The age limit criteria for appearing in the NEET 2019 exam is finalized after a long controversy. To appear in the NEET, the age of the candidates must be between 17 years and 25 years as on December 31 of the year in which the NEET exam will be held.

Latest News: NEET 2019 Result  will be declared on June 5, 2019.

The lower age limit is kept fixed for all candidates irrespective of the belonging category. It means that the age of the SC, ST and OBC category candidates must be between 17 years and 30 years as on December 31 of the year in which the NEET exam will be held. Check Exam Dates for NEET

This final decision on the NEET age limit will not only be applicable to the 2019 exam, but also for future. This topic was under discussion and in controversy for past several years. MCI has also indicated the same in the offcial gazzette published by them on January 23, 2019. Read About Eligibility for NEET 2019

The Medical Council of India (MCI) and Dental Council of India (DCI) have finalized the age standards for NEET after long discussion. Go through the following table for understanding the exact age limit for candidates under various categories appearing in NEET 2019:

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Official Notification Issued by MCI

The decision on the final age limit for appearing in the NEET exam was declared officially in a notification issued by the MCI on January 23, 2018. The organizing committee of the NEET exam, CBSE, is yet to declare its individual official announcement on this topic.

Refer to the highlighted text below for the MCI’s official notification.

Note the highlighted text in this screen – “Provided further that in order to be eligible, the upper age limit for candidates appearing for National Eligibility Entrance Test and seeking admission to MBBS programme shall be 25 years as on the date of examination with a relaxation of 5 years for candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC category and persons entitled for reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.”

Following is the link to this official notification: Check here

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History of Controversy

Earlier, there was no upper age limit criteria for appearing in the NEET exam. An aspirant raised a grievance in November 2017 asking if there is some upper age limit for appearing in the NEET exam.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare addressed this grievance on December 14, 2017 stating that the upper age limit of unreserved category candidates for appearing in NEET will be 25 years starting from the academic year 2018-19. The reserved category candidates will be relaxed by the specified years, as per the applicable government norms.

Refer to the following Grievance Status screen for details.

So this age limit clause for NEET was introduced just last year. But very soon after its implementation, lots of NEET aspirants with age above 25 years protested to revoke this decision. This happened because with this clause, they were made ineligible for appearing in the NEET exam.

The honorable Supreme Court of India instructed MCI to look into this matter. MCI quoted that the new clause aims to select younger candidates, since they can easily grasp knowledge and study the medical topics as compared with the older students.

Also know MCI Debars NIOS students from NEET 2018, HRD Ministry reverts decision

MCI also said that earlier those candidates who pass class 12^th and appear in NEET in the same year, were required to compete with older candidates who might have spent many years for the preparation. Thus, this was an unfair competition for the 12^th class students. So there should be a cap for the upper age limit.

After a thorough analysis, the Supreme Court declared that there should not be an upper age limit for candidates appearing in NEET 2017. The NEET 2017 application submission dates were also extended to give a chance to the students who did not apply earlier due to the age limit criteria.

Now in another turn, MCI has declared that the upper age limit clause for NEET will be reintroduced from 2018, and it would be a ‘final decision’ at least for the future few years. However, if you are going to appear in NEET 2018 or 2019, you must keep checking the official websites of CBSE, MCI and DCI for the updates on age limit and other requirements. Wishing you all the great luck!

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