NEET 2021 Merit List: Know Date, Types and Tie-Breaking Formula

This article of Shiksha brings a detailed account of the NEET 2021 merit list including their types, method of creating the merit lists and their roles in the NEET counselling process.

NEET 2021 Merit List

NEET 2021 merit list has been declared by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the day of the NEET 2021 result. The NEET merit list can be divided into two categories – national level merit list and state level merit list. After the conclusion of each round of state-wise NEET 2021 counselling round, the authorities will release the NEET 2021 state-wise merit lists. The admission to 85 per cent state quota seats and private medical colleges will take place based on the NEET state-wise merit lists.

What is the Role of NEET Merit List 2021?

The NEET 2021 merit list plays a major role in determining candidates’ All India Rank (AIR). The NEET 2021 merit list carries information such as test-takers' names, score obtained out of 720, overall percentile, AIR and state.

Upon the release of the first NEET 2021 merit list, NTA shared it with the Directorate General of Health to conduct the counselling process of the 15 per cent All India Quota (AIQ) seats along with deemed/central universities, ESIC and AFMS institutes. After the counselling of NEET 2021 is conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), the NEET merit list will be transferred to the states and Union Territories (UTs) that conduct NEET counselling for the state quota seats.

NTA will also release another NEET 2021 merit list that will include the list of candidates who would opt for 15 per cent AIQ seats except for those belonging to Jammu & Kashmir since candidates from this UT are not included under the AIQ category. Following this, NTA will send the list of qualifying candidates for MBBS and BDS seats with DGHS. The NEET state counselling authorities will release the NEET state merit list which will carry the state-wise ranks of candidates which would be used for further rounds of counselling. Let us know about the types of NEET merit lists in the next section.

NEET 2021 Merit List Types

The NEET 2021 merit list can be divided into three types, namely, All India Merit List, AIQ Merit List and State Merit List. Let us explain each of these NEET merit list types in detail.

NEET All India Merit List: This type of NEET merit list carries candidates’ AIR of all those who qualify for the exam. This is the primary NEET merit list which is released along with the NEET result.

NEET AIQ Merit List: This NEET merit list type will carry the list of candidates who are eligible for 15 per cent AIQ seats, except those for J&K candidates, unless they opted for the AIQ seats by signing a declaration during the NEET application process. This will be followed by AIQ NEET counselling conducted by MCC.

NEET State Merit List: This type of NEET merit list is prepared by the NEET state counselling authorities. The ranks will be allotted based on factors such as eligibility of the candidate as per domicile requirement, NEET score and rank, etc. For candidates who fulfil the eligibility criteria, but do not feature in the NEET State Merit List can fill and submit the NEET counselling application form for that state and participate in the NEET state counselling process. Later, the state authorities will release the NEET state merit list carrying the state rank and qualifying status of candidates.

NEET 2021 Merit List Dates

The following table brings the tentative dates of the NEET 2021 merit list.

NEET 2021 Qualifying Cutoff

Candidates who qualify for the NEET 2021 cutoff released by NTA have been featured in the NEET 2021 merit list. The following table brings the category-wise NEET 2021 cutoff.

NEET 2021 Tie-Breaking Protocol

In case more than one candidate secures the same score or rank, the following criteria are applied as part of the tie-breaking protocol.

• Candidate with higher marks in Biology will be assigned a higher rank than the other candidate

• If the marks scored in the Biology section are equal, the candidate with higher marks in Chemistry will be assigned a higher rank than the other candidate 

• If marks scored in Biology and Chemistry are equal, the candidate with a lesser number of incorrect answers will be assigned a higher rank

Till last year, there was an age factor involved in the tie-breaking protocol, wherein the candidate with older age will be given a higher rank. But from this year onwards, this factor has been revoked.

The MCC is yet to announce the NEET 2021 counselling process. It is expected that the schedule will be announced in the fourth week of November and the procedure will be conducted over a duration of two months approximately.

Read More:

NEET 2021 Counselling Process Explained – Know About Seat Allotment and Mop-up Round

NEET 2021 Cutoff for Government Colleges – Check Expected Cut off Here

NEET Marks Vs Rank 2021: A Complete Analysis