NEET-PG 2025 to be held in two shifts, triggers issues over normalisation

In a discover on Monday, NBEMS stated it is going to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 on June 15 in two shifts on a computer-based platform. That is the second time that the board is conducting the NEET-PG examination in two shifts.

In 2024, the board performed the examination in two shifts from 9am to 12:30pm and from 3:30pm to 7pm at 416 centres in 170 cities for two,28,540 candidates.

The board is but to launch the detailed info bulletin for NEET-PG 2025. Final yr, this bulletin was issued only a day forward of the examination

Bharat Rathore, a NEET-PG 2025 aspirant from Jaipur, stated, “There is no such thing as a have to conduct this examination in two shifts as there usually are not even 3 lakh college students who’re sitting for this examination in comparison with NEET-UG by which over 15 lakh college students sit for exams in only one shift. I’m showing within the NEET PG examination for the primary time, and I’m frightened concerning the problem ranges of the shift by which I might be taking the examination.”

Within the NEET-PG examination of 800 marks, candidates who’ve an MBBS diploma, have to unravel 200 multiple-choice questions in on-line mode in 3 hours and half-hour. Candidates get 4 marks for every right reply and 1 mark is deducted if their response is inaccurate.

“I sat within the second shift of NEET-PG 2024 and scored 470 marks. I bought 76 percentile and 51000 rank after normalization. Paper was simple within the first shift nevertheless it was tough within the second shift. Many who scored the identical marks within the first shift had higher ranks than me,” stated Samyak Bansal who plans to take a seat for the examination once more this yr.

“Conducting NEET-PG in two shifts is undesirable because it doesn’t present a stage taking part in discipline for all college students. A piece of scholars will get a simple paper in a single shift and one other will get a tough paper within the subsequent shift. There may be additionally no readability on their normalisation course of which is utilized in offering percentile and ranks for admission,” he added.

NBEMS officers didn’t reply to HT’s queries.

For the reason that query papers within the two shifts are totally different, the board conducts a normalisation course of to make sure that college students are evaluated pretty, whatever the shift they had been assigned by adjusting scores to a typical scale.

For NEET-PG 2024, NBEMS applied the AIIMS normalization by which the best rating in every shift is standardized to the one centesimal percentile, and percentile scores are calculated with precision as much as seven decimal locations to cut back ties. The marks obtained between the best and lowest scores in each shifts are transformed to applicable percentiles.

For example, if the highest rating in Shift 1 is 80%, it will likely be normalized to the one centesimal percentile. Equally, if the best rating in Shift 2 is 82%, it is going to even be set because the one centesimal percentile for that shift. This methodology ensures a good comparability throughout totally different examination periods. Percentiles present a relative measure of efficiency, providing a clearer image of a candidate’s standing amongst friends. For instance, a percentile of 90 signifies that the candidate has outperformed 90% of all test-takers.

Medical doctors’ associations have additionally written to NBEMS to hunt a single shift examination.

In a letter to NBEMS, the Federation of All India Medical Affiliation (FAIMA) stated the normalisation of marks has “traditionally been related to inconsistencies and potential biases.”

“Completely different query papers in numerous shifts inherently introduce variations in problem ranges, making it difficult to determine a very honest normalization course of. This could result in undue benefits or disadvantages for candidates based mostly on their assigned shift, compromising the examination outcomes’ credibility. A single-shift examination ensures uniformity in problem stage, eliminates the necessity for normalisation, and upholds the transparency and equity of the choice course of,” the federation stated, urging the board to conduct the examination in a single shift to “uphold the rules of equity, transparency, and meritocracy.”

The United Medical doctors Entrance (UDF), which has written to Union well being minister JP Nadda, stated a single-shift examination ensures that each one candidates reply the identical set of questions underneath an identical circumstances, “eliminating the necessity for normalisation and potential disputes arising from it.”