their choices in NEET counselling, authorities in the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will start the seat allotment process for NEET 2021. Seats will be allotted based on the candidate’s score, preference of choices, number of seats available, candidate’s community (reservation) etc. Candidates can either accept or reject the seat allotted to them.
- If the candidate chooses to accept the seat allotted to her/him, he/she will have to download the NEET seat allotment letter by entering their credentials.
- Immediately after the release of the seat allotment letter, candidates must report at the centres designated to them along with the allotment letter and valid supporting documents to complete their admission.
- Candidates will have to take a medical examination to prove their medical fitness.
- The institute will now send the candidate’s details to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the candidate’s admission letter will be granted subsequently.
- Candidates can also choose to reject the seat allotted to them and no refundable fees will be deducted.
- If the candidate wishes to participate in subsequent rounds of the seat allotment process, they need to opt for fresh choices of colleges. However, this option is only available till the second round.
NEET UG Cut-off trends ( Over the years):
| Category(Community) | NEET Cut-off percentile | Revised percentile for BDS & AYUSH programs |
| General | 50th | 40th |
| General – PwD | 45th | 35th |
| SC/ST/OBC | 40th | 30th |
| SC/ST/OBC – PwD | 40th | 30th |
The Cut-off trends for the previous year NEET UG examinations have been listed below.
| Category | Original NEET Cut-off (2020) | Revised AYUSH cut-off (2020) |
| General | 720-147 | 720-113 |
| General – PwD | 146-129 | 112-99 |
| SC/ST/OBC | 128-113 | 112-87 |
| SC/ST/OBC – PwD | 128-113 | 112-87 |
| Category | Cut-off marks | |||
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||
| General | 701-134 | 691-119 | 697-131 | |
| General – PwD | 133-120 | 118-107 | 130-107 | |
| SC/ST/OBC | 133-107 | 118-96 | 130-118 |
MBBS/BDS admissions – Increase in the number of seats
To cope with the mounting healthcare needs of India and to give more opportunities to deserving candidates to fulfil their medical dreams, the Union government and State governments are trying hard to increase seat availability by building new colleges and instituting more seats in the existing colleges. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there has been a 56% increase (from 54,348 in 2014 to 84,649 in 2020) in the number of undergraduate medical seats and an 80% increase (from 30,191 in 2014 to 54,275 in 2020) in postgraduate medical seats across the country in the last 6 years. In 2019 alone, an unprecedented 14,863 new MBBS seats were added, says the National Medical Council. With the implementation of the 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), medical seats in India have increased by 5200 seats.
MBBS Colleges and Seats in India
| Colleges/Institutions | MBBS | MBBS | BDS | BDS | ||
| Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | |||
| Private Colleges/Universities(includes Deemed Universities) | 35,540 | 260 | 23,260 | 263 | ||
| Government Colleges/Universities | 41,388 | 272 | 3513 | 50 | ||
| Total seats filled by NEET | 76,928 | 532 | 26,773 | 313 | ||
| JIPMER & AIIMS institutes | JIPMER – 200AIIMS – 1205 | JIPMER – 2AIIMS – 15 | NIL | NIL | ||
| Total | 78,333 | 549 | 26,773 | 313 |
State Wise List of MBBS/BDS seats (Government):
| Name of the State/UT | MBBS | MBBS | BDS | BDS | ||
| Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | |||
| Andaman & Nicobar | 100 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Andhra Pradesh | 2360 | 12 | 140 | 2 | ||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Assam | 900 | 6 | 176 | 3 | ||
| Bihar | 1140 | 9 | 40 | 1 | ||
| Chandigarh | 150 | 1 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Chattisgarh | 670 | 6 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Delhi | 1015 | 6 | 162 | 3 | ||
| Goa | 180 | 1 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Gujarat | 3450 | 17 | 500 | 4 | ||
| Haryana | 710 | 5 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Himachal Pradesh | 720 | 6 | 75 | 1 | ||
| Jammu & Kashmir | 485 | 3 | 126 | 2 | ||
| Jharkhand | 280 | 3 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Karnataka | 2550 | 18 | 160 | 3 | ||
| Kerala | 1455 | 10 | 240 | 5 | ||
| Madhya Pradesh | 1570 | 10 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Maharashtra | 4080 | 23 | 260 | 4 | ||
| Manipur | 200 | 2 | 100 | 2 | ||
| Meghalaya | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Orissa | 1150 | 7 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Pondicherry | 180 | 1 | 40 | 1 | ||
| Punjab | 600 | 3 | 80 | 2 | ||
| Rajasthan | 2600 | 14 | 40 | 1 | ||
| Tamil Nadu | 3650 | 26 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Telangana | 1440 | 8 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Tripura | 125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Uttar Pradesh | 2278 | 18 | 190 | 3 | ||
| Uttarakhand | 425 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| West Bengal | 3000 | 18 | 250 | 3 | ||
| Total | 36836 | 236 | 2,930 | 47 |
State Wise List of MBBS/BDS Seats (Private):
| Name of the State/UT | MBBS | MBBS | BDS | BDS | ||
| Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | Number of Seats | Number of Colleges | |||
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Andhra Pradesh | 2,850 | 19 | 1,200 | 13 | ||
| Assam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bihar | 400 | 3 | 200 | 3 | ||
| Chandigarh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chattisgarh | 450 | 3 | 500 | 5 | ||
| Daman & Diu | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Delhi | 200 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Goa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gujarat | 1,000 | 7 | 840 | 9 | ||
| Haryana | 850 | 6 | 850 | 9 | ||
| Himachal Pradesh | 150 | 1 | 280 | 4 | ||
| Jammu & Kashmir | 100 | 1 | 100 | 1 | ||
| Jharkhand | 0 | 0 | 300 | 3 | ||
| Karnataka | 6,195 | 39 | 3,360 | 44 | ||
| Kerala | 2,800 | 21 | 1,730 | 20 | ||
| Madhya Pradesh | 1,800 | 12 | 1,320 | 14 | ||
| Maharashtra | 4,220 | 30 | 3,250 | 34 | ||
| Manipur | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Meghalaya | 0 | 0 | 300 | 0 | ||
| Orissa | 500 | 4 | 300 | 3 | ||
| Pondicherry | 1,050 | 7 | 300 | 3 | ||
| Punjab | 1,050 | 5 | 1,150 | 13 | ||
| Rajasthan | 1,200 | 8 | 1,460 | 14 | ||
| Sikkim | 100 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tamil Nadu | 3,600 | 24 | 2,760 | 28 | ||
| Telangana | 2,650 | 18 | 1,040 | 11 | ||
| Tripura | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Uttar Pradesh | 4,150 | 30 | 2,400 | 24 | ||
| Uttarakhand | 450 | 3 | 200 | 2 | ||
| West Bengal | 550 | 4 | 300 | 3 | ||
| Total | 36,315 | 247 | 24,130 | 260 |
FAQs
1. Is there an option to join MBBS/BDS without appearing for NEET?
No. The admission for both MBBS and BDS programmes across India have been brought under NEET. One cannot join the above-said programmes without clearing NEET.
2. How many MBBS & BDS seats are available in India through NEET?
A total of 83,075 MBBS and 26,949 BDS seats are available across India (annually) and are filled up through NEET scores.
3. When will the authorities conduct NEET 2021?
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct NEET 2021, on 01 August 2021 across hundreds of centres across India.
4. Which course is easier to study, BDS or MBBS?
The answer is both/neither. It depends on your passion, hard work and subject knowledge. Needless to say, both have a wide range of scope and equally demanding courses.