NEET cutoff is the minimum marks needed to secure admission at top government or private medical colleges in the country. But, students may ask the question, what are the factors determining NEET cutoff 2025?’ To answer the question, it is important to understand that the NEET cutoff 2025 is not a fixed set of marks which a student needs to achieve to be able to get a medical seat. In other words, the NEET cutoff 2025 is a variable determined on the basis of multiple exam related factors.
The factors influencing NEET cutoff 2025 include the cutoffs of the previous year such as NEET cutoff 2024, exam’s difficulty level, total number of students taking the exam, the highest marks secured by a NEET applicant, seats available, student category, and normalization of scores. In this article, 7 important factors determining the NEET cutoff 2025 have been discussed. Students may study the factors determining NEET cutoff 2025 to get a deeper insight into their exam performance and chances of securing admissions at top government or private medical colleges.
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Difficulty of the NEET Exam
A fundamental factor determining the NEET cutoff 2025 is the difficulty level of the NEET exam. Generally, the NEET exam difficulty level is moderate to difficult. But, depending on the exam authorities setting the NEET exam paper, the difficulty level of the NEET exam may change. Here are more details on the NEET exam difficulty level trends in the past 5 years.
| Difficulty of the NEET Exam for Last 5 years | |
| Year | Difficulty Level |
| 2025 | Moderate to difficult (expected) |
| 2024 | Moderate to difficult |
| 2023 | Moderate to difficult |
| 2022 | Moderate to difficult |
| 2021 | Moderate to difficult |
| 2020 | Easy to Moderate |
Number of NEET Applicants
Students often question, ‘Whether the NEET cutoff is determined by the total number of test takers?’, the answer is yes. Your NEET cut off 2025 will be based on the total number of NEET applicants. The overall count of the students appearing for the NEET exam changes every year. Lots of students register for the NEET exam every year but not all of them decide to take the exam.
| Number of NEET Applicants During The Last 5 years | |
| Year | Number of NEET Applicants |
| 2025 | Approximately 23 lakh (expected) |
| 2024 | Approximately 24 lakh |
| 2023 | Approximately 21 lakh |
| 2022 | Approximately 19 lakh |
| 2021 | Approximately 16 lakh |
| 2020 | Approximately 16 lakh |
Number of Medical Seats
The total number of medical seats for MBBS, BHMS, BDS, BAMS, etc is limited. As a result, due to the high demand for medical professionals in India, lakhs of students compete for a limited number of seats. The tough competition for medical seats and the limited number of seats are important determinants of the NEET cutoff 2025.
| Number of Medical Seats for Different Courses | |
| Name of the Course/College | Number of Seats |
| MBBS | 91,415 |
| AIIMS MBBS | 1205 |
| JIPMER MBBS | 200 |
| BDS | 27,948 |
| AYUSH | 52,720 |
| BSc Nursing | 487 |
| BVSc | 603 |
Reservation Policies
NEET exam cutoff is set separately for students based on their student category. For instance, if your student category is General, the expected NEET cutoff 2025 is 720 to 162 marks. On the other hand, if you belong to the SC student category, your expected NEET cutoff 2025 stands at 161 to 127 marks. The reservation policies are an important factor determining NEET cutoff 2025.
| NEET 2025 All Indian Quota Reservation Criteria | |
| Reservation Category | Reservation Percentage |
| SC | 15% |
| ST | 7.5% |
| OBC-NCL | 27% |
| EWS | 20% |
| PwD | 5% |
Highest Marks Secured
Students taking the NEET exam 2025 may secure good marks or average marks depending on their preparation and speed. The highest marks secured and the number of students securing high marks is a crucial factor determining the NEET cutoff 2025.
| Highest Marks Secured During The Last 5 years | |
| Year | Highest Marks Secured by a Student |
| 2024 | 720 |
| 2023 | 720 |
| 2022 | 715 |
| 2021 | 720 |
| 2020 | 720 |
NEET Previous Year Cutoffs
The NEET UG cutoff 2024 for the general category stood at 720 to 164. The general category NEET cutoff in 2023 stood at 720 to 137. Based on the cutoffs during the last 2 years, NEET cutoff 2025 is expected to be around 720 to 162 marks. NEET previous year cutoffs are an important factor in determining the NEET cutoff 2025.
| NEET Previous Year Cutoffs (General Category) | |
| Year | General Category NEET Cutoff |
| 2025 | 720-162 |
| 2024 | 720-164 |
| 2023 | 720-137 |
| 2022 | 715-117 |
| 2021 | 720-138 |
| 2020 | 720-147 |
Changes in NEET Exam Pattern or Syllabus
The increase in chapters or reduction in the syllabus is an important factor determining the NEET cutoff 2025. The syllabus and exam pattern changes directly influence the performance of NEET applicants and the difficulty level of the NEET UG exam. Major changes in the NEET exam pattern and syllabus in the past have been highlighted below.
- Changing the exam pattern to pre-COVID format.
- No optional questions under Section B
- Reduction in exam duration to 180 minutes (total duration reduced by 20 minutes)
- NMC reduced chapters from 97 to 79 in the NEET syllabus 2024.
- The digestion and absorption and reproduction in organisms topics were removed from the NEET syllabus 2024.
- 18 chapters were removed from Physics in NEET 2024 syllabus.
- NEET syllabus 2024 was divided into Physical, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry.
Factors Determining NEET Cutoff 2025 – FAQs
The factors determining NEET cutoff 2025 are exam difficulty level, number of applicants, changes to exam pattern, seat matrix etc.
The NEET cutoff 2025 is expected to be 720-162 while the NEET cutoff 2024 stood at 720-164. The NEET cutoff 2025 is likely in the same range as NEET cutoff 2024.
NEET 2025 cutoff depends on the number of test takers, previous year trends, exam level, etc. It is expected to remain the same as NEET cutoff 2024 at around 720-162 subject to slight changes.