According to a recent directive by Supreme Court of India, now medical aspirants above the age of 25 years of age are eligible to appear in the NEET UG 2019 exam. With the release of NEET 2019 notification on November 1 by NTA, it was clear that the upper age limit for students is 25 years as on the date of the examination which means any student above the age of 25 on May 5, 2019, was not eligible for the NEET UG exam this year. However, the apex court has also directed that their further eligibility will be subject to the final ruling in the case whatsoever as they are, for now, can appear for the examination.
Previously, NEET was conducted by CBSE, but from 2019 onwards NEET and several entrance exams have been handed over to NTA. National Testing Agency was specially constituted by the central government for the sole purpose of conducting free and fair entrance and competitive exams and to relieve other bodies such as CBSE of this extra burden and duties.
NTA began the application process for NEET 2019 exam on November 1, 2018, which was to be ended on 30 November 2018, but after the directions from the honourable Supreme Court, it is likely that NTA will extend the deadline for the application process and allow such students to apply for the exam. However, the new deadline for NEET 2019 is not confirmed yet and it is not clear that this deadline will only be extended for candidates for all age groups or especially for those of above 25 years of age.
Till now, the upper age limit for NEET UG aspirants has been a bone of contention between the NTA aspirants. And, previously the apex court has scraped upper age limit for those aspiring to appear in the NEET. However, amid this process, the court dismissed an age relaxation petition in 2018.
Meanwhile, the candidature for NEET 2019, for the students of Open School students has also been a subject, where the Special Leave Petitions/Appeals filed by the Medical Council of India. So, SC had also directed that candidates who have passed class 12 from an open school are eligible to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG 2019). However, the matter is still in court. The final decision on these candidatures will be announced by the court.
Check details to apply for NEET 2019
To apply for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – 2019, the basic eligibility is that a student must have completed the age of 17 years at the time of admission or will complete the aforesaid age on or before 31st December of the year of his/her admission to the 1st year MBBS/BDS Course.
The candidates can register for NEET 2019 online by visiting the official website- ntaneet.nic.in. To register online, the candidates need to provide a set of basic information as per his/her Aadhaar card or high school mark sheet and then submit a copy of passport size photograph and signature. Once the registration is done, candidates must pay their fee to successfully complete the application process.
This is the first time that the National Testing Agency (NTA) will be conducting the NEET exam which is scheduled on May 05, 2019. The examination will be conducted in 154 test cities and their official exam centers spread across the country. NEET 2019 will be a pen-paper based test which will consist of MCQ type questions from subjects like Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Moreover, it should be noted that the candidates who will successfully register for the exam will only be issued the NEET 2019 Admit Card. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will release admit card for NEET 2019 on April 15.
