The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET, formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), All India pre-medical entrance test for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS), and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS, BNYS, BSMS.) courses in government and private institutions in India and also, for those intending to pursue primary medical qualification abroad. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which provides the results to the Directorate General of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and State Counselling Authorities for seat allocation.
After the enactment of the NMC Act 2019 in September 2019, NEET-UG became the sole entrance test for admissions to medical colleges in India including the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) which until then conducted separate exams. Before NEET-UG was implemented nationwide, states conducted their own entrance tests, and some prestigious Medical colleges like AIIMS, JIPMER, IMS-BHU, KMC Manipal & Mangalore, and CMC Vellore conducted their own entrance exams.
NEET was initially proposed to take place from 2012 onwards. However, for several reasons, the CBSE and Medical Council of India deferred NEET by a year. The test was announced by the Government of India and was held for the first time on 5 May 2013 across India for students seeking admission for both undergraduate and postgraduate medicine. On 18 July 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of 115 petitions and canceled the NEET exam, and announced that the MCI could not interfere with the admission process done by colleges.
The NEET exam is conducted online and the medium or choice of language is dependent on the candidate as the NEET question paper 2022 will be available in 13 languages i.e. English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. The duration of the examination is three hours and a candidate needs to answer 180 questions. The exam paper is divided into three sections — Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (Botany and Zoology). The Supreme Court of India quashed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into all medical and dental colleges on 18 July 2013. The apex court ruled that the Medical Council of India cannot conduct a unified examination.