NEET Now Mandatory for Allied & Healthcare Courses from 2026-27; NCAHP Confirms New Eligibility
NCHAP has mandated qualifying National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to undergraduate (UG) allied and healthcare programmes from the upcoming academic year.
The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions has released important information for students willing to be admitted in the undergraduate Allied and Healthcare programme from session 2026-27 session. As per the official release, appearing in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test is mandatory for several healthcare and allied courses after passing class 12.
The commission states that 13 curricula for undergraduate and postgraduate Allied and Healthcare courses have been mentioned so far. Meanwhile, NCAHP is in the process of releasing more curricula.
“As per the NCAHP Act, 2021, the entry criteria to admission to Allied and Healthcare courses to be defined and have been incorporated in the notified curricula. In the majority of curricula notified have one of the eligibility criteria for admission is appearing in the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) exam over and above other criteria. Admission to these courses is slated to begin from the 2026–27 academic year,” the official notification highlights.
NEET Mandatory for Allied Programmes: Affected Courses
The admission to the following courses will be affected:
| Physiotherapy (BPT) | Nutrition & Dietetics | Optometry |
| Dialysis Technology | Medical Laboratory and Life Sciences | Medical Radiology, Imaging and Therapeutic Technology |
Official Notification by NCAHP
As per the NCAHP Act, 2021, the criteria for admission to Allied and Healthcare courses have been re-drafted and have been incorporated in the notified curricula. Admission to these courses based on revised criteria is scheduled to begin from the 2026–27 academic year,” the official statement read further.
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NEET or National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is a national level medical entrance exam for undergraduate courses. It is the gateway to admission to multiple medical and paramedical courses. Although earlier NEET scores were considered for MBBS and BDS courses only, but now, there are multiple courses including medical, dental, nursing and other paramedical courses, the admission to which are conducted through NEET scores. The course names are listed below:
1. Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
2. Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)
3. BSc Nursing
4. Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS)
5. Bachelor of Uninani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS)
6. Bachelor Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS)
7. Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS)
8. Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT)
9. Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (BOTh)
10. Bachelor of Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology (BASLP)
11. Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics
These courses are offered at various colleges across India, and the admission is based on the NEET UG exam scores.
Candidates belonging to the General category should secure 50 percentile. Those belonging to the PwD General category has to secure 45 percentile. The NEET cutoff percentile for the reserved category candidates is 40. The exact qualifying marks or cutoff scores will be announced by NTA along with the scorecards. This year, General category candidates had to score minimum 137 marks to qualify for the exam.
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Mayank Uniyal is MCom graduate in International Business. He has over 7 years of experience in content writing. He is working in the education domain since the beginning of his career. He covers news and updates fro
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Comments
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F
a month ago
Candidates will be allowed to enter three cities in the order of their preference. Till last year, candidates could select two cities only. Earlier, till 2022, candidates could enter as many as four cities. The list of exam cities in the dropdown menu will be based on the permanent and present address entered by candidates in the registration form of NEET. This would ensure that candidates are allotted a city in or near their present and permanent address. This also led to reduction in choosing other cities mistakenly.