The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has officially lowered the qualifying percentile for NEET SS 2025, thereby allowing all candidates with a valid broad speciality degree to take part in the stray vacancy round of counselling. This decision expands participation opportunities for those who appeared in the exam.
The NEET SS 2024 results were declared on April 25, following the examination held on March 29 and 30, which, notably, introduced three time-bound sections for the first time in the exam’s history - reported The Indian Express.
According to the official notification, “The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India vide letter No. U.12021/09/2025-MEC dated 10th July 2025 has allowed all the candidates who had appeared for NEET-SS 2024 exam with an eligible broad speciality degree (MD/MS/DNB) to participate in the Stray round of NEET-SS Super Speciality Counselling 2024.”
NBEMS has clarified that the candidature remains provisional, subject to the fulfilment of the eligibility criteria outlined in the NEET-SS 2024 information bulletin and verification of Face ID/Biometric, where applicable.
Candidates are advised to keep checking the official website of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) at mcc.nic.in for the latest updates related to the stray round counselling for NEET-SS 2024.
In the meantime, the MCC has postponed the stray round of NEET SS counselling, citing a scheduling overlap with Tamil Nadu’s Round 2 counselling for in-service candidates. Furthermore, the MCC has confirmed that candidates who secured seats via Institute of National Importance Super Speciality (INI-SS) counselling will be allowed to resign from NEET SS 2025, although “their security deposits will be forfeited.”
For queries related to Super Speciality admissions, students may contact NBEMS at 011-45593000 or write to them via the NBEMS Communication Web Portal.
It is worth noting that in 2023, the NEET SS exam was conducted on September 9 and 10 in a Computer-Based Test (CBT) format, with candidates split across morning and evening shifts. That year, qualifying in NEET-SS required candidates to score more than 50 per cent in their respective specialities.