NEET cutoffs aren't static — they shift every year based on exam difficulty, number of candidates, and seat availability. We analyzed 7 years of data to find the patterns.
Overall Trends
The key finding: cutoff ranks have generally increased (gotten harder) from 2019 to 2025. Here's why:
- More candidates: NEET registrations grew from ~15 lakh (2019) to ~23 lakh (2025)
- Better preparation: Coaching industry has made high scores more achievable
- Seat increase hasn't kept pace: While MBBS seats grew from ~80K to ~1.1L, demand grew faster
AIIMS New Delhi Trend
| Year | General Closing Rank | Approx. Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | ~50 | 700+ |
| 2020 | ~45 | 705+ |
| 2021 | ~42 | 705+ |
| 2022 | ~48 | 700+ |
| 2023 | ~46 | 705+ |
| 2024 | 47 | 700+ |
AIIMS New Delhi has remained remarkably stable — you need a top-50 rank regardless of the year.
Government College Cutoffs
The biggest shifts happened in the mid-tier government colleges:
| College Tier | 2019 Rank | 2024 Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top AIIMS | ~50 | ~47 | Stable |
| Other AIIMS | ~2,000 | ~1,200 | 40% harder |
| Top State Govt | ~15,000 | ~10,000 | 33% harder |
| Average Govt | ~50,000 | ~40,000 | 20% harder |
What This Means for 2026
If you're targeting a specific college, don't rely on 2019-2020 cutoff data. The landscape has shifted significantly. Here's what we recommend:
- Use 2023-2025 data as your baseline — older data overestimates your chances
- Add a safety margin of 5-10% — cutoffs may get slightly tougher
- Look at rank, not score — The same score can mean very different ranks across years
- Check category-specific trends — OBC/SC/ST cutoffs have their own patterns
Use our NEET Rank Predictor to see how your score translates to rank across all 7 years, and our College Predictor to find which colleges match your predicted rank.