NEET 2020 HIGHLIGHTS: Exam being held amid precautions (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran/ Representational image)NEET 2020 Exam Answer Key, Paper Analysis, Result Date Live Updates: After being postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was held on September 13 from 2 pm to 5 pm. Around 85-90 per cent of the 15.9 lakh students have appeared for the exam despite the pandemic, the Union Minister for Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank claims. “NTA informed me that around 85-90% students appeared in #NEET exam today. I sincerely thank all Chief Ministers and @DG_NTA for proper arrangements made to facilitate student participation. #NEET participation reflects the tenacity and grit of young #AtmaNirbharBharat (sic),” the Minister wrote in his tweet.
The students found the paper easy. According to Tanmoy Bashak, a NEET aspirant said, “It’s 100 per cent NCERT. The questions were quite easy. Even physics which is considered difficult in past years, was the easiest of all. The chemistry and biology portions have two-to-three tricky questions.”
IN PICTURES | How did over 15.9 lakh students appear for NEET
Those who score at least 50 percentile in NEET will be considered as pass, however, candidates will be selected based on merit. Counselling will be conducted after the result is announced.
NEET 2020 is being held for nearly 16 lakh candidates (Representational image)
NEET 2020 rank predictor is an easy to use tool that helps aspirants to know about their probable rank in the exam. To predict the rank, candidates must enter the score they expect in the exam. To calculate the approximate marks, candidates can use the NEET answer key.
Medical aspirants can follow the steps mentioned below to use the rank predictor and predict their ranks:
Step 1: Open the Rank Predictor: Click on the link: NEET Rank Predictor
Step 2: Registration: Candidates should register by entering their name, email address, mobile number.
Step 3: Fill exam details: Candidates should enter their expected NEET scores(mandatory), entering the application number and date of birth are optional fields
Step 4: Result: Candidates should click on ‘predict my rank’ and their expected rank would be available on the screen.
Predicting the rank would be helpful for candidates as they will get to know where they stand among the other test-takers. Candidates can also check their admission chances in colleges based on their probable rank.
Many candidates had travelled long distances to reach their exam centres — and some could avail the newly resumed Metro services. Gulab Singh, an ambulance driver at a government hospital in Haryana’s Bhiwani district, had left home with his daughter, who appeared for the exam, at 5 am to reach the centre before noon. Several petitions had been filed challenging the conduct of NEET and JEE exams on their scheduled dates, including by ministers of six Opposition-ruled states who had sought a review of the Supreme Court’s August order allowing the exams to be conducted. But the apex court had dismissed them. On Wednesday, the court had declined to entertain a fresh batch of petitions against conducting NEET on September 13.
Among the safety precautions in exam centres were: limiting the number of candidates per room to 12, making candidates remove their masks at the entrance and giving fresh 3-ply masks and barcode readers to check their admit cards. However, outside, parents were seeing queueing up since morning.
Those who score at least 50 percentile in NEET will be considered as pass, however, candidates will be selected based on merit. Counselling will be conducted after the result is announced. Just like JEE, for NEET too the result is expected to be release soon.
NIBM resident Sheema Shaikh said the centre where she appeared to take the test had given different reporting timings to students. “Some students were called two hours before the 2 pm paper and since we were not allowed to carry anything, it means they stayed without eating anything till 5 pm.
The centre was a bit untidy. Also, they didn’t give the booklet until 1.50pm, which they are supposed to give 30 minutes prior, so nearly 15minutes of students were wasted,” she said.
Swati Singh, an MBBS aspirant who appeared for the exams, said the preparations were “well done”. “There were circles on the floor and we maintained two feet distance while entering the classroom. In the class, too, there were only 10-15 students and two benches on all sides were free. We were given masks in the middle of the exams and they had sanitiser and everything at centre. So, physical distancing was very well maintained,” she said.
Most tutorial owners and students said the exams were easy as questions were straightforward and textbook based.
“NEET exam was on the easier side this year. Questions in biology and chemistry were mostly based on NCERT textbooks as usual. Also, students were better prepared as they had more time,” said Durgesh Mangeshkar, founder, IIT Prakashan.
Lalit Kumar, CMD, Prime Academy, said the exams were easier than in previous years. He also praised the preparation at the exam centres in terms of physical distancing, based on student feedback.
The Maharashtra government had scrapped the 70:30 region-wise formula for admission in medical courses in the state. The formula implied reservation for 70 per cent locals (from that region) in medical colleges and 30 per cent from the rest of the state. Admissions will be based on NEET only.
Last year the result for NEET was announced after a month of conducting the exam, however, this year due to the academic delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the results are being announced soon. The JEE Main result too was announced within 5 days of conducting the last exam. For NEET too, results are expected sooner. Thus, the answer key and results are expected within a month, however, official dates are awaited on the same.
According to Anurag Tiwari, National Academic Director (Medical), Aakash (AESL), “The paper was relatively easy this year and almost all questions in each subject were based on NCERT content. There is no difficulty level in the paper, physics was easiest, chemistry and biology had some tricky questions.”
Of the 15.9 lakh student who had registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), about 85-90 per cent have appeared for the exam despite the pandemic, the Union Minister for Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank claims. The exam was held today across over 3800 exam centres across India. The Minister thanked all the state chief ministers and the exam conducting body – National Testing Agency (NTA) “for making proper arrangements”.
“NTA informed me that around 85-90% students appeared in #NEET exam today. I sincerely thank all Chief Ministers and @DG_NTA for proper arrangements made to facilitate student participation. #NEET participation reflects the tenacity and grit of young #AtmaNirbharBharat (sic),” the Minister wrote in his tweet.
NEET cut-off percentile displays the candidate’s performance comparison among other aspirants, while the marks provide how much an applicant have scored out of the total marks. The cut-off percentile and marks vary for various categories. Aspirants can check the table with NEET cutoff percentile and previous years marks for better idea
The students who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2020) on September 13 found the paper easy, without any difficulty. According to Tanmoy Bashak, a NEET aspirant, “It’s 100 per cent NCERT. The questions were quite easy, even the physics which was actually difficult in past years, was the easiest of all. The chemistry and biology portions have two to three tricky questions.”
Aspirants have to follow the below-mentioned steps to download the answer key
Step 1: Visit the NTA official website, ntaneet.nic.in
Step 2: Click on the candidate’s login section
Step 3: Enter the valid NEET application number and password
Step 4: A tab to view the answer key will appear on the screen
Step 5: Check the answer key displayed and download it
Step 6: Use the OMR sheet to match the answers
NEET 2020 cut-off marks will be released along with the result in online mode. The cut-off for general category candidates is 50th percentile, while that for SC/ ST/ OBC, it is 40th percentile.
The cut-off is the minimum qualifying percentile and scores which must be obtained to pass the test. The cut-off percentile to be secured for qualifying entrance exam has been released through the information brochure.
Mohammad Ovais, who came from Moradabad to his exam centre in Dilshad Garden here, said his entry slot was at 11 am. "I left from Moradabad at 5 am. It is not that risky if everybody follows all precautions, the problem arises when people take it casually. There was no crowding at the centres as everybody had designated slots," he said.
Vanhika Chaurasia, a resident of Rohini said, "Online exam would have been a better option than a pen and paper-based test but we have no option. More delay in exams would have caused loss of a year". For Yuvraj Kumar, the bigger concern was travelling by public transport.
"Thankfully metro services resumed before the exam because I was concerned about that and other modes of public transport are not as safe. We were given separate masks at the centre and we had to dispose the one we were wearing before," he told PTI