The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has lowered the qualifying cutoff for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery (NEET MDS) 2026 by 20.576 percentile points across categories, expanding the pool of candidates eligible to participate in postgraduate dental admissions for the 2026-27 academic session.
The ministry has directed the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to publish revised results based on the updated qualifying criteria. It has also asked the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to take the necessary steps and announce a revised counselling schedule.
NEET MDS 2026 revised cutoff, category-wise
The revised qualifying percentiles are as follows:
The reduction applies to all three category groups specified in the revised criteria. Candidates who did not meet the earlier qualifying threshold may now become eligible under the revised percentiles.
What the revised cutoff means for candidates
The qualifying percentile determines whether a candidate meets the minimum eligibility requirement for the admission process. It does not guarantee a seat in an MDS programme. Admission will continue to depend on merit rank, candidate preferences, counselling rules and seat availability.
The NEET MDS 2026 examination was conducted on May 2, 2026, and the results were declared by NBEMS. Under the original criteria, the qualifying scores were 308 out of 960 for General and EWS candidates, 289 for UR-PwD candidates and 271 for SC, ST and OBC candidates, including PwD candidates in these categories. The revised qualifying percentiles will form the basis for the updated results.
Revised results and counselling schedule
NBEMS has been directed to issue revised results in accordance with the lowered qualifying percentiles. MCC has also been asked to take action on priority and revise the counselling schedule to accommodate candidates who become eligible under the new criteria.
Candidates should monitor the official NBEMS website for revised result announcements and the MCC website for counselling updates. The revised qualifying criteria may allow more candidates to participate in the remaining admission process, but seat allotment will depend on the applicable counselling procedure and available vacancies.
