What after NEET 2023?: Counselling Process, MBBS/BDS Admissions

What after NEET 2023? Display of OMR sheet, the release of provisional answer key, final answer key, results, declaration of merit list, and counselling follows after NEET 2023 exam.

Every year around 14-15 lakh students take the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET exam for admissions to medical courses like MBBS, BDS, BVSc, etc. but only about 7-8 lakh students are able to clear the exam by securing the qualifying score/percentile. 

Table of Contents

• What after NEET 2023: Sequence of Events after the Examination
  • Display of OMR Sheets
  • Release of Provisional Answer Key
  • Challenging the Provisional Answer Key
  • Release of Final Answer Key
  • Declaration of Result and Cutoffs
  • NEET Merit List/All India Rank
  • NEET 2023 Counselling Process
• Important Tasks after NEET 2023 for Students
• Options for Non-Qualifiers of NEET 2023

What after NEET 2023: Sequence of Events after the Examination

What after NEET 2023? After the National Testing Agency (NTA) has conducted the NEET examination, various important events follow, candidates need to make sure to keep track of these events to make sure they are up-to-date regarding everything related to NEET and admission to their choice of medical institutes. 

1. Display of OMR Sheets

Students wondering what after NEET 2023 should know that this is the first event that takes place. Scanned images of the OMR sheet along with the responses of each candidate are displayed on the official website of NEET by the NTA (neet.nta.nic.in). The applicants are given the opportunity to submit an objection against this OMR grading for a non-refundable fee of INR 200.

If the objection submitted is verified and correct, proper updates will be done.

Read More: NEET OMR Sheet 2023

2. Release of Provisional Answer Key

A provisional answer key of the questions of NEET is released by the NTA for two particular reasons:

• Calculation of a rough score by the candidates
• Challenging the answers in the provisional answer key

This provisional NEET answer key is released on the official website of NTA and students must check the website regularly after the NEET examination. The provisional answer key is subject to changes and challenges by candidates.

3. Challenging the Provisional Answer Key

After the provisional answer key is released by the NTA, students are able to check their own answers against the answer key and calculate a rough score for their examination. Many times the provisional answer key released contains mistakes and incorrect answers, for such issues the NTA allows candidates to challenge the provisional answer key for a processing fee of INR 1000 per answer challenged.

The challenge must be submitted within a specific period as mentioned by the NTA and if the challenge is verified and found to be correct by a panel of subject experts, the answer key is revised accordingly without informing the candidate who submitted the challenge.

4. Release of Final Answer Key

After all challenges and objections by candidates are taken into consideration and changes are made according to relevant and valid challenges, the revised answer key which is also the final answer key is released by the NTA.

No challenges to the final answer key are entertained and only the final answer key is used for the NEET evaluation process.

5. Declaration of Result and Cutoffs

After proper evaluation of the answer sheets of all the candidates using standard procedure, the NEET results are declared by the NTA. 

The NEET results were released on the official website of NEET on June 13, 2023, and candidates could download their scorecards from the website itself. Following the NEET result announcement, the Medical Counselling Committee and different state counselling authorities will release the NEET cutoffs and last ranks required for admissions to MBBS/BDS courses.

NEET Number of Attempts 2023

NEET Correction Window 2023

6. NEET Merit List/All India Rank

The merit list of candidates is prepared based on the qualifying criteria and other norms mentioned by the NTA. The merit list is the record of all the candidates who have qualified for the examination and their respective ranks according to the marks secured in NEET.

This merit list is used for admissions under the 15% All India Quota counselling. The merit list also contains the names of the candidates eligible for counselling under their respective states under the 85% state quota.

Also, Check: NEET State Wise Rank List 2023

7. NEET 2023 Counselling Process

The result announcement is followed by the NEET counselling process for admissions to various medical colleges. Candidates need to register themselves to be a part of the counselling process. The counselling process is divided into:

• 15% AIQ Counselling - The Directorate General of Health Services conducts the 15% AIQ counselling on behalf of the Medical Counselling Committee, 15% of the total seats in government medical and government dental colleges like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and such are filled through the AIQ counselling.
• State Quota Counselling - The remaining of seats in government medical and government dental colleges which is 85%, is done by state counselling authorities for candidates who do not qualify for AIQ counselling, this is known as State Quota Counselling. Admissions to government and private medical and dental colleges that come under the state that they are located in are done through state quota counselling.
• AYUSH Counselling - The AYUSH Admissions Central Counselling Committee (AACCC) conducts the counselling for admissions in Deemed AYUSH universities to all AYUSH courses along with 15% seats of government, government-aided and private colleges counselling for which are also done under AYUSH counselling.

Also, Check: Documents Required for NEET Counselling 2023

Important Tasks after NEET 2023 for Students

Apart from knowing what after NEET 2023 and keeping track of all the events, students must also be agile and take initiative about certain tasks that will help them be informed, prepared and confident about this process as possible.

Candidates should do the following after they have appeared for the NEET examination:

• Calculation of Score - As we know NEET is an offline exam and students will not be allowed to mark anything on the question paper during the examination. The students must make sure to retain their answers after the conclusion of the examination and mark them on their question papers for future reference. The candidates can come up with a rough score with the help of these answers and answer keys which are released by various coaching centres and academic institutes on the very same day of the NEET examination.
• Predicting the Rank - Candidates are advised to calculate an All India Rank based on their rough scores with the help of the previous year scores and their corresponding ranks for NEET.
• Shortlisting/Predicting Colleges - After students have a rough estimate of where they are standing in regards to the NEET score and rank obtained, they can shortlist or predict potential colleges that they can apply to based on previous year cutoffs and admission trends. This will help candidates be more prepared for the counselling process that will follow the declaration of actual NEET results and cutoffs.

Top Pharmacy Colleges Accepting NEET Score 2023

NEET MBBS Seats in Government Medical Colleges

Options for Non-Qualifiers of NEET 2023

A common fear or doubt in the mind of the candidates is "What if you aren't able to secure an MBBS seat in NEET 2023?" As mentioned earlier, the pass percentage of NEET is not a very high one and only a chunk of the total examinees are able to secure admissions to a decent medical program through NEET.

Candidates unable to secure a score that falls into the qualifying criteria or a rank on the merit list can go for either of the following options:

• Sit for NEET next year with another year’s worth of preparation, which is an option a lot of medical aspirants prescribe to given the level of difficulty of and competition regarding the NEET examination.
• Seeking admissions to private colleges that require a low NEET rank/score, consider other medical courses that may not require a NEET score like Nursing, Biotechnology, Clinical Psychology, Veterinary Sciences, etc.

Check: Minimum Marks Required in NEET 2023 for MBBS