NEET-PG to be held in two shifts on August 11

New Delhi, July 5

The NEET-PG 2024 will now be held on August 11 in two shifts, the National Medical Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) said on Friday. The cut-off date for eligibility to appear in the test will remain August 15.

The NEET-PG was earlier set to be held on June 22, but was postponed as a “precautionary measure” just 12 hours before the examination. The NEET-PG is a national-level examination for admission to postgraduate medical courses.

Some medical experts have expressed reservation on holding the exam in two shifts. Dr Suvrankar Datta, senior resident, AIIMS-Delhi, posted on X, “Absolutely appalled by the decision to conduct the NEET-PG in two shifts. How can we ensure fairness in ranking when the exam is split into different slots? Seems completely unfair for serious PG aspirants! The lack of clarity and foresight is unacceptable!”

NBEMS president Dr Abhijat Sheth said two shifts would ensure better arrangements for the students. He said the normalisation ratio would be applied in two shifts.

He said, “The normalisation process is a worldwide accepted phenomena. For multi-session exams, different papers will be set with varied difficulty. Thus, scenarios are different for students who get the paper with less difficulty and those who get the difficult paper set. To maintain the balance, the NBEMS will use the normalisation process that combines the scores from all shifts and then gives out the ranks. “To ensure better arrangement for the students, the exam is being conducted in two shifts. Standard normalisation ratio will be applied in two shifts. The final date has been decided after holding meetings with all the stakeholders, including the government,” he said.