📊 Cutoff Marks
NEET PG 2026 Cutoff
The most misunderstood concept in NEET PG: the qualifying cutoff (percentile needed to be eligible for counselling) is very different from the admission cutoff (the score actually needed to get a specific seat).
Qualifying Cutoff vs Admission Cutoff
Qualifying cutoff is simply the minimum percentile required to be eligible to participate in counselling at all — it does not guarantee any seat. Admission cutoff (also called closing rank/score) is the actual score of the last candidate admitted to a specific college and branch in a specific counselling round — this is what determines whether you get a particular seat, and it varies wildly by college, branch, category, and round.
Qualifying Cutoff — Category-wise
| Category | Percentile Required |
|---|---|
| General / EWS | 50th percentile |
| OBC / SC / ST / PwBD | 40th percentile |
Percentile-to-marks conversion changes every year based on the difficulty level and candidate performance. As a rough historical reference, the General category 50th percentile has fallen in the 295–320 marks range in recent cycles — treat this as indicative, not exact, for 2026.
Branch-wise Admission Cutoff (AIQ Govt Seats — Indicative)
| Branch | Approx. Score Needed (Recent Cycles) |
|---|---|
| Radiology | 580+ |
| Dermatology | 570+ |
| General Medicine | 540+ |
| General Surgery | 520+ |
| OBG | 500+ |
| Paediatrics | 480+ |
Caution: These are indicative ranges from recent AIQ government-seat trends and shift every year with seat matrix and candidate pool changes. Use them only for rough planning, not precise prediction.
Why MoHFW Sometimes Reduces the Cutoff
In some recent cycles (including 2025), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare relaxed the qualifying percentile after counselling rounds when a significant number of PG seats — especially in less-preferred specialities or peripheral colleges — remained vacant. This is done to ensure seat utilisation, and is announced separately from the original NBEMS result. It does not happen every year and should not be assumed in advance.
College-Tier Cutoff Patterns
Beyond branch, the type of institute matters enormously. Central institutes and older, well-established government medical colleges close at the highest scores across nearly every branch. Newer government colleges and well-regarded private/deemed universities with a reasonable fee structure sit in the middle tier. Peripheral government colleges and higher-fee private/deemed seats generally close at comparatively lower scores, which is why many candidates end up choosing a preferred branch at a lower-tier college over a less-preferred branch at a top-tier one.
NEET PG vs INICET Cutoff — Key Difference
NEET PG’s qualifying cutoff (40th–50th percentile) is comparatively easier to clear than INICET’s, since NEET PG has roughly 52,000+ seats against INICET’s ~815. However, admission cutoffs for NEET PG’s most competitive branches at top government colleges can be just as steep as INICET’s branch-wise closing ranks — scale, not difficulty, is the biggest structural difference between the two.