Is the NEET 2025 cutoff expected to be higher than in 2024?

NEET 2025 cutoff is challenging before the exam is conducted and results are released. However, based on trends and expert analysis, here's what can be generally expected:

Factors influencing NEET 2025 Cutoff:

• Number of Applicants: While NEET 2024 saw a record number of applicants (over 24 lakh), initial reports for NEET 2025 suggest a slight decrease in registrations, with around 23 lakh students. A lower number of applicants could theoretically lead to a slight easing of competition, but the difference might not be significant enough to cause a drastic drop in cutoffs.
• Difficulty Level of the Exam: This is one of the most critical factors. If the NEET 2025 paper is perceived as tougher than the 2024 paper, the qualifying and admission cutoffs could decrease. Conversely, an easier paper would likely lead to higher cutoffs. Some reports indicate that the NEET UG 2025 paper was tougher than the previous year, particularly Physics, which could lead to a lower cutoff.
• Overall Student Performance: Even with a challenging paper, if a significant number of students perform exceptionally well, the cutoffs could still remain high or even increase.
• Number of Available Seats: Any changes in the total number of MBBS/BDS seats in medical and dental colleges across India will directly impact the cutoffs. If more seats are added, it might slightly lower the competition for a given score.
• Reservation Policies: The existing reservation policies for various categories (General, OBC, SC, ST, EWS, PwD) remain consistent, influencing the category-wise cutoffs.

Comparing NEET 2025 to 2024:

• NEET 2024 General Category Cutoff: The general category qualifying cutoff for NEET 2024 was significantly higher than previous years, standing at 720-162 marks. This was a notable jump, even after a slight revision downwards.
• Initial Predictions for NEET 2025: Given the reported higher difficulty level of the NEET 2025 exam (especially Physics) and a slight dip in the number of applicants compared to 2024, many experts are predicting that the qualifying cutoff for NEET 2025 might be slightly lower than in 2024. Some sources suggest an expected qualifying cutoff for the General category to be around 720-155 marks (compared to 720-162 in 2024).