NEET: Govt school kids perform better this year

CHENNAI: The performance of government school students in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has improved this year, with the 10th rank holder in the category scoring more marks than the topper last year.

Kiruthika CK from Salem, who came first in the 7.5 per cent quota for government school students, scored 569 marks, while the topper in the category, Siva I from Pudukkottai, had scored 514 marks last year.

This difference in NEET scores was evident in the case of second and third ranks. Pachiyappan S from Dharmapuri who scored 565 marks and Murugan E from Kancheepuram with 560 marks stood second and third, respectively, this year. Last year, the second highest was 512 marks, while the third rank went to the aspirant who scored 483 marks.

In fact, all the top-10 rank holders scored better than last year. This year, the tenth rank score was 523 as against 461 marks scored by the 10th rank holder in NEET 2022-23.

In all, 12,997 government school students appeared for NEET this year, of whom 3,982 cleared the exam. The pass percentage of government school students this year stood at 30.6 per cent, up from 27 per cent in 2022-23. The overall NEET pass percentage in was 54.45 per cent.

However, it may be noted that the number of government school students appearing for NEET has dropped, as 14,979 students had appeared for the examination last year, of whom 4,118 cleared the national level test. Salem has the highest number of government school students who appeared for the examination with 2,007 students appearing for the examination. Of them, 519 students have qualified. A total of 461 students from government schools obtained MBBS admission and 106 got BDS seats last year.