NEET 2025 : Why Students With Same Percentile Get Different Ranks — Explained

NEET 2025 : Why Students With Same Percentile Get Different Ranks – After the NEET UG 2025 Result, a question is repeatedly arising in the minds of many students and parents – when the percentile or score of two students is the same, why are their ranks different?

NEET 2025 : Why Students With Same Percentile Get Different Ranks

Actually, this situation is called a tie, and to solve this, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has implemented new tie-breaking rules from this year. The purpose of these rules is to ensure that a student can be given a fair higher rank even if there is an equal score.

In this article, we will understand how tie-breaking works in NEET UG 2025, and on what basis the students have been ranked.

What is the tie situation in NEET 2025?

NEET is a national level medical entrance exam in which lakhs of students participate. This year a total of more than 13 lakh students appeared for the exam. On such a large scale, there is a possibility of getting the same marks. When two or more students get the same score or percentile, their ranks are not equal but are decided based on tie-breaking rules.

NEET UG 2025 Toppers : Same Percentile, Different Ranks—Here’s Why

This year, many students in the top 10 ranks have the same score and percentile, but their ranks are different:

Rank 3 : Krishang Joshi – 99.9998189
Rank 4 : Mrinal Kishore Jha – 99.9998189
Rank 5 : Avika Agarwal – 99.996832
Rank 6 : Jenil Bhayani – 99.996832
Rank 7 : Keshav Mittal – 99.996832
Rank 9 : Harsh Kedawat – 99.995474
Rank 10 : Aarav Agarwal – 99.995474

This shows that despite the percentile being the same, the ranks have been given differently.

NEET 2025 : NTA’s 7-Step Tie-Breaking Rule

NTA has implemented a tie-breaking policy of a total of 7 points for NEET UG 2025. If the tie is still not resolved, then the process of random selection is adopted. Let’s understand all the rules one by one:

Higher marks in Biology – First of all, it is seen which student has scored more in Biology (Botany and Zoology). The one who scored more gets a higher rank.

Higher marks in Chemistry – If the score in Biology is the same, then the score in Chemistry is seen.

Higher marks in Physics – If the score in both Biology and Chemistry is the same, then the rank is decided on the basis of the score in Physics.

Low ratio of total wrong answers – After this, it is seen which student has the lowest percentage of wrong answers. That is, the one who has made the least mistakes will be given preference.

Low ratio of wrong answers in Biology – If the tie still persists, then the ratio of wrong answers in Biology will be seen.

Fewer Wrong Answers in Chemistry – After this, the student who has a low ratio of wrong answers in Chemistry will be given preference.

Low ratio of wrong answers in Physics – Finally, the student who has a low number of wrong answers in Physics will be given preference.

Final Tie Case : Rank to Be Decided by Lottery Method

If the tie persists even after all the above 7 criteria, then NTA provides a higher rank to a student through a random process under the supervision of an independent expert committee. This process is completely confidential and fair.

What Was the Tie-Breaker Rule in NEET Before 2025

In previous years, if the scores of the students were equal, their age and application number were given priority. That is, students with higher age or applying earlier used to get higher rank. But this rule has been removed from NEET UG 2025. Now the rank is given only on the basis of exam performance.

Why Did NTA Change Tie-Breaker Rules?

There were many controversies regarding the NEET result in 2024, where many students were given the same rank despite having the same marks. This created confusion in the admission process. For this reason, NTA made a big change this year to make the tie-breaking rules transparent and fair.

 Students Should Understand About NEET 2025 Tie-Breaker Rules

If you or someone you know has got a lower rank in NEET UG 2025 despite having the same marks, then it has been decided as per the rules mentioned above. Now the rank is not given by age or application number but on the basis of score in subjects and correctness of answers.

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