NMC to cancel NExT Mock Test, Refund Fees to Students

New Delhi: After announcing the postponement of the National Exit Test (NExT) exam, the National Medical Commission (NMC) will now cancel the mock test for NExT, which was scheduled to be held on July 28, 2023.

Apart from this, the Apex medical education regulatory body will also ensure that the fees collected from the students for appearing in the NExT mock test exam will be refunded to the candidates.

Confirmation regarding this has come from Dr. Yogender Malik, a member of the NMC Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB). Addressing the issue of NExT Mock Testm Dr. Malik mentioned on his Twitter handle, "Dear Students #NExT Mock will be cancelled and fee refunded." However, no official notification has been released by the NMC yet.

The announcement from the NMC member comes at a time when doctors and aspirants for NExT have been demanding a refund of the money that was collected for the NExT mock test.

Releasing the information brochure for NExT exam, NMC had earlier informed that a mock/practice test for NExT would be conducted on July 28, 2023, and the registration for the same started on June 28, 2023.

Also Read: MBBS Students seeking exemption from NExT exam move Supreme Court

The application fee for the test was fixed at Rs 2,000 for the candidates belonging to the General and OBC categories. For the applicants belonging to the SC, ST, and EWS categories, the application fee was Rs 1,000. Meanwhile, the Persons with Disabilities were not charged any fees for appearing in the mock test.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that soon after the Information Brochure was published, the medical students who were going to appear in the NExT exam and the doctors expressed their disappointment with this rule of charging fees for appearing in the mock test.

The aspirants and the doctors slammed NMC and alleged that charging such huge fees was another way for the authorities to earn money. They were demanding that the mock/practice examination should be free of charge and the aspirants should be allowed to appear in it from their homes.

Earlier the Union Health Ministry had asked NMC to consider waiving the mock test fees and following this, deliberations reportedly began at the apex medical education regulatory body NMC.

Amidst the confusion among students regarding the National Exit Test examination, recently NMC has announced that the exam was deferred till further notice from the Union Health Ministry.

Issuing a public notice, NMC informed that the exam has been deferred on the advice of the Ministry and mentioned, "All the stakeholders are hereby informed that the National Exit Test (NExT) examination is deferred on the advice of the Ministry, dated 11.07.2023, till further directions from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare."

Following the announcements from NMC, the doctors and students started demanding clarity regarding the huge fees that were collected from the students for appearing in the mock/practice test examination conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

Now, NMC Member Dr. Yogender Malik has informed the students that the mock/practice test exam will be cancelled and the students will get a refund of the fees. However, any official notice has not been issued in this regard yet.

Also Read: With NExT deferred till further notice, Medicos seek refund of mock test fees