The NEET UG 2026 expected cut off for government medical colleges ranges from - 135-145 marks (qualifying) to 610-650+ marks (admission) for the General category. The official cut off will be released by NTA. Two types of cut off exist: the qualifying cut off set by NTA, and the admission cut off set by MCC and state counselling authorities. The state-wise and category-wise data for all 33 states are listed below.
What Is the NEET 2026 Cut Off? (Qualifying vs Admission)
Most students confuse these two numbers. They are not the same.
The qualifying cut off is the minimum score you need to appear in NEET counselling. NTA sets it based on percentile. Clearing it only means you are eligible. It does not mean you will get a seat.
The admission cut off is the closing rank at which an actual MBBS seat is allotted in a specific college. MCC sets this for All India Quota seats. State authorities set it for state quota seats.
| Qualifying Cut Off | Admission Cut Off | |
|---|---|---|
| Set by | NTA | MCC / State Authority |
| Based on | Percentile | Rank + seats + category |
| Guarantees a seat? | No | Yes (if allotted) |
| 2025 General marks | 144 | 525+ (AIQ closing) |
Many students clear the qualifying cut off but do not get a government college. That is because the NEET 2026 admission cut off for MBBS government colleges is far higher than the qualifying marks.
NEET 2026 Expected Qualifying Cut Off Marks (Category-Wise)
The qualifying percentile is fixed by NMC policy. It does not change year to year. What changes is the actual score that matches that percentile, based on how hard the paper was.
The 2026 paper was reported as easy to moderate. That means more students scored higher. As a result, the NEET 2026 expected qualifying marks are likely to stay in the same range as 2025 or slightly higher.
| Category | 2025 Actual | 2026 Expected | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| General / EWS | 144 | 135-145 | 50th |
| OBC | 113 | 113-120 | 40th |
| SC | 113 | 113-120 | 40th |
| ST | 113 | 113-120 | 40th |
| UR/EWS PwD | 127 | 125-130 | - |
These are NEET 2026 minimum marks to qualify. Scoring at this level only gets you into counselling. It does not place you in a government college.
NEET 2026 Safe Score for Government MBBS Seats (AIQ and State Quota)
This is the section that matters most for students aiming at government MBBS seats.
There are two counselling pools. The All India Quota (AIQ) covers 15% of total government seats. Students from across India compete for these. The State Quota covers 85% of seats. It requires state domicile. The competition is lower, and so is the required score.
| Category | AIQ Safe Score | State Quota Safe Score |
|---|---|---|
| General | 620-650+ | 570-620+ |
| EWS | 600-630+ | 560-600+ |
| OBC | 590-615+ | 550-590+ |
| SC | 520-550+ | 420-490+ |
| ST | 480-520+ | 400-470+ |
Key points to remember:
- AIQ seats are the most competitive. Students from every state compete for the same pool.
- State quota gives domicile candidates a rank advantage of roughly 30,000-80,000 positions compared to AIQ for the same college.
- AIIMS New Delhi and MAMC require 680+ marks for the General category. These are a separate tier entirely.
- Cut offs drop in later counselling rounds such as Mop-Up and Stray Vacancy. Keep this in mind while building your college preference list.
NEET UG 2026 State-Wise Expected Cut Off for Government Medical Colleges
NEET cut offs vary by state because each state has a different number of seats, its own reservation structure, and a different pool of competing students.
The data below reflects All India Counselling cut-off figures across 33 states and UTs for all five categories. Chandigarh records the highest cut off across every category. Assam records the lowest General category cut off at 540 marks.
Note: Actual 2026 cut offs will be published by MCC after result declaration. Use this data for planning and target-setting.
| State / UT | General | OBC | EWS | SC | ST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 570 | 570 | 560 | 490 | 470 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 570 | 570 | 570 | 480 | 480 |
| Assam | 540 | 540 | 540 | 480 | 470 |
| Bihar | 575 | 570 | 570 | 490 | 480 |
| Chandigarh (UT) | 650 | 620 | 630 | 590 | 545 |
| Chhattisgarh | 570 | 570 | 570 | 490 | 480 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (UT) | 590 | 590 | 590 | 510 | 510 |
| Delhi (UT) | 620 | 610 | 610 | 570 | 540 |
| Goa | 590 | 580 | 575 | 500 | 490 |
| Gujarat | 570 | 570 | 565 | 490 | 470 |
| Haryana | 580 | 580 | 580 | 500 | 490 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 560 | 560 | 560 | 500 | 495 |
| Jammu & Kashmir (UT) | 570 | 570 | 570 | 485 | 480 |
| Jharkhand | 570 | 570 | 570 | 490 | 480 |
| Karnataka | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Kerala | 580 | 560 | 540 | 480 | 470 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 570 | 570 | 570 | 500 | 490 |
| Maharashtra | 570 | 570 | 570 | 480 | 475 |
| Manipur | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Meghalaya | 570 | 570 | - | 480 | - |
| Mizoram | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Nagaland | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 465 |
| Odisha | 570 | 570 | 565 | 490 | 470 |
| Puducherry (UT) | 580 | 580 | 570 | 490 | 480 |
| Punjab | 585 | 580 | 580 | 500 | 490 |
| Rajasthan | 580 | 580 | 580 | 500 | 500 |
| Tamil Nadu | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Telangana | 570 | 570 | 560 | 480 | 470 |
| Tripura | 570 | 570 | 570 | 480 | 470 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 570 | 570 | 570 | 490 | 480 |
| Uttarakhand | 580 | 580 | 570 | 500 | 490 |
| West Bengal | 570 | 570 | 570 | 485 | 470 |
NEET Cut Off Trend (2021-2025) - What It Means for 2026
The qualifying cut off has stayed stable for most years. What keeps rising is the admission cut off, because more students appear for the exam every year while the number of government seats has not grown at the same pace.
| Year | General | OBC / SC / ST | Paper Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 138 | 108 | Moderate |
| 2022 | 137 | 107 | Moderate |
| 2023 | 137 | 107 | Moderate |
| 2024 | 162 | 129 | Easy |
| 2025 | 144 | 113 | Moderate-Hard |
| 2026 (Expected) | 135-145 | 113-120 | Easy-Moderate |
The 2024 spike to 162 happened because the paper was easy and more students scored high. In 2025, the paper was harder and the cut off dropped to 144. Since 2026 is reported as easy to moderate, the expected NEET 2026 qualifying cut off is likely to land between 135-145 for General.
What Determines the NEET 2026 Cut Off?
- Total candidates: 22.79 lakh students registered for NEET 2026. This is the highest number ever. More students means tight competition for the same number of seats. In the end, this moves the NEET Cut Offs for admission for 2026 further up.
- Paper difficulty: An easy to moderate paper has more students attaining a score above 600. With this increase, the admission cut off shall be increased even with a low qualifying cut off.
- Seat matrix: India has 1,18,190 MBBS seats and 27,868 BDS seats. No meaningful seat expansion has been confirmed for 2026.
- Reservation policy: OBC, SC and ST are as per fixed 40 percentile by NMC. The percentile will remain the same, but a change in percentile is due to any shift in students' scores.
- Counselling rounds: NEET state quota cut off as well as AIQ cut off decrease in both the Mop-Up and Stray Vacancy rounds. Students with borderline scores should not withdraw before these rounds.
