18,000 seats vacant! MCC round 3 counselling dates awaited as NBE lowers NEET PG cutoff
New Delhi: With over 18,000 PG medical seats across the country remaining vacant and aspirants eagerly waiting for the Round 3 counselling session, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) recently revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET PG 2025 admissions.
NBE in a notice dated 13.01.2026, reduced the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025-2026 for various categories of candidates.
"The result of NEET-PG 2025 was declared on 19th August 2025. In accordance with the directions of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India vide letter No. U-12021/11/2025-MEC (FTS- 8363852) dated 09.01.2026, the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counseling of the third round of NEET-PG 2025-26 for various categories of candidates has been reduced," NBE mentioned in the notice dated 13.01.2026.
As per the revised qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025, for the academic session 2025-2026, for the General/EWS, General PwBD, SC/ST/OBC(Including PwBD of SC/ST/OBC) categories, the revised qualifying cut-off is 7th, 5th, and 0th percentile, respectively. Therefore, the revised cut-off score after lowering the cut-off percentile is 103 for General/EWS, 90 for General PwBD, and -40 for SC/ST/OBC(Including PwBD of SC/ST/OBC) categories, respectively.
The decision follows the completion of round two counselling.
Official sources said the revision aims to ensure optimal utilisation of available seats, which are vital for expanding India’s pool of trained medical specialists.
Leaving such seats vacant undermines efforts to improve healthcare delivery and results in the loss of valuable educational resources, the sources said.
The previous percentile thresholds had restricted the pool of eligible candidates despite the availability of seats.
Listing the key highlights, official sources said the admissions remain strictly merit-based, determined by NEET-PG rank and candidate preferences.
Allotments will be made only through authorised counselling mechanisms and no direct or discretionary admissions are permitted. Inter-se merit and choice-based allocation will continue to guide seat distribution, the sources said.
The sources said there will be no dilution of academic standards and that the revised percentile merely expands eligibility among already-qualified MBBS doctors.
Transparency and fairness remain central to the process, it had added.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had formally requested a revision of the qualifying cut-off on January 12, citing the need to prevent seat wastage and strengthen healthcare services, adds PTI
Meanwhile, Doctors have expressed their concerns over the recent decision of the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to reduce the qualifying cut-off for the NEET PG 2025 admissions.
Doctors have pointed out that due to this decision, even those who scored -40 marks in the exam will be eligible to take admission in the highly sought-after clinical specialities, which, according to doctors, will compromise merit.
With this development, the Medical Counselling Committee MCC will soon begin the round 3 counselling.
Also Read:NBE invites applications for Fellowship Entrance Test, FET 2025 scheduled for March 14
