NEET PG vs INI CET Exam: Know Difference and Overview
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Students often get a little confused about NEET PG and INI CET as both are post-graduate-level entrance exams in the medical stream. Read the article to know the difference between NEET PG and INI CET exam.
NEET PG Vs INI CET: As both exams are postgraduate level medical exams, students often get confused. They want to know differences between two. Though both are conducted for MD (Doctor of Medicine)/ MS (Master in Surgery) and PG Diploma courses, there is marked fifference between two exams at various levels. Pattern, marking scheme etc are different in both exams.
Conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, INI CET, provides admission into PG courses such as Masters of Surgery (MS), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Dental Surgery (MDS), Doctorate of Medicine (DM), and Master of Chirurgie (MCh) at 23 Institutions including 19 AIIMS across the country as well as JIPMER(Puducherry), PGIMER(Chandigarh), and NIMHANS(Bengaluru), and SCTIMST, Trivandrum. As both are PG-level entrance examinations, candidates often get a little confused about the examination. Read the complete article to understand the difference and other details of NEET PG and INI CET exams.
- What is INI CET exam?
- What is NEET PG exam?
- NEET PG vs INI CET Exam Comparison: Overview
- INI CET and NEET PG: Latest Updates
- NEET PG vs INI CET: Difference in the application process
- NEET PG vs INI CET: Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme
- Institutions that accept NEET PG or INI CET score
What is INI CET exam?
INI CET full form is Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test. The exam is held for admission to Institutes of National Importance. INI CET is conducted twice a year, one for the January session and another for the July session. INI CET 2026 exam is scheduled to be held on May 16, 2026.
Commonly asked questions
NBE, the exam conducting body may release the weightage of each topics for NEET PG exam. In 2024, maximum questions were asked from topics such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, general medicine, obstetrics, gyanaecology, general medicine etc. More than 50% question were clinical based. According to exam taking students, more than 30 questions were image-based. Candidates are advised to prepare clinical section well so that they can score full marks in the clinical part.
Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test or INI CET and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate NEET PG both are national-level postgraduate medical entrance exams. A valid score in each exam makes you eligible for admission to various medical courses like MD MS etc. However, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) scores are widely accepted in the country, whereas a few selected institutions accept Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test scores. there are around 16 INIs which accept INI CET score including 16 AIIMS, JIPMER Puducherry, PGI Chandigarh, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, and SCTIMST, Trivandrum.
INI CET exam centre will be allotted along with the admit card. Candidates are advised to check the admit card to know about the exam centre and other crucial details. Apart from name and address of allotted INI CET exam centre, the admit card comprises details such as exam date, timing, exam day guidelines etc. Date for admit card release is published along with the information brochure on the official website. Admit card for INI CET 2025 July session was uploaded online on May 10, 2025. Candidates have to download the admit card for INI CET after logging and providing details such as application ID, password, Exam Unique Code (EUC).. .
Candidates will be given three hours or 180 minutes to attempt INI CET question paper. According to INI CET exam pattern, a total of 200 multiple choice questions will be asked. Candidates will get 1 mark for every right answer and -1/3 for every wrong answer. No mark will be awarded or deducted for unanswered questions. Exam pattern is released along with the official information brochure.
What is NEET PG exam?
NEET PG full form is National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Post-Graduation. The exam is conducted annually in computer-based mode for admission to MD/MS courses in medical colleges. NEET PG 2026 exam is sceduled to be held on August 30, 2026. More dates will be announced for 2026-27 session.
NEET PG vs INI CET Exam Comparison: Overview
| Particulars |
NEET PG |
INI CET |
|---|---|---|
| Exam Name |
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Post-Graduate courses (NEET PG) |
Institute of National Importance combined Entrance Test |
| Competent authority |
National Board of Examination (NBE) |
AIIMS, New Delhi |
| Courses offered |
MD/MS/PG Diploma/DNB post-MBBS |
MD, MS, DM, M.Ch, MDS |
| Level of the examination |
Postgraduate |
Postgraduate |
| Frequency of the examination |
Once in a year |
Twice a year (January and July) |
| Mode of the examination |
Online |
Online |
| Duration of examination |
210 minutes |
180 minutes |
| Exam website |
neetpg@nbe.edu.in |
aiimsexams.ac.in |
Commonly asked questions
Overall six months time is sufficent for INI CET preparation. This includes 4 month in depth study and 2-month for revision work. The moment a candidate plan to appear for the INI CET, first and formost things he/she should do is to draw a study plan. Focus on those subjects where you are strong in terms of concept. Don't spend too musch time initially on subjects where you are weak. This will demotivate you and affect your preparation. Keep this in mind that concept is key. High yielding topics must be prepared properly to score good marks in INI CET exam.
