New Delhi: The NEET cutoff shows the minimum marks students must score to get admission to India’s top government or private medical colleges. However, this cutoff changes every year based on different exam-related factors.
Students must understand that the NEET 2025 cutoff depends on several factors. These include previous year cutoff trends, the difficulty of the exam, the number of students who apply, the highest marks obtained, the number of seats available, reservation criteria, and any changes in the exam or syllabus.
NEET 2025 Cutoff Factors
1. Difficulty Level of the NEET Exam
The difficulty level of the NEET exam strongly affects the cutoff marks. NEET is generally moderate to difficult, but changes in the way the paper is set can make the exam easier or difficult, which directly impacts the cutoff scores.
NEET Difficulty Trends (Pass 5 Years):
| Year | NEET Exam Difficulty Level |
| 2025 | Moderate to Difficult (Expected) |
| 2024 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 2023 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 2022 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 2021 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 2020 | Easy to Moderate |
2. Number of NEET applicants
The number of students appearing for NEET directly affects the cutoff marks. When more students take the exam, the competition increases, which can lead to higher cutoffs for admission:
NEET Applicant Statistics (Past 5 Years):
| Year | Number of NEET Applicants |
| 2025 | Approx. 23 lakh (Expected) |
| 2024 | Approx. 24 lakh |
| 2023 | Approx. 21 lakh |
| 2022 | Approx. 19 lakh |
| 2021 | Approx. 16 lakh |
| 2020 | Approx. 16 lakh |
3. Availability of medical seats
The number of seats available in MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other courses affects the NEET cutoff. Fewer seats mean more competition, which may increase the cutoff marks.
Seat distribution in medical programmes:
| Course | Number of Seats |
| MBBS | 91,415 |
| AIIMS MBBS | 1,205 |
| JIPMER MBBS | 200 |
| BDS | 27,948 |
| AYUSH | 52,720 |
| BSc Nursing | 487 |
| BVSc | 603 |
4. Reservation Policies
NEET cutoff scores vary depending on the student categories. For example, the expected cutoff for the general category in 2025 is between 720 to 162 marks, while for SC category candidates it is between 161 to 127 marks.
NEET 2025 Reservation Quota:
| Category | Reservation Percentage |
| SC | 15% |
| ST | 7.5% |
| OBC-NCL | 27% |
| EWS | 10% |
| PwD | 5% |
5. Obtaining the highest marks
The highest marks obtained by candidates help set the benchmark for the NEET cutoff. In previous years, the top scores have often been very close to the maximum possible marks.
| Year | Highest Score |
| 2024 | 720 |
| 2023 | 720 |
| 2022 | 715 |
| 2021 | 720 |
| 2020 | 720 |
6. Previous Year NEET Cutoff
The previous year’s NEET cutoffs help set the reference for the current year’s cutoff. Looking at the trends of 2023 and 2024, experts expect the NEET 2025 cutoff for the general category to be between 720 and 162 marks.
General Category Cutoff Trends:
| Year | Cutoff Range |
| 2025 | 720-162 (expected) |
| 2024 | 720-164 |
| 2023 | 720-137 |
| 2022 | 715-117 |
| 2021 | 720-138 |
| 2020 | 720-147 |
7. Impact of changes in NEET exam pattern or syllabus
Changes in the NEET exam pattern or syllabus can directly impact the performance and cutoffs of students. In NEET 2024, several important updates impacted the exam difficulty and preparation strategy. These changes include:
- Return to the pre-COVID exam format.
- Removal of optional questions in section B.
- Exam duration reduced to 180 minutes.
- Syllabus reduced from 97 chapters to 79.
- Topics such as digestion, absorption, and reproduction in organisms were removed.
- 18 chapters removed from the Physics syllabus.
- Chemistry syllabus restructured into Physical, Organic, and Inorganic sections.
Read More:
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- How Government Schemes Are Supporting NEET 2025 Aspirants in Rural India!
