NTA Announces NEET UG Retest Amid Controversy
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has decided to re-conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024 for over 1,563 students on June 23. This move comes in response to the significant scrutiny and controversies surrounding the initial results, which included an unusually high number of perfect scores and the allocation of grace marks to certain candidates.

Results and Immediate Backlash
The NEET UG results, announced on June 4, 2024, drew widespread attention due to an unprecedented number of students scoring perfect marks (720/720). The NTA Director General, Subodh Kumar Singh, addressed these concerns at a press conference on June 8, attributing the increase in top scores to several factors. These included a larger pool of registered students, the awarding of grace marks due to loss of time during the exam, and the relative ease of this year’s question paper.

Options for Affected Students
In light of the controversy, the NTA has provided the affected students with two options: they can either accept their original scores without the grace marks or opt to retake the exam on June 23. The retest will be conducted in the same six cities but at different centers, ensuring a controlled and fair testing environment. This decision was also confirmed during a Supreme Court hearing, reinforcing the commitment to addressing the issues transparently.

Formation of Review Committee
To further address the controversy, the NTA and the Union Education Ministry established a committee to review the normalization policy applied to the 1,563 candidates who received grace marks. This committee included members from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and two UPSC members. Their mandate was to ensure that the normalization process was fair and consistent with past practices.

The committee decided that the NTA should re-conduct the NEET UG exam for these students, using a normalization formula based on a 2018 Supreme Court judgment related to the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). This formula adjusts candidates’ scores based on the time lost during the exam and their answering efficiency, aiming to provide a fair assessment for all students.

Controversial Grace Marks
The normalization process led to a wide range of revised scores, from -20 to 720 marks. Notably, some students’ scores increased to 718 and 719 due to these compensatory marks. This approach has been standard for other exams like JEE Main and CUET, where normalization formulas are made public beforehand. However, this practice had not been applied to NEET UG, as it is conducted on the same day for all candidates. Moving forward, the NTA has indicated that it will include such information in future NEET UG bulletins to ensure transparency.

Widespread Criticism and Demand for Retest
The announcement of the retest came amid demands from students, teachers, and political parties such as Congress, AAP, DMK, and the Maharashtra government for a retest and a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into alleged paper leaks and discrepancies highlighted on social media. The calls for a retest were fueled by concerns over the fairness and integrity of the examination process.

Record Number of Toppers
This year’s results saw an unprecedented 67 students achieving perfect scores, a significant increase from previous years. Historically, NEET UG has had no more than three toppers per year since 2019. This year’s increase in top scores includes:

17 students who originally scored 720/720.
6 students who achieved top ranks due to grace marks.
44 students who had their scores adjusted to 720 due to a disputed Physics question.
The disputed Physics question, which had an incorrect statement according to an old NCERT book, led to 44 students’ scores being adjusted from 715 to 720 after challenges to the provisional answer key released on May 29. This key discrepancy further fueled the call for a retest and raised questions about the accuracy of the examination process.

NEET Passout 2024 Doctor!
😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/7XBL6NUYGm

— HasnaZarooriHai🇮🇳 (@HasnaZaruriHai) June 23, 2024

Increased Registration and Participation
This year, a record 23.81 lakh students registered for NEET UG, up from 20.87 lakh the previous year. According to NTA data, 9.96 lakh boys, 13.32 lakh girls, and 17 transgender candidates appeared for the exam. This significant increase in participation underscores the growing importance of NEET UG as the single gateway for admission to all MBBS programs in the country.

The combination of these factors has created a unique and challenging situation for the NTA, necessitating the retest to ensure fairness and maintain the integrity of the NEET UG examination process. As the new test date approaches, the NTA’s efforts to address these issues and restore confidence in the examination system will be closely watched by students, educators, and stakeholders nationwide.