INICET 2026 Cutoff
There are two very different cutoffs in INICET that candidates often confuse. The qualifying cutoff just lets you participate in counselling — it is a percentile threshold. The admission cutoff is the actual rank at which each specialty closes in each institution, and it is far more competitive. With only ~815 seats across all participating institutes, INICET admission cutoffs are brutally tight at top centres.
| Category | Qualifying Percentile |
|---|---|
| General / OCI / EWS / Sponsored | 50th percentile |
| OBC-NCL / SC / ST / PwBD | 45th percentile |
| PGIMER Chandigarh (all categories) | 45th percentile |
The figures below are based on historical INICET sessions. They are indicative only — actual cutoffs vary with candidate pool size, paper difficulty, and seat availability each session.
| Specialty | Approx. Closing Rank (UR) | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Radiology (MD) | ~50–80 | Extremely Hard |
| Dermatology (MD) | ~60–100 | Extremely Hard |
| Cardiology (DM) | ~80–130 | Extremely Hard |
| Neurosurgery (MCh) | ~100–160 | Extremely Hard |
| General Medicine (MD) | ~200–350 | Very Hard |
| General Surgery (MS) | ~250–400 | Very Hard |
| Paediatrics (MD) | ~280–420 | Very Hard |
| OBG (MS) | ~300–500 | Very Hard |
| Pathology (MD) | ~400–600 | Hard |
| Microbiology (MD) | ~500–700 | Hard |
| Anatomy (MD) | ~600–800+ | Moderate |
| JIPMER Puducherry | Competitive seats but slightly higher closing ranks than AIIMS Delhi for most specialties. Strong for OBG and Surgery. |
| PGIMER Chandigarh | 45th percentile qualifying cutoff for all categories. Closing ranks similar to AIIMS Delhi for top specialties. Cardiology and Neurology are highly sought. |
| NIMHANS Bengaluru | Known for Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurosurgery — closes early. Other seats are relatively more accessible. |
| SCTIMST Trivandrum | Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery. Limited seats but slightly lower closing ranks than AIIMS Delhi in these specialties. |
| AIIMS Regional Campuses | Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur, Rishikesh, Nagpur — generally less competitive than AIIMS Delhi. Good backup option for top specialties. |
NEET PG has ~52,000 seats for a pool of ~1.5 lakh candidates — roughly 1 seat per 3 candidates. INICET has ~815 seats for a pool that runs into tens of thousands of serious aspirants. You are competing against the top echelon of NEET PG-level preparation for a fraction of the seats.
At AIIMS Delhi, even a rank of 200 may not secure your preferred specialty. For Radiology or Dermatology, you need to be in the top 100 nationally — which typically requires scoring 155+ out of 200 marks. Each mark matters enormously at this scale.