NTA's re-revised NEET-UG results leaves only 17 toppers; Where did 44 AIR 1 students go wrong

The National Testing Agency finally released its NEET-UG 2024 re-revised on Friday, bringing down the final number of Air India Rank (AIR) 1 achievers from 61 to just 17. Now, these 17 students are according to a latest verdict by the Supreme Court the actual deserve the perfect score of 720 of 720.

Following the SC decision ordering the deletion of grace marks granted for incorrect Physics questions, several rankers lost their Rank 1. 67 students shared the All India Rank 1 at first. Out of them, six students were retested after receiving withdrawn grace marks, and 1,563 students were tested again. 

According to the previous marking scheme released by the NTA, where marks were awarded for the incorrect answer that prevailed in the older NCERT books. However, as per the court's ruling these marks will be deducted for 4 lakh students as they had answered this question wrongly.

The Supreme Court's ruling mandated that only the correct answer for the physics question be considered, resulting in a re-calibration of ranks. Consequently, the 44 students who initially scored lower now have their scores adjusted to 715 out of 720, placing them behind the 14 students who achieved a perfect score of 720, as well as 70 students who scored 716.

Here us the controversial question:

Given below are two statements:

Statement I: Atoms are electrically neutral as they contain equal numbers of positive and negative charges.
Statement II: Atoms of each element are stable and emit their characteristic spectrum.

In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
1. Statement I is incorrect but Statement II is correct.
2. Both Statement I and Statement II are correct.
3. Both Statement I and Statement II are incorrect.
4. Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect.

Many students had also answered option 2 as the correct answer, as it was stated as correct in the previous editions of the NCERT. But, the SC ruled that only option 4 will be considered as the correct answer.

The cut-off marks have also risen this year, with the general and general-PH category thresholds increasing from 720-137 last year to 720-164. This adjustment is based on the highest marks attained in the all-India merit list for NEET UG 2024. The percentile scores will also be updated accordingly.

This year, almost 24,06,079 applicants enrolled for the NEET UG test. Of these, 23,33,297 applicants took the test, while 72,782 candidates did not show up.

Rajasthan and Maharashtra account for the majority of the top scorers. Rajasthan is home to the top four rank holders, with Maharashtra accounting for the remaining three. While Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala each have one topper, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have two.