NEET : Grace marks of 1,563 Candidates cancelled
The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that the Centre has decided to revoke the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students in the NEET-UG 2024 exam.
The affected students will be notified of their actual scores and given the choice to retake the exam. If they opt out of the re-test, their scores from the 5 May exam will stand, as per the government.
This decision aims to address concerns about fairness in the competitive exam process.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET (UG), is an all-India pre-medical entrance test held annually for students aspiring to pursue undergraduate medical courses.
These students, initially awarded compensatory marks due to loss of time during the exam, will now have to decide whether to keep their original scores or opt for a retest scheduled for 23 June. The National Test Agency (NTA) has confirmed that results will be released before 30 June to facilitate the counselling scheduled for 6 July.
During the hearing, advocate Kanu Agarwal, representing the central government, explained that a panel formed by the NTA recommended revoking the grace marks. The panel found that awarding compensatory marks based on time loss resulted in an unfair advantage, as grace marks should only apply to questions not attempted.
Consequently, the committee advised cancelling the scorecards of the 1,563 students and informing them of their actual marks.
The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted the union government’s submission in one petition challenging the grant of grace marks and issued notice on another petition alleging exam paper leaks, combining it with similar pending petitions.