NTA revises NEET UG 2025 Tie-Breaking Criteria, Introduces 'Random Process' for deciding ranks

NEET UG 2025 Tie-Breaking Criteria Revised: The tie-breaking procedure for NEET UG has undergone significant changes once again. For the first time, National Testing Agency (NTA) will employ a random selection process, guided by an independent expert committee, to resolve ties once all other criteria have been exhausted. This new rule was likely introduced in response to the 1.01 to 1.17 first-rank holders in NEET UG 2024, as the previous criteria failed to assign unique rankings to every candidate, although this has not been officially confirmed. Last year, the tie-breaking method eliminated the application number and age as criteria, opting instead for a seven-step approach.

This year, however, NTA has introduced an additional rule to address tie situations if the existing criteria do not sufficiently differentiate candidates. The exam will be held on May 4, 2025.

NEET UG 2025 Tie-Breaking Criteria Revamped

As per the official notice, Inter-se-merit of candidates in NEET UG 2025 means, that if two or more candidates receive identical marks or percentile scores, their relative merit will be determined using the following tie-breaking criteria:

• The candidate with the higher score in Biology (Botany and Zoology),
• If still tied, the candidate with the higher score in Chemistry,
• If necessary, the candidate with the higher score in Physics,
• The candidate with a lower ratio of incorrect answers to total attempts across all subjects,
• The candidate with a lower ratio of incorrect answers to total attempts specifically in Biology (Botany and Zoology),
• The candidate with a lower ratio of incorrect answers to total attempts in Chemistry,
• The candidate with a lower ratio of incorrect answers to total attempts in Physics,
• If the tie persists after applying criteria from all the above-mentioned grounds, it will be resolved by a random selection process overseen by an independent expert committee.

In addition to the NEET UG 2025 tie-breaking criteria, the agency has made several important revisions: the examination pattern has been updated, there is now an increased selection of exam centers, the format will no longer include optional questions, entry time at exam centres has been extended, and the guidelines for photo uploads have been updated.

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