Centre to Lower NEET-SS 2025 Cut-Off to 30th Percentile as 1,857 Super-Speciality Seats Remain Vacant

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it will reduce the qualifying threshold for NEET-Super Speciality 2025 from the 50th percentile to the 30th percentile, potentially allowing around 6,000 additional doctors to participate in a special counselling round for vacant super-speciality medical seats.

The decision comes after 1,857 seats remained vacant following the second round of NEET-SS counselling, raising concerns that a substantial amount of specialised postgraduate medical training capacity could remain unused.

The reduced qualifying threshold is expected to apply to a proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round, providing another opportunity to fill DM, M.Ch and other eligible super-speciality seats remaining vacant across participating institutions.

Around 6,000 More Candidates Could Become Eligible

According to the Centre’s submission before the Supreme Court, lowering the qualifying threshold to the 30th percentile is expected to make approximately 6,000 additional NEET-SS candidates eligible.

That would create a pool of newly eligible candidates more than three times the number of currently vacant seats.

The change does not create additional medical seats or guarantee admission to candidates who become eligible. Instead, it expands the pool of doctors permitted to compete for seats that have remained vacant after the regular counselling rounds.

Admissions would continue to depend on merit, available seats, speciality choices and the applicable counselling rules.

1,857 Super-Speciality Seats Still Vacant

The central issue is the large number of specialist medical training positions remaining unoccupied despite the completion of two counselling rounds.

The Medical Counselling Committee’s official records confirm that Round 2 of NEET-SS 2025 counselling has been completed, with the final result published through the MCC portal.

MCC is responsible for centralised counselling for super-speciality programmes covered by the national counselling system. Its official description includes DM and M.Ch courses at participating medical colleges and institutions, while NBEMS identifies NEET-SS as covering DM/M.Ch and eligible DrNB Super-Speciality programmes, subject to specified institutional exclusions.

With 1,857 positions reportedly remaining vacant after Round 2, reducing the qualifying threshold is intended to enlarge the candidate pool before the admission process closes.

Special Stray Vacancy Round Planned

The lower percentile is intended to be used for a Special Stray Vacancy Round rather than reopening the entire counselling process.

A stray vacancy round is conducted towards the end of counselling to allocate seats that remain vacant after the principal rounds have been completed.

For NEET-SS, the stakes are particularly significant because these seats represent advanced training positions in highly specialised branches of medicine and surgery.

Leaving them vacant means losing a complete admission cycle for positions that could otherwise be used to train additional specialists.

Tamil Nadu’s 40 In-Service Seats to Be Returned First

The proceedings also involve a separate dispute concerning super-speciality seats reserved for in-service government doctors in Tamil Nadu.

The Supreme Court case arose from litigation concerning unfilled DM and M.Ch seats in the Tamil Nadu state quota and their eventual transfer to the All-India counselling pool. The Supreme Court’s May 29 order records the dispute over surrendering unfilled Tamil Nadu super-speciality seats for inclusion in national counselling.

Under the arrangement now placed before the Court, 40 vacant in-service seats are expected to be returned to the Tamil Nadu government, giving the state an opportunity to conduct its own Stray Vacancy Round.

Tamil Nadu would have approximately one week to attempt to fill those positions.

Any seats remaining vacant after that process would subsequently be transferred to the national pool administered by the Medical Counselling Committee.

MCC to Conduct National Special Stray Vacancy Round

After the Tamil Nadu process is completed, MCC is expected to conduct a Special Stray Vacancy Round covering the remaining super-speciality vacancies nationally.

The Centre has indicated that this process would run for approximately two weeks.

The reduction of the qualifying percentile is particularly important at this stage because simply conducting another counselling round would have limited effect if the pool of candidates remained unchanged.

Moving the threshold from the 50th to the 30th percentile substantially increases the number of doctors who can participate while retaining NEET-SS ranking as the basis for competition among eligible candidates.

Why Super-Speciality Seats Matter

NEET-SS sits near the top of India’s postgraduate medical education pathway.

Doctors entering programmes such as DM and M.Ch have already completed substantial medical and postgraduate training before pursuing further specialisation in advanced medical or surgical disciplines.

These programmes train specialists required for areas ranging from complex surgical care to advanced medical specialties.

Consequently, persistent vacancies are not simply an admissions issue. They represent specialised medical training capacity that remains unused for an entire academic cycle.

Cut-Off Reduction Is About Eligibility, Not Reservation of Seats

An important distinction is that reducing the qualifying percentile does not automatically award seats to lower-ranked candidates.

The change expands eligibility.

A candidate who previously failed to satisfy the 50th-percentile qualification requirement could become eligible under the 30th-percentile threshold. That candidate would then participate in counselling and compete according to the applicable merit position and availability of seats.

With around 6,000 additional candidates potentially competing for 1,857 vacancies, the Centre expects the expanded pool to provide sufficient candidates to improve seat utilisation.

Formal MCC/NBEMS Notice Still Important

The Centre’s submission before the Supreme Court represents a significant policy development, but candidates should wait for the formal counselling notice and schedule from MCC and, where applicable, NBEMS before acting on the revised eligibility threshold.

As of September 17, MCC’s official Super-Speciality portal shows the completed Round 2 process and associated NEET-SS 2025 notices, but the revised 30th-percentile Special Stray Vacancy Round notice was not yet visible in the official material I could verify.

Once formally notified, the change could reopen the admission pathway for thousands of doctors who fell below the previous qualifying threshold while giving medical institutions another opportunity to fill 1,857 currently vacant super-speciality training positions.

---

References

Supreme Court of India. Tamilvani & Others v. State of Tamil Nadu & Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 415 of 2026 — Order dated May 29, 2026. Sci API

Medical Counselling Committee, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. NEET-SS 2025 Super-Speciality Counselling — official notices, schedules and Round 2 results. Medical Counselling Committee

National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. NEET-SS — official examination and course information. Natboard Webdisk

Editorial note: I would publish this with “Centre to Lower” or “Centre Tells Supreme Court It Will Lower” in the headline for now. Once MCC/NBEMS issues the actual 30th-percentile notice, you can update it to “NEET-SS Cut-Off Lowered to 30th Percentile.”

---