NEET 2017 to be counted as first attempt: CBSE

The National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2017 for admission to medical colleges across the country will be considered as the first out of three available attempts for all the candidates, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) clarified today. "It has been clarified by Medical Council of India that the attempts made by candidates for AIPMT/NEET prior to 2017 should not be counted and accordingly appearance in NEET-2017 will be counted as the first attempt for all the candidates, irrespective of their previous attempts in AIPMT/NEET," CBSE stated in a statement.

The confusion mounted after CBSE released NEET 2017 notification, on Tuesday, saying that aspirants who had already given AIPMT and NEET 2016 over three times are ineligible to appear for NEET. "All candidates who could not fill up the application form due to the condition of three attempts at AIPMT/NEET will now be able to fill up their application form," the CBSE said. This year admission to MBBS/BDS course in medical/ dental colleges, which operate with the approval of Medical Council of India/ Dental Council of India, will be made through NEET.

The registration process began on Tuesday, January 30, and will go on until March 1. The exam will be conducted in 10 different languages on May 7. In its notification released, on Tuesday, the CBSE had put an upper age limit cap for the candidates to 25 years, however, five-year relaxation has been given to the reserved category candidates.

Ever since the notification released, students across the countries are protesting demanding roll back of the age-limit and three-attempts criteria. The board had also made Aadhaar Number compulsory to fill up the online application of NEET 2017 for the candidates of all states except Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya.