Despite high NIRF rankings, medical colleges not chosen by NEET PG 2025 toppers

New Delhi: The results for Round 1 of the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2025 examination revealed that the preference among top rank holders is to opt for central government institutes and long-established state-run medical colleges, instead of highly ranked medical colleges in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025.

Union Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, on September 4, released the 2025 list of institutes under the National Institutional Ranking Framework, which was drafted by the Ministry of Education in 2015. Since the year, 2016, the Centre has been releasing a list of top institutes, including the top medical colleges across the country. AIIMS Delhi has maintained the undisputed rank 1 in the last nine years.

In 2025 as well, AIIMS Delhi was ranked 1, followed by PGIMER, Chandigarh (rank 2), Christian Medical College Vellore (Rank 3), JIPMER Puducherry (Rank 4), Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (Rank 5), Banaras Hindu University (Rank 6), National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHNS) (Rank 7), King George's Medical University, Lucknow (Rank 8), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore (Round 9), Kasturba Medical College, Manipal (Rank 10).

NIRF 2025: Medical category

However, the results of the first round of NEET PG 2025 counselling revealed a tendency among PG medical aspirants to opt for central government institutes and long-established state-run institutes such as Madras Medical College (MMC), Vadhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC), and KEM Mumbai.

Preference of PG Medical Aspirants:

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the round 1 allotment list for NEET PG 2025 revealed that most of the toppers having an AIQ rank between 1 and 10 have opted for Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, formerly known as Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), New Delhi, as their preferred institute for pursuing the postgraduate medical education.

The allotment document showed that All India Rank (AIR) 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 10 opted for MD (General Medicine) in PGIMER at Dr RML Hospital, New Delhi, one of the most sought-after central institutions.

Apart from these students, the Rank 2 holder opted for the MD General Medicine course at the Government Medical College (GMC) Kozhikode, a long-established state-run hospital. Rank 4 and Rank 11 holders opted for the MD Radio-diagnosis course at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, New Delhi, one of the premier government medical colleges attached to Safdarjung Hospital.

Rank 8 holder chose the MD General Medicine course at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, which also is a well-known State government institute in Karnataka having a strong clinical exposure.

Rank 9 holder opted for MD General Medicine Course at Madras Medical College, and Rank 12 holder chose M.D. (Obst. and Gynae)/MS (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) at Madras Medical College, again a long-established State-run medical college.

Therefore, none of the top 12 candidates in the NEET-PG 2025 Round 1 allotment list opted for the private medical colleges, even those that secured the top 10 NIRF rankings.

Also Read: MCC NEET PG Round 1: Majority of toppers opt for MD Medicine, RML Delhi top choice