NEET RETEST: 60% IMPROVE SCORES, BUT CAN'T MATCH WHAT THEY GOT WITH GRACE MARKS

NEW DELHI: 60% of the 813 NEET applicants who took the re-test after the grace marks awarded to them were rescinded have improved upon their original score, excluding the grace marks. They include 4 of 5 whose score after the addition of grace marks totalled 720, the maximum possible in the test. Marks of another member of the 720 club came down by just 4. However, none of them could match the scores they had with the addition of grace marks.

The increases over what they had scored minus the grace marks range between 10 and 40 marks. Although the NTA, unlike in the case of the general NEET, has not released scores, 11 candidates are learnt to have scored 670 or above.

Results of NEET-UG re-test will ensure there is no change in number of toppers

These students were among the 1,563 who were given grace marks because they had initially been given a wrong set of question papers and could not get the full three hours and 20 minutes allotted for the test.

The grace marks for them sparked an uproar with many led by well-known coaching institutes alleging corruption, leading the National Testing Agency (NTA) to reverse the award of grace marks and give the 1,563 students the choice of appearing for a fresh test or settling for their scores without any grace marks. In the event, only 813 volunteered to take the test afresh.

The results of the re-test, announced on Monday, will ensure that there is no change in the number of toppers, which came down to 61 after the exclusion of six whose score had reached 720 after the addition of grace marks.

Of the 1,563 candidates, 750 opted to retain their scores without the grace marks. Though their ranks slipped, their original marks; i.e, what they achieved without grace marks, are good enough to land them seats in good govt medical colleges.

Allegations of scam gained ground after six of the students who scored 720 were found to have appeared at the same centre, leading the NTA to reverse its decision on grace marks. The change was accepted by Supreme Court.

The official statement on Monday read: "Pursuant to the Order ... a Re-Test was held for 1,563 candidates on 23 June 2024 ..., out of which a total of 813 candidates appeared therein," adding, "It is now informed that revised Score Cards of all Candidates of NEET (UG) 2024 (including of 1,563 Candidates who appeared in the Re-Test on 23 June 2024), are being hosted on the website..."

Chandigarh, which had just two candidates registered, saw zero attendance. The Jhajjar centre, which was under scrutiny, registered 58% attendance, with 287 of the 494 candidates taking the test.

The NEET-UG exam, held on May 5 across 4,750 centres, saw a little over 23 lakh of the 24 lakh candidates taking the exam. 67 students initially scored a perfect 720, an unprecedented number in NEET's history, with six from one centre in Haryana, raising suspicions of irregularities and the role of grace marks.

The NEET-UG exam, conducted by the NTA, is for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in govt and private institutions across India.

The agency is currently under scrutiny for alleged irregularities in the exam, including a paper leak, with various groups calling for a retest.