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The number of candidates appearing for the exam this year increased to 23,33,297 from 20,38,596 in 2023. (Representative photo/PTI)
Students and parents raised concerns over at least 67 candidates securing All India Rank (AIR) one, six of whom were from a centre in Haryana. Of these, 44 candidates were declared toppers
Addressing the concerns of students and parents, the National Testing Agency (NTA) late Thursday evening said there was complete “transparency” in the conduct of the exam and that “modification of incorrect answer keys as well as grace marks to make up for lost time of students at some centres” led to a large number of toppers in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024, results for which were declared two days ago.
NEET is conducted every year for admission to undergraduate medical courses.
Students and parents raised concerns over at least 67 candidates securing All India Rank (AIR) one, six of them from a centre in Haryana. Of these, 44 candidates were declared toppers. This was the first time that the number of first rankers was so high, while only a few do so every year.
The NTA has attributed the high number of toppers to correction of wrong answer keys and making up of marks for those who lost time at some exam centres.
Compensation of points
The NTA, which conducts the exam across India, clarified that this was done due to “grace marks” being given to students to make up for the time lost at the exam centre.
According to a senior NTA official, the loss of exam time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with marks based on their answering efficiency and time lost, as per the mechanism/formula established by the apex court in its 2018 verdict.
“A total of 1,563 candidates were compensated for loss of time and the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. Among these, the marks of two candidates are also 718 and 719 marks respectively due to compensatory marks,” the official said.
This happened after NEET (UG) 2024 candidates filed some writ petitions in the High Courts of Punjab & Haryana, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, raising concerns about loss of exam time during the conduct of the exam on May 5 at some centres.
In a statement, the NTA said, “The concerns raised by the candidates through the writ petitions and representations submitted to the NTA required careful consideration to redress them. Therefore, a Grievance Redressal Committee, consisting of eminent experts from the field of examination and education, was constituted to look into such complaints/representations and submit its recommendations. The Committee considered the representations on the basis of factual reports from the officials and CCTV footage from the respective examination centres.”
It said analysis of CCTV footage revealed that “the sanctity of the examination was not compromised at these centres.”
High number of toppers
The NTA also clarified its stand on the unprecedented number of toppers in the NEET-UG 2024 exam.
The number of candidates appearing for the exam this year increased to 23,33,297 from 20,38,596 in 2023.
“The increase in the number of candidates has naturally led to an increase in the number of those scoring high marks as the number of candidates was larger,” Sadhana Parashar, senior director, NTA, said in a statement.
Senior NTA officials clarified that they received 13,373 challenges to the provisional answer key for a Physics question. Due to differences in the old and new versions of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbook (which is the main study material), subject experts felt that two options should be considered correct instead of one for this question.
“Out of the 67 candidates who got 720/720 marks, 44 got compensatory marks due to correction in one of the answer keys of Physics and 06 got compensatory marks for loss of time,” Parashar said.
He said it would be appropriate to mention that the toppers are from across the country.
The NTA said the cutoff scores are determined every year based on the “overall performance” of candidates. “The increase in the cutoff reflects the competitive nature of the examination and the high performance standards achieved by candidates this year,” it said.
The cut-off and average marks (out of 720) of the qualifying candidates vary each year.
The exam was conducted on May 5, 2024, across 571 cities (including 14 cities abroad) for over 24 lakh candidates.
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