Only 33 of the 650 government school students who secured MBBS seats in Tamil Nadu under the state’s 7.5 per cent preferential quota cleared NEET in their first attempt in 2025-26. That is just 5 per cent. The remaining 617 students needed two or more attempts to get in, and the numbers have set off a fresh political row over the national medical entrance test.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss flagged the figures in a statement on Saturday, November 14, and demanded an urgent review and abolition of NEET.
What the 2025-26 data shows
The figures cover students admitted to MBBS courses in Tamil Nadu’s government and private medical colleges under the 7.5 per cent quota for government school students. Of the 650 who got seats this academic year:
- 33 students (5 per cent) cleared NEET in their first attempt.
- 235 students succeeded on their second attempt.
- 283 students made it on their third attempt.
- 91 students needed a fourth attempt.
- Six students took five attempts, and two students took six or more.
The pattern is not limited to government school students. Among the 8,053 students admitted under the remaining 92.5 per cent of government quota seats, only 1,613, or 20 per cent, cleared NEET in their first attempt. The other 6,440 needed two or more attempts.
Just as striking is the trend over time. Data from the state’s Selection Committee shows the share of government school students admitted under the 7.5 per cent quota on their first attempt has fallen from 50 per cent in 2021-22 to 5 per cent in 2025-26. In other words, the first-attempt route into medical college has all but closed for the students the quota was created to help.
Why Ramadoss says the system has failed
The 7.5 per cent reservation was introduced in 2020 to help government school students who cannot afford private coaching compete for medical seats. Ramadoss, a former Union Health Minister, said the new data shows the opposite of what was intended. With 95 per cent of these students now taking extra coaching for two to six years, he said, even financially disadvantaged families are being pushed into debt.
He called it “stark evidence of the commercialisation of medical education”. When NEET was introduced in 2010 and made compulsory in 2017, the Union government had said it would curb commercialisation and raise the quality of medical education. Ramadoss argued the Tamil Nadu figures point the other way.
The PMK chief is not alone in raising the issue in the state. Tamil Nadu has opposed NEET for years, and the state Assembly passed a unanimous resolution against the exam on August 11, 2026. Earlier this month, on November 4, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay told the Union government’s high-level task force on examination reforms, headed by Nandan Nilekani, that Tamil Nadu wants NEET scrapped and Class 12 board marks used as the basis for admission to professional courses.
What happens next
The immediate question is whether the Centre will engage with the Tamil Nadu data. The Nilekani-led task force is examining entrance exam reforms across the country, and the state’s submission puts the first-attempt numbers squarely before it. For now, though, there is no indication of a change in national policy, and NEET remains the sole gateway to MBBS seats.
For aspirants, the message in the data is plain. Clearing NEET in one attempt is now the exception, not the rule, even for students in the general category. Families planning a medical career should budget for the possibility of more than one attempt, and for the coaching that goes with it.
For policymakers, the sharper question is the one Ramadoss has raised: if a quota meant to level the playing field now sends 95 per cent of its beneficiaries into years of repeat attempts and paid coaching, does the exam still serve its purpose, or has it become another barrier for the students it was supposed to protect?
FAQs
How many Tamil Nadu government school students cleared NEET in their first attempt in 2025-26?
Only 33 of the 650 students admitted under the 7.5 per cent quota, which is 5 per cent. The remaining 617 needed multiple attempts.
What is the 7.5 per cent quota in Tamil Nadu medical admissions?
It is a preferential reservation introduced in 2020 for students of Tamil Nadu government schools in MBBS and other undergraduate medical courses, created because these students generally cannot afford private coaching.
Who has demanded the abolition of NEET over these figures?
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, who cited the official admission data on November 14, 2026, and called for an urgent review and scrapping of the exam.
Has the first-attempt success rate fallen over the years?
Yes. Selection Committee data shows the first-attempt share among quota admissions fell from 50 per cent in 2021-22 to 5 per cent in 2025-26.
What is Tamil Nadu’s official stand on NEET?
The state Assembly passed a unanimous resolution against NEET on August 11, 2026, and the government has told the Centre’s exam reforms task force that Class 12 marks should be the basis for admission instead.
The debate over NEET in Tamil Nadu is far from new, but this year’s admission data has given it fresh numbers. Whether those numbers change anything in Delhi is the question to watch.
