The National Testing Agency (NTA) the exam conducting agency for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2022 has made several changes in the medial exams this year. The national-level medical entrance exam has undergone a series of changes which includes change in the duration of the exam to rise in the number of exam centers abroad.
Time duration increase
NEET 2022 will be longer-ever NEET as the National Testing Agency (NTA) has extended the duration from it being a three-hour exam to a three-hour 20 minutes test this year. The option of having 20 extra minutes will be a “game-changer,” claim experts.
NEET was designed to be a test of accuracy. The exam was high pressured because students were given only one minute to answer each question. In this scenario getting 20 minutes extra without increasing the number of questions, changes the basic fiber of the question paper and this could prove to be great relaxation for students.
NEET 2022: Know new rank calculation formula
In NEET 2020, the age factor was used to decide the all-India topper as two students, Odisha’s Soyeb Aftab and Uttar Pradesh’s Akanksha Singh both scored 720 out of 720. Soyeb was given all India rank 1 as he was elder than Akansha, however, this policy will not be considered from this year on. This year, students getting higher marks or percentile scores in Biology subject will be given preference, followed by higher marks in Chemistry and if a tie still remains then the candidate with less proportion of attempted incorrect answers in all the subjects will be favored.
NEET 2022: New security feature in registration process
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET, is likely to bring several changes in the registration process of the medical entrance exam. It will likely add an extra layer of security. This will include a two-step verification and live image checking, among many others. Currently, for the engineering entrance registrations, NTA has added an extra layer of authentication to the application process to ensure students applying are genuine candidates and can be traced back. From this year on, when candidates register, they will receive an OTP at their registered mobile number, which they will have to enter before filling out the form. Further, before submitting the fees, they will have to enter another OTP that they received at their registered e-mail address. A similar facility is likely to be followed for NEET 2022 as well.
Age Upper limit increased
The NEET will not have any upper age limit anymore. Anyone irrespective of their age will be eligible to apply for the medical entrance exam from NEET 2022 onwards. This decision was taken in the meeting held between the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Medical Council (NMC) held on October 21. Earlier, the upper age limit to apply to become a doctor was 25 years for the unreserved category, and for students belonging to the SC/ST/OBC-NCL category and PwBD Candidates, it was relaxed further by five years.
Now, irrespective of the category, students who have completed their class 12 level of education in physics, chemistry, and biology will be eligible to apply for the medical entrance exam.
Rise in Number of Applicants
Over 18.72 lakh candidates have registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2022. Out of which over 10.64 lakh candidates are women and 8.07 lakh are men. This is the first time in recent years that number of females has crossed 10 lakh in the medical entrance exam. Further, the number of registrations are at a record high. There is a significant jump of over 2.5 lakh from last year when about 15.44 lakh candidates had appeared for the exam.
The increase in the number of applications for NEET could be because of many reasons including the removal of upper age limit and allowing people over 25 years of age to be eligible to take medical entrance. Further, the number of repeaters has also increased. Many educational experts believe that last year due to pandemic-led disruptions in education cycle, many students had held back from taking the exam.
Experts believe that the NEET 2022 will not only give chance to students who could not crack medical entrance in the first go but also to those who had to move their studies online due to the pandemic or other geopolitical conditions like in Ukraine. With an increase in the number of students, however, the competition is also expected to rise. Let’s take a look at changes introduced in NEET 2022 and their impact.
It can be remembered here that NEET UG 2022 is scheduled to be held on July 17. This leaves little gap between the conclusion of the CBSE board exams which ends on June 15, and the medical entrance exam. Students have demanded the exam be postponement by four to six weeks or till late August or early September.
Further, students said there would be clash between national level entrances. Those who would also be applying for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) along with NEET 2022, will get very little preparation time, they claim. The CUET 2022 will be held in July first and second week. This will leave them a few days time to prepare for the medical entrance and will put pressure on them. They have also highlighted that the JEE Main has been postponed and the engineering students are getting two attempts.
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