NEET-PG 2026 Cutoff — Official Qualifying Marks by Category

NBEMS has published the NEET-PG 2026 qualifying cutoffs: 262 for General / EWS, 244 for General-PwBD and 226 for SC / ST / OBC, out of 720. Here is how many candidates cleared each line, how 2026 compares with earlier years, and the difference between the qualifying and counselling cutoffs.

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Last verified: 24 September 2026 against NBEMS NEET-PG 2026 result and cutoff notice and NBEMS public scorecards 2020–2024. natboard.edu.in · nmc.org.in

Last verified: 6 October 2026 against MCC Final Result for Round-III of NEET PG Counselling 2025 and MCC PG Medical Counselling page.

Quick Answer

The official NEET-PG 2026 cutoff is 262 / 720 for General / EWS (50th percentile), 244 for General-PwBD (45th) and 226 for SC / ST / OBC (40th). 1,33,655 of the 265,959 ranked candidates scored 262 or more. The percentile rule is fixed; the raw marks change every year with the paper. The counselling cutoff for a clinical MD / MS seat at a top college is far higher than the qualifying line.

NEET-PG 2026 Qualifying Cutoff by Category

CategoryPercentileCutoff (out of 720)Candidates at or above
General / UR / EWS50th percentile2621,33,655
General-PwBD45th percentile2441,46,569
SC / ST / OBC40th percentile2261,59,943
SC / ST / OBC-PwBD40th percentile2261,59,943

Historical Raw-Mark Cutoffs (General Category)

The percentile rule is fixed, but the raw marks at that percentile vary with paper difficulty. Higher cutoffs do not mean a tougher exam — they mean more candidates scored well.

YearGeneral / EWS CutoffOut of% of Max
26272036.4%
29180036.4%
27580034.4%
30280037.8%
366120030.5%

Branch-wise and Category-wise Closing Ranks in Government Colleges (NEET-PG 2025)

NBEMS publishes no branch-wise cutoff; the qualifying cutoff above is the same for every branch. Closing ranks come from MCC's counselling results. MCC's PG page still says the seat matrix is awaited for PG Counselling 2026, so the table below is from the last completed cycle: the final Round 3 allotment list of MCC PG Counselling 2025 for NEET-PG 2025. It shows, for All India Quota seats (government colleges), the last rank allotted in Round 3 for each seat category.

Last rank allotted in Round 3, All India Quota, MCC PG Counselling 2025
BranchOpenEWSOBCSCST
General Medicine9,51112,92810,07527,06745,956
General Surgery18,55225,76120,76848,37180,031
Radio-diagnosis4,8809,1628,25116,74621,933
Paediatrics13,00616,74515,55736,17669,625
Obstetrics and Gynaecology14,21719,00318,42140,18466,574
Orthopaedics20,84325,07021,72147,45179,656
Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy7,84411,86512,73019,70639,970
Anaesthesiology29,96041,58338,07956,60493,618
Ophthalmology25,33342,86435,73653,86490,681
ENT25,67337,85235,40354,48791,357
Psychiatry22,33742,32631,87746,99388,492
Pathology57,59394,50971,84884,8701,34,845

Compiled by Kinase from the MCC final Round 3 result for PG Counselling 2025. Each figure is the highest rank among candidates allotted an All India Quota seat of that category in Round 3 (fresh allotments and upgrades); PwD seats are not shown. Candidates who kept a Round 1 or Round 2 seat are not in this list, so these are Round 3 last ranks and not the full-cycle closing rank. Open seats are open to every category, so reserved-category candidates also appear in the Open column on merit. Ranks are from NEET-PG 2025 and will not repeat in 2026. For one college and branch, search the MCC result for the institute and course.

Qualifying Cutoff vs Counselling Cutoff

Qualifying Cutoff

Minimum score to be NEET-PG-qualified. Percentile-based. Crossing it makes you eligible to participate in counselling but does not guarantee a seat in any particular specialty or college.

Counselling Cutoff (Closing Rank)

Actual cutoff for a specific MD/MS specialty at a specific college. Determined by demand + supply during counselling rounds, and set by the closing rank for each seat. For sought-after clinical branches at top colleges it is far above the qualifying line.

Target-setting: aim for at least 100 marks above the historical average qualifying cutoff if you want a clinical MD/MS at a government college. For Radiology, Dermatology or Medicine at top-tier colleges, target the top 1,000 ranks overall (typically 650+ raw marks).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the government-college closing rank for MD/MS branches?▼
MCC publishes allotments rank by rank, not a closing-rank table. In the final Round 3 result of MCC PG Counselling 2025 (NEET-PG 2025), the last rank allotted an All India Quota Open seat in Round 3 was 4,880 for Radio-diagnosis and 9,511 for General Medicine. These are Round 3 figures for NEET-PG 2025, not a prediction for 2026, and they exclude seats kept from Rounds 1 and 2.
What is the NEET-PG 2026 cutoff?▼
The official NEET-PG 2026 qualifying cutoff is 262 out of 720 for General / UR / EWS (50th percentile), 244 for General-PwBD (45th percentile) and 226 for SC / ST / OBC, including their PwBD candidates (40th percentile). The raw marks are set after each exam, so they change every year even though the percentile rule stays the same.
How many candidates qualified NEET-PG 2026?▼
Of the 265,959 candidates ranked in NEET-PG 2026, 1,33,655 scored 262 or more (the General cutoff), 1,46,569 scored 244 or more (General-PwBD) and 1,59,943 scored 226 or more (SC / ST / OBC). Whether a candidate qualifies depends on their own category's cutoff.
Can the NEET-PG qualifying cutoff be lowered after the result?▼
Yes. The percentile cutoff has been lowered in several years to fill vacant seats during counselling — for example, the 2024 cutoff was later reduced to the 5th percentile for all categories. Any such change is announced by NBEMS on the Ministry's direction, so watch natboard.edu.in during counselling.
Is there a difference between qualifying cutoff and counselling cutoff?▼
Yes. Qualifying cutoff (percentile-based) is the minimum score to be NEET-PG-qualified. Counselling cutoff is the actual rank/score needed to secure a seat in a specific MD/MS specialty at a specific college, and is much higher. The counselling cutoff for a sought-after clinical branch at a top government college is set by closing ranks and is far above the qualifying line.
How is the percentile calculated for NEET-PG?▼
NBEMS first ranks all candidates by their raw score. The score at which 50% of candidates fall below (50th percentile) becomes the general-category qualifying cutoff. 40th percentile = score at which 60% of candidates fall below. Percentile is purely rank-based — a higher raw cutoff doesn't necessarily mean a harder paper, it means more candidates scored well.
What if I score the qualifying cutoff but want a top MD/MS seat?▼
Qualifying NEET-PG only makes you eligible for counselling. Securing a clinical MD / MS specialty at a top government college (AIIMS, MAMC, KGMU etc.) requires a rank far above the qualifying line. For backup options like government MS Anaesthesia, Radiology in tier-2 cities, or non-clinical specialties, scores closer to the qualifying line can suffice.
Official NBEMS 2026 cutoffs
Checked against the 2026 score list
Updated annually

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