NEET UG results 2019: Andhra best in south, TN fares better than last year

Results for the exam which was held in May were released online on Wednesday.

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The much awaited results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG for 2019 were released on Wednesday. A total of 56.50% students qualified in the entrance examination for medical colleges compared to 56.27% who qualified in 2018.

SC, ST and OBC students had to score above the 40th percentile (107 to 133 marks). For unreserved category students, the cut-off was 50th percentile (134 to 701 marks). For disabled students from SC, ST and OBC categories, the cut-off was the 40th percentile (107 to 119 marks). For disabled students from unreserved communities, the cut-off was the 45th percentile (120 to 133 marks).

The topper this time was Nalin Khandelwal from Rajasthan who scored 701 marks. Madhuri Reddy G of Telangana held the All India 7th rank while Atull Manoj, Hrudya Lakshmi Bose and Aswin VP - all three from Kerala - got the 29th, 31st and 33rd ranks respectively. Phaneendra DR and P Mahesh Anand from Karnataka got the 36th and 43rd ranks respectively. Pilli Bhanu Siva Teja and Sodam Sri Nand Reddy from Andhra Pradesh got 40th and 42nd ranks respectively. No one from Tamil Nadu is in the top 50 list.

Tamil Nadu’s history of conflict with the exam is not new. The exam was even at the heart of the election issues, with major regional parties taking a stance against NEET. This time, the state has fared much better than 2018, with a pass rate of 48.57%. In 2018, only 39.56% students had qualified, making this the best improvement of all states combined. Out of 1,23,078 students who appeared for the exam, 59,785 have qualified. Shruthi K from the state has secured an all India rank of 57 and is the number 10 topper among female students across the nation.

Around half of students who appeared for the exam in Puducherry have cleared, with a pass rate of 48.7% compared to 2018’s 39.64%. A little over 4,600 students wrote the exam of which 2,281 cleared it.

Among the south Indian states, Andhra Pradesh performed best with 70.72% of those who took the exam qualifying versus 72.55% last year. 39,039 students out of 55,200 who appeared for the exam have qualified. Qureshi Asra, a student from the state, has secured an all India rank of 16, making her the third top female candidate in the country.

In neighbouring Telangana meanwhile the pass rate was 67.44%, against 68.88% in 2018. Out of 48,996 students, 33,044 have secured qualifying ranks. A student from Telangana, G Madhuri Reddy has secured an All India rank of 7.

Karnataka’s pass rates have not changed much with 63.25% of students who appeared for the exam having qualified, compared to 63.51% last year. Pragya Mitra has secured an All India Rank of 99.

Similar to Karnataka, the pass rates did not vary much in Kerala either. Of 1,10,206 students who wrote the exam, 73,385 passed. The pass rate in 2018 was 66.74%, this year it stood at 66.59 percent pass. Hrudya Lakshmi Bose scored the 31st rank, making her the fifth highest ranked candidate among female students.

Over 14 lakh students wrote NEET this year, which was held on May 5 nationally and May 20 for students affected by Cyclone Fani and the students from Karnataka whose train was delayed. The tes,t which has faced a lot of criticism in Tamil Nadu for allegedly catering to students closer to the Centre, saw 12,04,968 students write the exam in English, while another 34,052 students wrote the exam in Tamil, Telugu, or Kannada, with 31,239 students having taken the exam in Tamil.

In 2018 the cut off rate to qualify for a medical seat was 119, while it was 131 in 2017. The cut off rates also dropped from 107 to 96 last year for students who belong to OBC, SC, and ST categories.