Students Who Have Completed Their 10+2 Without Having Studied Biology Are Qualified For NEET UG: NMC

The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Wednesday enabled Class 12 students who studied physics, chemistry, biology, or biotechnology in addition to English to take the NEET-UG examination. According to a note posted on the NMC website, this decision "will be applicable even to those students whose applications were previously rejected."

The erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) governed admission and selection to MBBS courses under Chapter-II of the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, including several revisions.

It stated at the time that undergraduates must have completed two years of regular or continuous study of physics, chemistry, biology, or biotechnology in Class 11 and 12 with practical, in addition to English. Furthermore, the two years of study had to be done through conventional schools rather than through open schools or as a private candidate.

As per NMC, the provisions had been challenged before the Delhi High Court and were quashed vide judgement dated May 11, 2018 in a case and other related matters.

This, as per the NMC notice, had a “consequential bearing on the candidates seeking admission in graduate and primary medical courses in foreign medical institutes due to the statutory regulations in this regard i.e. the eligibility requirement for taking admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002 and the Screening Test Regulation, 2002.”

The current decision will apply retroactively to candidates whose applications for eligibility certificates were denied on the grounds specified in the current public notice. Candidates who become eligible after the date of the current public notification, on the other hand, will be able to appear in NEET-UG-2024. Meanwhile, the NTA has made the NEET UG syllabus available.