NEET 2022: Know Key Changes Introduced This Year

Key Changes Introduced in NEET 2022

The NEET 2022 exam dates were announced after a long wait. With the release of the NEET 2022 notification, NTA has not only released the important dates but the information brochure has unveiled several changes in this year’s exam. The NEET 2022 application form has been released on April 6. Aspirants who are preparing to take NEET this year must be appraised of these changes to be better equipped to crack the exam. In this article, we will discuss the changes that have been introduced and their implications for the test-takers.

Key Changes Introduced in NEET 2022

The key changes introduced in NEET 2022 are related to the exam pattern, application process and fees, and eligibility factors among others. Let us take a detailed look at each of these changes:

Increase in Exam Duration: The duration of the NEET exam has been increased by 20 minutes. Now, instead of 180 minutes, the exam duration has been increased to 200 minutes. The timing of the exam will be 2 pm to 5.20 pm. Till last year, the exam was conducted from 2 pm to 5 pm. While the increase in exam duration has brought a sigh of relief among candidates, they would have to work on developing a time management strategy that would help them attempt maximum questions within the slated duration.

Increase in Application Fee: The NEET 2022 application fee has been increased by INR 100 for each category. Also, for candidates opting for a NEET exam centre located abroad, the fee will be INR 8,500. This candidate category was not there last year. The following table brings the NEET 2022 application fee for each candidate category.

Candidates can Access Application Confirmation on Digilocker: This year, NTA has announced that candidates will be able to access their NEET 2022 application confirmation page in the Digilocker application. For this, candidates are advised to download the Digilocker application and sign up with their NEET 2022 application credentials. Informing about this, Digilocker had tweeted, "Good News for Candidates of National Testing Agency (#NTA), you will be able to access your #NEET UG 2022 Confirmation page in your #DigiLocker soon. Sign up on DigiLocker https://digilocker.gov.in/installapp".

Also Read: NEET 2022: Registration confirmation to be available on DigiLocker app

Single Phase Registration System: Unlike last year, NEET 2022 application and registration process will not be conducted in two phases. Although there has no been any specific information regarding this in the information bulletin, the speculation can be substantiated by the fact that the information regarding past academic details, parents’ occupation and family income have to be furnished in the NEET application form that has been released on April 6.

Last year, these information had to be provided in the second phase of the application form which was released prior to the declaration of the result. Moreover, NTA had clearly mentioned last year that the registration process will be conducted in two phases. Hence, these factors indicate that this year, the NEET 2022 application process will be conducted over a single window.

There May Not Be an Application Correction Facility: Like the number of NEET 2022 registration phases, this factor has also not been clarified properly by NTA. There has been several instances on the information brochure where it has been stated that there will not be any application correction facility provided to candidates this year, hence they must be careful in ensuring the accuracy of information and data provided.

On the other hand, the NEET notification has stated that the dates of NEET application correction will be announced later. Last year, the dates for the availability of the application correction window for NEET were stated in the exam notification. Hence, there is an ambiguity in this aspect as well. It is estimated that NTA will act based on candidate requests and other factors.

Increase in Exam Cities: There has been a substantial increase in the number of NEET exam centre cities. The exam will be held in 543 cities in India and 14 cities abroad. Last year NEET was conducted in 202 cities in India and two international cities. Dubai and Kuwait City, located in the UAE and Kuwait, both located in Middle East, were the first international cities to host NEET. This year, apart from UAE and Kuwait, the countries where the exam will be conducted are Thailand, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Nepal, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Removal of Upper Age Limit: This year, there will not be any upper age limit for the candidates applying for NEET 2022. While the lower age limit still remains to be 17 years as of December 31, 2022, the upper age limit of 25 years and 30 years for General and reserved category candidates respectively have been removed.

Also Read: NEET Eligibility Criteria

Decrease in Answer Key Challenge Fee: Till last year, the fee levied to challenge each NEET answer key was INR 1,000. This year, the amount has been reduced to INR 200. The NEET 2022 information brochure states, “Candidates will be given an opportunity to make an online challenge against the provisional Answer Key by paying a non-refundable processing fee of ₹ 200/- per answer challenged, within a specified period as indicated in the Public Notice.”

NEET 2022 will be held on July 17 in a paper-pencil based mode. The exam was conducted in September in the past two years owing to the pandemic situation. This year, due to the dip in the COVID-19 cases across the country, the exam has been scheduled much earlier.

NEET 2022 is expected to be taken by approximately 15 lakh candidates. NEET is the biggest and only Medical entrance test which is the admission gateway to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, Veterinary, and other medical/paramedical courses in India.

Read More:

NEET 2022 Notification Released; Exam on July 17, Application Process from April 6

NEET 2022 Application Process Begins on April 6; Know Process, Fee and Documents Required

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