NEET 2026 Cut Off: Expected Marks, Category-wise Qualifying Marks

The NEET 2026 final exam is scheduled for 3 May 2026 by the National Testing Agency (NTA), and students are curious to know the expected cut-off marks in order to plan what the minimum marks they have to achieve to get a good college. The cutoff marks will decide many students’ futures and help them decide on where to align their next steps. The NEET exam 2026 qualifying marks are the compulsory minimum marks required to clear the exam and secure a medical seat in MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other courses.

Students who will clear the NEET 2026 cutoff marks will be eligible to get a seat in Government medical colleges in India. For lakhs of NEET aspirants, this blog from Matrix Academy is a complete guide that offers you exact information regarding the expected cut-off marks (category-wise) for NEET 2026, so you can plan for the counselling process.

Overview of NEET Exam Cutoff Marks

In simple terms, the NEET exam cutoff marks are identified as a general minimum score that a student must obtain to get a medical seat in the NEET exam. Every year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) releases the minimum cutoff marks as a percentile score and corresponding marks range. The NEET 2026 exam registration is open between 8 Feb 2026 and 8 Mar 2026, where the form correction window remains open between 10 March and 12 March 2026.

Particulars	Date
Application Form Releasing Date	8 Feb, 2026
Application Window to Apply for NEET UG 2026 Exam	8 February 2026- 8 March, 2026
Window to Correct NEET Exam 2026 Application	10- 12 March 2026
City Intimation Slip Releasing Date	1-2 weeks before the exam
Admit Card Releasing Date	Last Week of April 2026 (Expected)
Date of Exam	3 May 2026 (Sunday)
Releasing Date of Provisional Answer Key	Probably till June 2026
Exam Result Date	Probably in June 2026
Cutoff-Marks Expected Date	June 2026 (Expected)
AIIMS Cutoff Announcement Date	June 2026 (Expected)
Counselling Process	Probably in July 2026

Formula to Calculate NEET Cut Off Marks

In the NEET cutoff marks formula, the final cutoff marks are calculated every year by considering factors like the number of appearing students, availability of seats, exam difficulty level, and a student’s overall performance. The NTA designed a standard formula to calculate the NEET exam cutoff, which is as follows-

\[\text{Percentile} = \frac{\text{Number of candidates with score } \leq \text{ your score}}{\text{Total number of candidates}}\times 100\]

NEET Exam Previous Year Cutoff Marks

In calculating the expected cutoff marks for the NEET exam 2026, analysing the previous year’s cutoff marks provides valuable insight into score fluctuations and competition trends over time. These previous year cutoff trends create a base to predict next year’s cutoff marks by evaluating how the percentage is calculated with changing score ranges. 

The primary reason behind this variation depends on paper difficulty and candidate performance. For your convenience, we offer you a list of the last five years’ trends for the NEET exam 2026 as follows-

Category	NEET Cut Off Marks 2021	NEET Cut Off Marks 2022	NEET Cut Off Marks 2023	NEET Cut Off Marks 2024	NEET Cut Off Marks 2025
General Category (EWS/UR)	686 – 144	720 – 162	720 – 137	715 – 117	720 – 138
UR/EWS – PwD	143 – 127	161 – 144	136 – 121	116 – 105	137 – 122
OBC/ST/SC	143-113	161 – 127	136 – 107	116 – 93	137 – 108
OBC/ST/SC- PwD	126 – 113	143 – 127	120 – 107	104 – 93	121 – 108

NEET 2025 Cut Off Marks

Category	Cut-Off Marks 2025
General Category (EWS/UR)	720 – 138
UR/EWS – PwD	137 – 122
OBC/ST/SC	137 – 108
OBC/ST/SC – PwD	121 – 108

NEET 2024 Cut Off marks

Category	Cut-Off Marks 2024
General Category (EWS/UR)	715 – 117
UR/EWS – PwD	116 – 105
OBC/ST/SC	116 – 93
OBC/ST/SC – PwD	104 – 93

NEET 2023 Cut Off Marks

Category	Cut-Off Marks 2023
General Category (EWS/UR)	720 – 137
UR/EWS – PwD	136 – 121
OBC/ST/SC	136 – 107
OBC/ST/SC – PwD	120 – 107

Category-Wise Qualifying Marks for NEET 2026 (Expected)

The NEET 2026 cutoff pattern is expected to be based on the past 3-5 year trends; however, slight changes may be possible by considering possibilities for some uncertain factors of the year 2026 exam. Matrix Academy NEET division experts predicted that a stable percentile criterion is expected for the 2026 exam, but marks may shift depending on exam difficulty and performance levels. By considering the last 5 years of NEET exam cutoff marks, Matrix Academy predicted category-wise cutoff marks for NEET 2026 as follows-

Category	Expected Cutoff Marks	Percentile
General/UR	720–135	50th
EWS	720–130	50th
OBC	135–105	40th
SC	135–105	40th
ST	135–100	40th
Gen/UR-PwD	135–120	45th
OBC/SC/ST PwD	120–100	40th

From this table, it is identified that the NEET 2026 exam is expected to remain the same in comparison with the NEET 2025 exam. The General category expected cutoff for NEET 2026 is around 720-135, which is almost similar to the NEET 2025 cutoff marks of 720-138.