INI CET merit list comprise details such as roll number of candidate, category, institutional preference, overall rank, and percentile of the candidate. It is released along with the cut off. Candidates included in the merit list are provisionally eligible for INI CET counselling. The merit list for AIIMS INI CET includes candidates equal to eight times the total number of seats to be allotted by INIs. AIIMS releases merit list in PDF format on its official website.
NEET PG stands for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate courses, conducted by National Board of Examinations (NBE) for admission to MD/MS/PG Diploma courses in India. NEET PG, a postgraduate level entrance exam is mandatory for admission to all medical colleges in India.
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INI CET and NEET PG: Latest Updates
NEET PG 2025 counselling is underway. Stray round counselling is underprocess. INI CET Nov 2025 November counselling last round is underway. Last round result will be released on February 21, 2026.
NEET PG vs INI CET: Difference in the application process
While NEET PG application process is a simple one, INI CET application is bit complicated. INI CET application process involves basic and final registration followed by generation of Exam Unique Code (EUC). The exam conducting body has introduced the Prospective Applicants Advanced Registration (PAAR) process for INI CET registration which facilitates the selection of more than one course at a time.
For completing the application process for NEET PG exam, first go to the NBE official website to register for the NEET PG exam. After registration, log in to the website, upload scanned documents and pay the application fee. The application fee for NEET PG is non-refundable.
For INI CET basic registration, go to the official website of AIIMS Delhi, and register yourself. Check the provisional status of the registration. The next steps of the application process are - code generation and final registration. The EUC code can only be generated for those candidates whose basic registration was accepted.
NEET PG vs INI CET: Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme
Candidates who want to appear for the NEET PG and INI CET exams should know about its exam pattern and marking scheme. Exam pattern comprises syllabus, type and number of questions, and timings. Last year, NBE introduced some important changes in NEET PG exam pattern. There were changes in the application fee, the number of test centers, the total number of questions, and tie-breaking parameters.
NEET PG syllabus is another important thing candidates should pay attention to. NEET PG syllabus comprises subject areas as per the Graduate Medical Education Regulations issued by the Medical Council of India. Candidates need to check subject-wise topics and weightage from each topic. NEET PG test paper will have 200 multiple-choice questions of 800 marks and candidates will get 3.5 hours to answer them. There will be negative marking for wrong responses.
Candidates appearing for the July session should have an idea about INI CET exam pattern. INI CET exam will be carried out in online mode with a test paper comprising a total of 200 multiple-choice questions. Candidates will be getting 3 hours to answer them. There will be the single correct answer and multiple correct answer type questions in the INI CET test paper. As per the marking scheme, candidates will be awarded 1 mark for right answer and -1/3 mark for wrong answer. Candidates must note that the NEET PG exam is conducted once a year while INI CET is held twice, January and July session.
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Institutions that accept NEET PG or INI CET score
NEET PG score is valid for admission in all private and government medical institutions except AIIMS, JIPMER(Puducherry), PGIMER(Chandigarh), and NIMHANS(Bengaluru). SGPGIMS, Lucknow and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, also don’t accept NEET PG score NEET-PG is valid for admission to the following:
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All India 50 percent quota seats for MD/MS/PG Diploma courses across all states, except Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Telangana
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State quota seats for MD/MS/PG Diploma courses for all States/Union territories of India, including the three mentioned above
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MD/MS/PG Diploma courses offered by Private Medical Colleges, Institutions & Universities/Deemed Universities across India
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MD/MS/PG Diploma courses offered by Armed Forces Medical Services Institutions
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DNB Broad specialty courses
INI CET scores are accepted for admission for PG courses at 19 AIIMS, and other Institutes of National Importance. The list of AIIMS includes AIIMS Delhi, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Nagpur, Raipur, and Rishikesh, Bathinda, Bibinagar, Deoghar, and Manglagiri, AIIMS Raebareli, AIIMS Kalyani, AIIMS Bilaspur, AIIMS Gorakhpur, AIIMS Guwahati, AIIMS Rajkot, and AIIMS Jammu.
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Mukul Mishra is a master degree holder in science with more than 10 years of experience in medical content writing and editing. Having nose for news and development in medical education field, he has been a recogniz
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