Wondering how many students appear for NEET each year? You must have seen reports of lakhs of students applying and taking this national-level competitive test. This article will tell you how many students have appeared for NEET since its inception and how many you can expect in the coming years.
NEET, or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, is a national-level medical entrance exam conducted by NTA or the National Testing Agency. The exam is taken by students who want admission into one of the numerous medical institutes of the country for undergraduate medical courses like MBBS, BDS, and other allied programs.
Number of NEET Candidates Every Year
NEET has become one of India’s most popular competitive examinations undertaken by lakhs of students every year. In 2013, when the first NEET exam took place, a total of 6,58,040 students appeared for the exam. In 2016, when NEET was restored, the number saw a minimal increase. The exams were conducted in two phases; over 7 lakh students attended.
Since 2017, NEET has been taking place once a year, and the number of attending candidates has risen exponentially. In 2017, over 11 lakh students registered, while 10.9 lakh students sat for the exam. In 2018, 13 lakh students registered for the exam, and over 12.6 lakh students attended it. In 2019, over 14 lakh students appeared for the exam.
Post Arrival of COVID-19 Pandemic
Until now, the number of students taking the exam steadily rose, with almost a 10% rise each year. However, the number fell rapidly in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. NEET was postponed and delayed several times but finally occurred on 13th September 2020. Almost 16 lakh students had registered for the exam, but only 13.6 lakh students appeared. The percentage of growth was the lowest in almost a decade.
NEET was postponed again in 2021. An estimated 16 lakh students registered for the paper, but only 15.4 lakh students attended it. As you can see, the number of students who registered for the exam increased again after the normalization of the pandemic.
Last year, in 2022, 18.7 lakh students registered for NEET, and 17.64 lakh students attended it.
Number of Students Registering for NEET 2023
Once NTA opened the application portal in March and April 2023, a whopping 20,87,445 students registered for the national-level exam. The year saw 11.5% growth as compared to 2022. With over 11 lakh female candidates and over 9 lakh male candidates, history was made in 2023 with the highest number of students applying for NEET.
Conclusion
NEET 2023 is India’s one of most demanding medical entrance examinations. More than 20 lakh candidates have applied to take the examination this year. Also, there has been the most significant increase in applications for NEET 2023, with around 2.5 lahks more than the previous year. Therefore, there is a lot of competition, but with a solid study plan, you can ace the test on your first try.
Frequently Asked Questions on NEET
[wp-faq-schema]