Special Correspondent
Pune: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced significant changes to the NEET-UG exam pattern for 2025, providing relief to thousands of students. The most notable change is the removal of optional questions, which had been introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the duration of the exam has been reduced by 20 minutes, now lasting 3 hours instead of 3 hours and 20 minutes.
According to the NTA, the NEET-UG exam pattern will revert to its pre-pandemic format. The exam will no longer include Section B, and the optional questions that were introduced for students’ convenience during the pandemic will be eliminated. The exam will consist of 180 compulsory questions—45 questions each from Physics and Chemistry, and 90 questions from Biology.
The NEET-UG 2025 exam will carry a total of 720 marks, and students will be required to complete the exam within the newly reduced time limit of 3 hours.
Admission to various medical and allied health courses, including MBBS, BAMS, BHMS, Bachelor of Dental Studies, and Bachelor of Veterinary Science, will be based on the NEET-UG exam results.
In another update, the NTA clarified that candidates will no longer be required to provide their Apar ID (formerly known as the Academic Bank of Credit or ABC ID) for NEET-UG 2025 registration. Instead, candidates can use other documents for the registration process. The NTA also encouraged candidates to update their Aadhaar details, as per the notice issued on January 14, 2025.
These changes are expected to bring some relief to students who were previously concerned about the added complexity and time constraints of the exam.
