NEET eligibility: Biology/biotech, physics, chemistry as additional subjects allowed in Plus Two

Students are no longer required to take physics, chemistry, biology/biotechnology as compulsory subjects in their 10+2 to be eligible to appear in the NEET-UG test. Those who have studied these subjects even as additional subjects, along with English, will be eligible to appear in the all-India pre-medical entrance test after passing Class 12 from duly recognised boards.

In a public notice issued on Wednesday (November 22), the National Medical Commission (NMC) said this decision will apply even to the students whose applications were previously rejected.

Previous rule

The previous rules, as laid down by the Medical Council of India (MCI), which the NMC later replaced, made it mandatory for candidates to undergo two years of regular or continuous study of physics, chemistry, biology/biotechnology in Class 11 and 12 with practical, along with English to be eligible for the exam.

The MCI would regulate the admission and selection to the MBBS course through the provisions of the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, including the various amendments under Chapter-II. Candidates were also required to complete their Plus-Two from regular schools and not from open schools or as private candidates.

Furthermore, the study of biology and biotechnology or any other subject was not allowed to be completed as an additional subject.

Court ruling

These provisions had been challenged in Delhi High Court and quashed in a judgment dated May 11, 2018. However, students seeking admission in graduate and primary medical courses in foreign medical institutes faced problems due to the statutory regulations, i.e., the Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002, and the Screening Test Regulation, 2002.

The NMC has now framed the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, as notified on June 2. Regulation 11(b) provides that candidates who have passed 10+2 or its equivalent with the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology and English shall be eligible for appearing in NEET-UG, it says.

The notice states that “…the previous approach of the erstwhile Medical Council of India needs to be revisited by permitting candidates to undertake study of the requisite subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology / Biotechnology along with English) even as additional subjects after passing Class 12th from duly recognized boards by the concerned Government”.

“Therefore, after the framing of Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, the earlier Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, including the various amendments, stand repealed prospectively,” the NMC notice said.

To apply retrospectively

The decision shall also apply retrospectively to candidates whose applications for grant of eligibility certificate were rejected. However, for the purpose of appearing in NEET-UG 2024 onwards, only the candidates who become eligible after the date of the present notice shall be permitted.

Furthermore, any court cases filed by MCI/NMC in this regard shall be withdrawn, and the current position with the present public notice shall be explained in all pending litigations filed by candidates, against MCI or NMC, so that these can be disposed of at the earliest, it said.

(With agency inputs)