Supreme Court Approves Retest for NEET UG 2024 Candidates given Grace Marks

The Supreme Court has given approval for a retest to be conducted for the 1563 candidates who were awarded grace marks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance or NEET UG 2024 exam. This decision comes following a petition filed challenging the National Testing Agency‘s (NTA) choice to award compensatory marks to candidates at six centers due to time lost during the examination. These affected candidates will have their existing scorecards canceled.

The controversy surrounding the NEET UG 2024 exam has sparked a nationwide debate. The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court recently requested the NTA to present the original records of a student who claims to have not received her NEET result. The allocation of grace marks in the exam has raised concerns among students, parents, and educators.

NTA’s Director-General, in a press conference, highlighted that the decision to grant grace marks was made based on a recommendation from a committee. The official pointed out that the grace marks were given to those candidates who faced time loss due to issues like wrong question papers or torn OMR sheets.

Alakh Pandey, the CEO of Physics Wallah, was one of the petitioners who argued that the NTA’s decision to award grace marks was arbitrary. Reports have indicated that around 1,500 students may have received up to 70-80 marks as grace marks in a seemingly arbitrary manner.

The NEET UG 2024 exam was conducted by the NTA on May 5 at 4750 different centers across the country. The results of the exam have left many aspirants dissatisfied, with some scoring unusually high marks due to the awarding of grace marks.