Big questions raised on NEET UG result: How were marks obtained for wrong answers, why and to whom were bonus marks given; NTA gave clarification

The National Testing Agency declared the result of the NEET UG exam on June 4. This time 67 students have secured All India Rank 1 in NEET UG. NTA has clarified that this has happened due to the difference between the old and new NCERT books. NTA has said that in our country, younger children of the house study from the old books of the elder siblings. In such a situation, we cannot consider the answers given according to the old book as wrong.

44 out of 67 students scored 720/720 due to bonus marks
NTA has said that not all the 67 students who have scored 720 marks will be considered toppers. Out of 67, 44 students have received bonus marks due to changes in the answer key. Due to this, these students have scored a perfect score of 720/720. The maximum number of students who have scored perfect scores are from Rajasthan, i.e. 11. After this, there are 8 students from Tamil Nadu, 7 from Maharashtra, 4 each from Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

More than 10,000 students had raised objections on the NEET answer key
Actually, a question related to atom was asked in the chemistry section of the exam. In the answer to the question, the students had to tell which of the two statements given with the question are correct. On May 29, NTA released the provisional answer key of NEET UG. In this, option 1 was considered correct. More than 10,000 students had objected to this answer on the basis of old NCERT.

After investigating the objections received after the provisional answer key was released by NTA, it was found that the answer to this question would be different according to the old and new NCERT books.

NTA has considered option 1 of the question as correct
According to the old NCERT book, the correct statement was that the atoms of every element are stable, whereas in the new NCERT book it is written that the atoms of most elements are stable. Option 1 is correct for this question, i.e. the first statement is correct and the second is wrong. Actually, the atoms of radioactive elements are not stable. In such a situation, option 1, i.e. the first statement is correct but the second is wrong, will be the correct answer to this question.

44 students got 5 bonus marks, score reached 720/720
Due to this, NTA gave 5 marks to all those students who had marked any of the two statements. A senior NTA official said that due to this, at least 44 students who were scoring 715 were increased by 5 marks to 720.

NCERT books are the standard syllabus for NEET UG: NTA
A senior official associated with NTA said that these are the standard syllabus NCERT books for the entrance exam, so we have given bonus marks to all those students who had marked option 3. According to the third option, both statements 1 and 2 are correct. An official associated with NTA has said that in our country, if there is an elder child in the house, then younger children also study from his books and there is nothing wrong in this. We all have been doing this. We cannot tell the students that they should buy the latest edition book every year for the entrance exam.

The NTA official further said- We will work to ensure that such a situation does not arise again. At present, we have not said anything to NCERT about the difference between the old and new edition of Class 12 NCERT books. This year the NEET UG exam has been completed and now NCERT cannot do anything about it.

The number of toppers increased due to change in answer key
An officer associated with NTA also said that the main reason for many students scoring 720 simultaneously was the change in the answer key. However, this year the question paper was also easy compared to previous years and a record number of students had registered for the exam. This has also had a direct impact on the number of toppers.

This year around 4 lakh more students had registered
This year a total of 23.81 lakh students had registered for the exam while last year a total of 20.87 lakh students had registered for the exam. According to NTA, this year a total of 9,96,393 boys, 13,31,221 girls and 17 transgender candidates had appeared for the NEET exam.

The overall attendance in the exam was 96.92% while the attendance of boys was 96.92%, attendance of girls was 96.96% and attendance of transgender candidates was 94.44%.

Change in answer key will not affect reserved seats
NTA has clarified that the change in the answer key will not affect the seats reserved for any category. NTA has said that there will be no change in the number of seats that were previously open for the general category or reserved for any other category. The exam was also easier than last year. Due to this, no student will face any problem.

The merit list is prepared with the help of tie-breaker policy: NTA
NTA has said that 67 students have secured All India Rank 1 but this does not mean that all students will not get admission in AIIMS. We also have a tie-breaker policy for such situations. Students can check in the merit list how much they have actually scored and where is their position. There are also details of subject wise scores in the score card of each student.

After 2019, NEET UG never had more than 3 toppers
Since 2019, no year has seen more than three students top the NEET UG exam. In 2019 and 2020, only one student topped the exam each year, while three students topped in 2021, one student in 2022 and two students in 2023. NEET UG is the only entrance exam for admission to MBBS courses in medical colleges in the country.