NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2026: Age Limit, Qualification, Number of Attempts
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Post-Graduation 2025 ( NEET PG )
Counselling - 16 Jan '26 - 26 Jan '26
Candidates who wish to apply for NEET PG 2026 must know the eligibility conditions for this examination. Not paying attention to small details in the NEET PG eligibility criteria can lead to rejection of the application. Candidates are advised to check the eligibility criteria before applying for NEET PG 2026 exam.
The eligibility criteria for NEET PG 2026 has been defined as per the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956. Candidates must note that the National Board of Examinations (NBE) has no role in the drafting of NEET PG eligibility criteria.
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Candidates who wish to apply for this examination must go through the NEET PG 2026 eligibility criteria before filling the applications. Reading the eligibility criteria for NEET PG 2026 will answer queries such as who can apply for the examination, what is the age limit, and what is the number of attempts permitted. Candidates must also remember that if they are found ineligible for NEET PG, their applications will be cancelled. Thus, it is important to make sure that one fulfills the requirements before applying for the examination. NEET PG 2026 exam is expected to be held in the last week of August 2026.
Around 2 Lakh candidates appear for NEET PG every year. The number varies every year. Around 2.40 lakh candidates had appeared in NEET PG 2025 exam. A total of 2,28,540 candidates appeared for the NEET PG 2024 exam. In NEET PG 2023, around 2,06,541 candidates appeared for the exam. NEET PG 2025 exam was held on August 3 and result was announced on August 19, 2025.
NBE, the exam conducting body has not specified any limit regarding number of attempts in NEET PG exam. At the same time, there is no age limit for the exam. Candidates can appear as many times as they want in their prusuit of postgraduate medical courses. Candidates are advised to check the official information brochure, comprising the eligibility criteria and other crucial details related to exam.
- NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2025: General
- NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2026: For Foreign Medical Graduates
- NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2026: For Foreign Nationals
NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2025: General
Age Limit
There is no defined age limit for the candidates who wish to apply for NEET PG 2026
Attempt Limit
NBE has not put a limit to the number of attempts permitted for NEET PG. Thus, a candidate can appear for the examination as many times are required to get admission to the desired course/institute.
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Minimum Qualification
To be eligible for NEET PG, a candidate must have obtained MBBS degree from an institute recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI). They can also have a Provisional MBBS Pass Certificate at the time of admissions.
Internship
Only those who will complete the compulsory rotatory internship of 1 year on or before July 31, 2026, will be eligible to apply for NEET PG 2026. Candidates who will not complete their Internship in the given duration of time will be eligible to appear for the examination next year.
500 plus marks is considered a decent score in NEET PG exam. If a candidate score 535 marks that means his/her rank will be somewhere around 1000-2000. With that score, there is a chance to get admission in government college. Good score also depends on difficulty level of the question paper. If the question paper is difficult then cut off will be low. In 2023-24 session, general category cut off was 291 while the cut off for SC/ST was 257. Overall 500 plus marks will enable you to get admission in good college for PG course.
In case of two students secure the same score in the NEET PG merit list 2025, then the following tie-breaking criteria will be considered for providing admission:
- More number of correct responses
- Lesser number of incorrect responses
- Candidate who will be older than his/her counterpart will be preferred
- Higher aggregate marks
Candidates will have to score the minimum cut off percentile to qualify NEET PG exam. The qualifying cut off differs as per the category. For general category, candidates have to score 50 percentile while for reserved category, the qualifying cut off is 40th. A merit list is released based on marks score, overall rank, category rank etc. Candidates shortlisted in merit list are elligible for NEET PG counselling for seat allocation.
Registration Certificate
Those who are interested for NEET PG must also possess a valid Registration Certificate issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) or any State Medical Council (SMC). Candidates will have to carry a copy of the Registration Certificate on the day of the examination for verification. In the absence of a Registration Certificate, the candidate will not be allowed to appear for the examination.
NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2026: For Foreign Medical Graduates
Nationality
Indian Citizen or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)
FMGE Pass Certificate
Candidates who have completed their primary medical qualification from outside India but wish to appear for NEET PG 2026 must first qualify the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE). This is a licensing examination that needs to be qualified to register with MCI. All those who qualify FMGE are issued a Pass Certificate. Foreign medical graduates must carry this certificate on the exam day. In the absence of the Pass Certificate, the candidate will not be allowed to appear for the examination.
Internship
All foreign medical graduates must complete their internship on or before July 31, 2026, to be eligible for NEET PG.
Registration Certificate
All foreign medical graduates must register with the MCI/SMC after obtaining the FMGE Pass Certificate. Such candidates will have to submit a copy of the Registration Certificate to confirm their eligibility.
NEET PG Eligibility Criteria 2026: For Foreign Nationals
Foreign nationals who wish to apply for NEET PG 2025 must fulfil the following eligibility conditions
- They must have obtained the basic medical qualification which is duly recognised by the Medical Council of the corresponding country
- They must be registered with the appropriate authority in their respective country
Such candidates do not require a Registration Certificate from MCI to apply for NEET PG 2026. If they clear the examination and secure a seat through NEET PG 2025, they must pay the registration fee to MCI, following which they will be issued a temporary registration. The validity of this registration will be only for the duration of the respective course.
NEET PG eligibility criteria 2026: For those already pursuing a master’s degree
Candidates who are already pursuing a PG course can apply for NEET PG 2026. However, there are Universities/Institutes which have regulations that do not entitle such candidates for the admission process until the duration for their current PG course is over. Therefore, such candidates are advised to check the eligibility requirements of the University/Institute that wish to enrol-in before applying for NEET PG 2026.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 3 days ago
The DY Patil Pune NEET PG Cutoff 2025 has been out till round 2 for admission to the MD and MS courses. The cutoff was released in the form of opening and closing ranks for the students who belonged to the All India quota.
For the General AI category, the cutoff in round 2 ranged from 37823 to 12150
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The University College of Medical Sciences NEET PG Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MD and MS courses for all categories under the All India category. The cutoff for all courses ranged from 164 to 59585 for the General AI category in the last round. Among all the courses, the most sough
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Yes. MCC announced round-3 NEET PG 2025 counselling dates and schedule on January 15, 2026. Revised schedule was announced after reduction of NEET PG 2025 cutoff percentile. Registration for round-3 can be done from January 15 till January 26, 2026. Students will have to register and declare choice
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Beginner-Level 5
Answered 2 weeks ago
MCC reduces NEET PG cutoff to fill vacant seats remain after starting two rounds. It is being said students who score top rank wish to get top branches and colleges and they do get usually in round-1 and round-2 NEET PG counselling. Once these coveted seats get filled, students have least chance to
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Beginner-Level 5
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes. MCC has reduced NEET PG 2025 cutoff percentile as well as score for each category. NEET PG 2025 percentile has bene reduced by 7th percentile for general category and 0th percentile for SC/ST category. For general category revised cutoff score is 103.
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Answered 2 weeks ago
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Candidates can appear for as many times as they want. There is no cap on the number of attempts in NEET PG exam. As per the experts, candidates may appear twice for the exam to improve the score or to do away mistakes in the first attempt. NEET PG exam is held in computer-based mode. Candidates who qualify the exam with the minimum cut off can participate in the counselling process. They have to register and declare choice for college to participate in the seat allocation process.