67 students scoring a perfect 720 in NEET-UG 2024 raises doubts; six have seat numbers from the same sequence
MUMBAI: The NEET-UG 2024 results, announced on Tuesday, have taken several students by surprise. A day after, students and parents have raised objections over an unprecedented numbers of students, 67, bagging the perfect score – 720 out of 720 – also other discrepancies in the statement issued by the agency. Of the total students bagging full marks, six have seat numbers from the same sequence and are from Haryana, indicating the chance of them being from a same centre.Parents, in letters to the National Testing Agency (NTA), are seeking a thorough investigation into the alleged discrepancies in the results before the counselling commences.
Scorecards of students scoring 718 and 719 are also being circulated on social media, which parents claim is impossible to achieve in the paper, when each NEET question carries four marks and one mark each is given for negative marking. The NTA, in a statement, said that they received few representations and court cases from NEET candidates raising concerns of loss of time during the exam held on May 5. “Such cases/representations were considered by NTA and the normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by the apex court in a judgement from 2018, to address the loss of time faced by candidates. The loss of time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So their marks can be 718 or 719 too,” said the statement.
Parent representative Ruiee Kapoor said that the explanation provided by the NTA is not satisfactory as a score of 718 or 719 is technically improbable. “Also 67 students scoring full marks is unprecedented in NEET-UG and highly unusual. There is also bunching of students with higher marks, which has led to a major discrepancy in the marks and their corresponding marks. At the same scores, the corresponding ranks have gone up by three to four times. While the overall cut-off has also risen from 137 to 164, students even with 720 marks will find it difficult to get a seat in AIIMS Delhi-a sought-after institute,” said Kapoor, adding that MBBS admissions closed at rank 57 in the open merit last year in the institute.
An NTA official said that more students scored higher marks due to the normalisation process and also because the physics and chemistry sections were relatively easier and as per NCERT books. This was done to address equity and also to discourage coaching mafia, said the official.
Another parent claimed that the provision of grace marks due to waste of time should have been specified in the information brochure, as students could have utilised it in the past. Sachin Bangad, a parent representative, said, the exam was “managed”. “How is that six students who scored full 720 marks are from the same exam centre in Faridabad, Haryana,” he asked. A senior NTA official reasoned this to the fact that in this particular exam centre in Haryana, “there was incorrect distribution of papers and they lost 45 minutes. When it was corrected, a formula as per previous court order was used in a few cities including this.”
Experts including faculty doctors have demanded an explanation of the normalization criteria of NEET results at how many centers was the normalization applied. Parents said the significantly high cut-off have put off many candidates who were aspiring for joining government medical colleges.
“Students scoring less than 660 marks now have a very poor chance of securing admission to government medical colleges,” said Bangad. This is in contrast to the previous year, where students with 600 marks were able to secure seats in government colleges.
Scorecards of students scoring 718 and 719 are also being circulated on social media, which parents claim is impossible to achieve in the paper, when each NEET question carries four marks and one mark each is given for negative marking. The NTA, in a statement, said that they received few representations and court cases from NEET candidates raising concerns of loss of time during the exam held on May 5. “Such cases/representations were considered by NTA and the normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by the apex court in a judgement from 2018, to address the loss of time faced by candidates. The loss of time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So their marks can be 718 or 719 too,” said the statement.
Parent representative Ruiee Kapoor said that the explanation provided by the NTA is not satisfactory as a score of 718 or 719 is technically improbable. “Also 67 students scoring full marks is unprecedented in NEET-UG and highly unusual. There is also bunching of students with higher marks, which has led to a major discrepancy in the marks and their corresponding marks. At the same scores, the corresponding ranks have gone up by three to four times. While the overall cut-off has also risen from 137 to 164, students even with 720 marks will find it difficult to get a seat in AIIMS Delhi-a sought-after institute,” said Kapoor, adding that MBBS admissions closed at rank 57 in the open merit last year in the institute.
An NTA official said that more students scored higher marks due to the normalisation process and also because the physics and chemistry sections were relatively easier and as per NCERT books. This was done to address equity and also to discourage coaching mafia, said the official.
Another parent claimed that the provision of grace marks due to waste of time should have been specified in the information brochure, as students could have utilised it in the past. Sachin Bangad, a parent representative, said, the exam was “managed”. “How is that six students who scored full 720 marks are from the same exam centre in Faridabad, Haryana,” he asked. A senior NTA official reasoned this to the fact that in this particular exam centre in Haryana, “there was incorrect distribution of papers and they lost 45 minutes. When it was corrected, a formula as per previous court order was used in a few cities including this.”
Experts including faculty doctors have demanded an explanation of the normalization criteria of NEET results at how many centers was the normalization applied. Parents said the significantly high cut-off have put off many candidates who were aspiring for joining government medical colleges.
“Students scoring less than 660 marks now have a very poor chance of securing admission to government medical colleges,” said Bangad. This is in contrast to the previous year, where students with 600 marks were able to secure seats in government colleges.
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