NEET UG 2023: Two candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 and were declared joint toppers in this year’s National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for admission to undergraduate medical courses. The noteworthy aspect of this year’s examination is that the number of candidates who appeared increased by 15.5% compared to 2022, and the number of qualifiers rose by 48.5%. The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the results on Tuesday night, revealing that Prabanjan J from Tamil Nadu and Bora Varun Chakravarthi from Andhra Pradesh secured the top positions with identical scores of 720. Kaustav Bauri from Tamil Nadu secured the third rank with 716 marks, while Pranjal Aggarwal from Punjab obtained 715 marks and was declared the all-India rank 4 topper using the tie-breaker method, also making her the highest-ranking female candidate.

According to a senior official from the NTA, candidates who obtained the same marks are ranked based on the tie-breaker rule. In this rule, the candidate with higher marks in biology is given a higher rank. If the marks in biology are also the same, the same rule is applied for chemistry, followed by physics. If the scores still remain identical, the elder candidate is awarded the higher rank.

It is interesting to note that four candidates from Tamil Nadu secured positions in the top 10, despite the state’s opposition to the centralized medical entrance test. Among the top 50 candidates, eight are from Delhi, seven from Rajasthan, and six from Tamil Nadu.

In total, there are 16 candidates who scored 715 marks out of 720 and were ranked from four to 19 using the tie-breaker method. Bora Varun Chakravarthi, one of the joint toppers, also secured the top position in the OBC category, while Kaustav, who obtained the third rank, is the SC category topper. Among the top 50 candidates, there are 11 from the OBC category, two from the SC category, and one from the EWS category.

A total of 11,45,976 candidates, accounting for 56.2% of the 20,38,596 test takers, qualified for the examination. Continuing the pattern from previous years, there were over 1.6 lakh more female qualifiers than male qualifiers. Last year, the difference was 1.3 lakh.

Once again, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of qualifiers, with 1.4 lakh candidates, followed by Maharashtra with 1.3 lakh and Rajasthan with 1 lakh. Kerala and Karnataka also featured in the top five states, each having over 75,000 candidates who qualified.

NEET-UG 2021 was held on May 7, 2022, and it achieved the highest attendance with 97.7% of the 20.87 lakh aspirants taking the test. In the previous year, the medical entrance exam had a recorded attendance of 94.2%, while in 2018 it was 97%. Seven instances of unfair practices were identified.

Due to high scores among the candidates, the range of qualifying marks increased significantly compared to 2022. For the General and EWS categories, the qualifying mark range was set at 720-137, compared to 715-117 in 2022. The cutoff for OBC, SC, and ST categories increased to 136-107 from 116-93 in 2022. Similarly, the qualifying mark range for General/EWS PwD candidates was 136-121, up from 116-105 in 2022. Among OBC and SC candidates with disabilities, the qualifying mark range was 120-108, up from 104-93.

Regarding the 15% all-India quota seats, the National Testing Agency (NTA) stated that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Government of India, would conduct the counseling process for these seats, along with seats in Deemed Universities, Central Universities, ESIC and AFMC, BHU, and AMU. Candidates can visit the website www.mcc.nic.in for further information. The counseling process will end once the seats are filled. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Education Directorates of respective states will provide details and schedules for counseling on their respective websites.