NTA clarifies NEET UG 2024 grace marks, cut-offs and concerns on inflation of marks
NTA clarifies NEET UG 2024 grace marks, cut-offs and concerns on inflation of marks
The National Testing Agency (NTA) addressed concerns on Thursday regarding the alleged irregularities, inflation of marks, and increased cut-offs in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The NTA emphasized that the rise in cut-offs and the number of toppers are indicative of the competitive nature of the exam, stating, “The cutoff scores are determined based on the overall performance of candidates each year.”
This clarification comes in response to allegations of inflated marks in the NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test), with claims that 67 candidates secured the top rank, including six from a single exam center in Haryana.
The NEET UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5 across 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 international locations, catering to over 24 lakh candidates.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the NTA denied any irregularities, attributing the higher scores to changes in NCERT textbooks and the awarding of grace marks due to time loss at certain examination centers.
The NTA reiterated, “The increase in cut-off reflects the competitive nature of the examination and the higher performance standards achieved by the candidates this year. Cut-offs and average marks of qualified candidates (out of 720) vary each year.”
Addressing the issue of grace marks, the NTA noted that petitions were filed in the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh concerning the loss of exam time.
“The concerns raised by the candidates through the writ petitions and representations about the loss of examination time were ascertained, and 1,563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time, and the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. Amongst these, the score of two candidates also happens to be 718 and 719, respectively, due to compensatory marks,” the NTA explained.
Regarding the unclear implementation of grace marks, the NTA stated that the question paper was prepared using new NCERT textbooks, while some students had old NCERT textbooks.
“We received a representation on this issue as well, which caused NTA to assign five marks to all students who had marked one of the two options. Because of this reason, marks of a total of 44 students increased from 715 to 720, which resulted in an increased number of toppers,” an NTA official told a news agency.
