NEET PG: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Eligibility and Preparation

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NEET PG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Postgraduate) is the national entrance exam for MD, MS and PG Diploma courses in India. It is conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), and your NEET PG rank is used for postgraduate medical seats in government, private and deemed colleges, as well as post-MBBS DNB programs.

Starting with the 2026 cycle, the NEET PG exam pattern has 180 questions in five time-bound sections. This guide covers the current pattern, eligibility, marking scheme, syllabus and how to prepare. The tracker on this page shows live dates for the next cycle.

NEET PG at a glance

Full name	National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (PG)
Conducted by	National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS)
Exam level	National
Held	Once a year; recent cycles have been in August
Mode	Computer-based test, single shift
Duration	3 hours 30 minutes
Subjects	All MBBS subjects: pre-clinical, para-clinical and clinical
Total marks	720 (180 questions)
Negative marking	Yes, minus 1 for each wrong answer
Languages	English only
Leads to	MD, MS, PG Diploma and post-MBBS DNB seats
Official website	natboard.edu.in

NEET PG important dates

These dates update automatically from Kosuki’s exam calendar. “Announced” dates come from the official notice; “Expected” months are based on past years.

!Dates can change. Always confirm on the official website. Report a wrong date · How we check dates

What is NEET PG?

NEET PG is the single qualifying and ranking exam for most postgraduate medical seats in the country. It replaced separate state PG entrance tests. The exam is set on the MBBS curriculum, so it tests everything you studied in medical college, from anatomy to surgery.

A few institutes, such as AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER Chandigarh and NIMHANS, do not use NEET PG. They admit through INI-CET instead, so many candidates take both exams.

NEET PG eligibility

The 2026 NBEMS information bulletin lists three core conditions. Read the bulletin for your cycle, because the internship cut-off date changes each year.

• Degree: an MBBS degree or provisional MBBS pass certificate recognized under the NMC Act, 2019.
• Registration: permanent or provisional registration with the National Medical Commission, the former Medical Council of India, or a State Medical Council.
• Internship: the one-year compulsory rotating internship must be completed by the cut-off date announced in the bulletin.
• There is no upper age limit and no fixed limit on the number of attempts.

NEET PG exam pattern

The NEET PG exam pattern was revised for 2026. The number of questions came down from 200 to 180, and total marks from 800 to 720. The paper is split into five sections, labeled A to E. Each section has 36 questions and a fixed 42-minute window.

Sections are strictly timed. You can move between questions and mark them for review only inside the active section. Once a section’s time ends, it locks and you cannot go back to it. All questions are single-best-answer multiple-choice questions, many of them clinical case or image based.

Section	Questions	Time
A	36	42 minutes
B	36	42 minutes
C	36	42 minutes
D	36	42 minutes
E	36	42 minutes
Total	180 (720 marks)	3 hours 30 minutes

NEET PG marking scheme

The NEET PG marking scheme did not change with the new pattern.

• Correct answer: plus 4 marks
• Wrong answer: minus 1 mark
• Unanswered or only marked for review: 0
• Ties in rank are broken using criteria listed in the bulletin

NEET PG syllabus

The NEET PG syllabus is the MBBS curriculum prescribed by the National Medical Commission. There is no separate syllabus document to memorize, but it helps to think of it in three groups, as NBEMS has done in past blueprints. The subject-wise split under the new 180-question format has not been published separately, so use past weightage only as a rough guide.

• Pre-clinical: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry
• Para-clinical: Pathology, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine, Community Medicine (PSM)
• Clinical: General Medicine including Dermatology and Psychiatry, General Surgery including Orthopedics, Anesthesia and Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, ENT, Ophthalmology
• Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Community Medicine have historically carried the largest share of questions

NEET PG result, cut-off and counseling

NBEMS declares the NEET PG result as a score and All India Rank, usually within about a month of the exam. Candidates must reach the qualifying percentile for their category to be eligible for counseling. In recent years this has been the 50th percentile for General candidates and the 40th percentile for SC, ST and OBC candidates, though the government has sometimes lowered it later in counseling.

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) conducts counseling for the 50 percent All India Quota seats in government colleges, and for central universities, deemed universities and DNB seats. State counseling authorities fill state quota seats in government and private colleges using the same NEET PG rank. Branch and college choices depend heavily on your rank.

How to prepare for NEET PG

The new section-locked format rewards steady pacing. You have about 70 seconds per question and cannot come back to a section later, so every section needs to be finished and reviewed inside its own 42 minutes.

• Plan subject revision around weightage. Give more cycles to Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, PSM and Pathology.
• Build a short-notes set during your first reading. Later revision cycles should use only these notes and question banks.
• Practice with a 42-minute timer on 36-question blocks. Learn to leave hard questions and return to them only within the same section.
• Solve recalled questions from recent NEET PG and INI-CET papers to see current clinical and image-based trends.
• Take grand tests on a computer interface that imitates the NBEMS format, and analyze every wrong answer.
• Because a wrong answer costs one mark, guess only when you can eliminate at least two options.
• Track subject-wise test scores, for example in Kosuki, so your last revision round targets weak subjects.

How to apply for NEET PG

1. Watch natboard.edu.in for the information bulletin and read it fully.
2. Register online and complete the application with personal, MBBS and internship details.
3. Upload a recent photograph and signature as per NBEMS specifications, plus required certificates.
4. Pay the fee online and submit before the deadline.
5. Use the edit window if you need corrections, then download the admit card a few days before the exam.

NEET PG FAQs

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Sources

• natboard.edu.in
• medicine.careers360.com/articles/neet-pg-2026-180-questions-instead-of-200-how-it-changes-your-preparation-strategy
• www.pw.live/neet-pg/exams/neet-pg-2026-new-exam-pattern
• testbook.com/news/neet-pg-2026-registration

Last reviewed September 2026 against the official National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) notice and information brochure. Exam rules can change from year to year, so always confirm details on the official website before you apply. Kosuki is independent and is not connected with any exam body. Spotted something out of date? Write to contact@kosuki.com.