Category-wise Predicted Cut Off Score for Govt. Medical Seat

The meaning of the NEET exam’s safe score is related to the minimum score that you score for the qualifying cutoff to get an MBBS seat in a government medical institute. It is expected that the cutoff marks vary by category and depend heavily on state quotas and availability of seats. A safe score for each category to secure a government medical seat is as follows-

• For the NEET exam 2026, the general category expected safe score is around 620–650 marks.
• The NEET exam 2026 safe score for the EWS category is expected to be around 600-630 marks.
• OBC aspirants should focus on targeting a minimum of 580–610 marks.
• The minimum safe marks range for SC category students is around 500-530 marks.
• The safe marks range for ST category students is around 480-510 marks.

Apart from this, a candidate must focus on targeting a high score rather than a safe score to improve the possibility of getting admission into a top medical college to pursue the MBBS course.

NEET Cut Off 2026 for Private Colleges (Expected)

If you are not getting a medical seat into government medical institute, you still have good chances to get a medical seat in a reputed private medical college across India. An expected list of cutoff marks in private medical institutes (category-wise) is as follows-

Category	Cut-Off Marks 2026 Predicted
General Category (EWS/UR)	550 – 650+ marks
OBC-NCL	480 – 600 marks
SC / ST	350 – 550 marks
General-PwD	450 – 580 marks

Why is the NEET Cutoff Different Every Year?

The calculation approach of the NEET exam cutoff factors is directly or indirectly related to various factors that create an impact on a candidate’s performance and ranking. Some of the factors that change NEET exam cutoff marks are as follows-

1. Exam Difficulty Level: The difficulty level of the NEET exam is one of the primary factors that influence the cutoff marks. For example, tougher exams generally lead to lower scores and reduced cut-offs, while easier exams may lead to high cutoff scores and higher cut-offs.’

2. Seat Availability: Seat matrix also influences specific year cutoff marks because limited government seats intensify score requirements. For example, if NTA increases the number of seats for NEET MBBS, then it will reduce the overall cut-off due to low competition.

3. Number of Appearing Students: The cutoff marks for the NEET 2026 exam are directly influenced by the number of appearing students. For example, it is expected that the NEET 2026 exam will have more number of appearing students in comparison with NEET 2025, which clearly indicates that this year the competition level will be very high.

4. Changes in Policy from NTA: Changes in exam pattern, syllabus, or marking schemes can affect overall performance trends of the NEET 2026 exam.

5. Reservation Policies: The state and central government reservation policies may create an impact on cutoff marks. Reserved categories generally have a low score, while unreserved categories have a higher cutoff range. For example, High-scoring NEET exam candidates from reserved categories like SC/ST/OBC can secure seats in the Unreserved/General category.

6. Topper Marks: If the student scored 720/720 marks (maximum) in the NEET exam, then it significantly increases the cut-off marks and inflation in ranks.

This change in the NEET exam cutoff marks increases the value and importance of higher marks instead of minimum cut-offs to get an MBBS seat in the desired medical college.

NEET Category Wise Cutoff Percentile 2026 (Standards)

A simple definition of the NEET cutoff percentile is related to the minimum score to qualify for the counselling process. This percentile-based mechanism is used by the NTA to provide a fair chance to all the appearing students by considering the difficulty level of the exam paper. To participate in the counselling process, it is important to score the required percentile criteria for each category.

As per the NTA, clearing the percentile only establishes eligibility and does not assure a medical seat, where the actual admission of a student also depends on rank and seat availability in the specific exam year. A list of category-based qualifying percentiles is as follows-

Category	Qualifying Percentile
General/UR	50th Percentile
EWS	50th Percentile
OBC	40th Percentile
SC/ST	40th Percentile
UR-PwD	45th Percentile
OBC/SC/ST PwD	40th Percentile

Conclusion

A clear understanding towards cutoff marks and qualifying percentile helps NEET aspirants to set realistic goals and prepare counselling strategies effectively. By considering the last 5 years of NEET exam cutoff marks, it is expected that General category cutoff marks can be around 720-135 for the 50^th percentile.

The NEET exam cutoff marks are unpredictable and influenced by factors such as seat availability, number of appearing students, reservation policies, toppers’ marks, exam difficulty level, and changes in NTA policies. So, it is recommended to NEET students to target higher marks to avoid the issue of these changes in making cutoff marks for the NEET exam 2026.

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