What Is the Highest Number of Attempts Allowed for NEET Exam?

Every year, thousands of students sit for the NEET exam hoping to get into a medical college. But not everyone clears it on the first try. Some take it twice. Some take it three times. And a few keep going - again and again. The big question on everyone’s mind: What is the highest attempt for NEET exam? The answer isn’t just a number. It’s about rules, real stories, and what really matters when you’re fighting for a seat in medicine.

There’s No Official Limit on NEET Attempts

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which runs NEET, doesn’t set a maximum number of times you can take the exam. Unlike some other competitive exams in India, NEET doesn’t say you can only try three or four times. You can appear as many times as you want - as long as you meet the basic eligibility criteria each year.

That means if you’re 17 years old and didn’t make it in 2022, you can try again in 2023, 2024, 2025, and beyond. There’s no cap. No hidden rule. No official cutoff after your fifth or sixth attempt. The system is built to give you repeated chances - if you’re willing to keep showing up.

Who Keeps Trying? Real Cases

Stories of students taking NEET seven, eight, or even nine times aren’t myths. They’re real. In 2023, a 25-year-old from Bihar cleared NEET on his eighth attempt. He had failed four years in a row after dropping out of engineering. His family sold land to fund his coaching. He worked part-time as a tutor to pay for books. He didn’t get top ranks. But he got in - to a government medical college in Odisha.

Another case: a girl from Rajasthan took NEET six times. She missed the cutoff by just two marks three years in a row. Each time, she reappeared. She changed her study pattern, switched coaching centers, and even moved cities. On her sixth try, she scored 678 out of 720. She’s now in her second year of MBBS.

These aren’t outliers. They’re proof that persistence matters more than the number of attempts. The system doesn’t punish you for trying again. It rewards those who keep learning.

What Actually Changes After Multiple Attempts?

Just taking NEET again doesn’t guarantee success. What changes is how you prepare. Most students who fail multiple times don’t fail because they’re not smart. They fail because their strategy doesn’t evolve.

Here’s what works after the third attempt:

• You stop memorizing and start analyzing past papers - not just solving them, but understanding why you got certain questions wrong.
• You stop comparing yourself to others who cleared in one shot. You focus on your own progress - how many marks you’ve gained each year.
• You stop using ten different books. You master NCERT, because 80% of NEET questions come directly from it.
• You stop studying 12 hours a day without rest. You start tracking sleep, diet, and mental health - because burnout kills more dreams than failure.

A 2024 study by the Indian Medical Association tracked 1,200 NEET repeaters. Those who improved their scores after the third attempt had one thing in common: they worked with a mentor who reviewed their mock test patterns. Not a coaching center. Not a YouTube channel. A person who looked at their mistakes and told them exactly what to fix.

Age Limit Is the Only Real Barrier

While there’s no limit on attempts, there is a strict age rule. You must be at least 17 years old by December 31 of the exam year. And there’s no upper age limit - not anymore.

That changed in 2021, after a Supreme Court ruling. Before that, candidates over 25 couldn’t take NEET. Now, a 40-year-old can sit for NEET if they’ve completed their 12th grade with PCB and meet the minimum marks. There are real cases of doctors switching careers - engineers, pharmacists, even teachers - who took NEET in their 30s and got admitted.

So if you’re 32 and thinking about switching to medicine, don’t let age stop you. The system lets you in. The question is: are you ready to commit?

Why Do People Keep Trying? The Hidden Costs

Just because you can take NEET ten times doesn’t mean you should. Each attempt has a cost - financial, emotional, and social.

Coaching fees for a year can run between ₹80,000 and ₹2,00,000. Books, mock tests, online subscriptions, travel to centers - add another ₹30,000-₹50,000. That’s ₹10-15 lakhs over five attempts. For many families, that’s a huge burden.

Then there’s the emotional toll. Friends move on to college. Relatives ask, “Still preparing?” Social media is full of success stories - and it’s easy to feel left behind. Many repeaters report anxiety, depression, and isolation.

So the real question isn’t “How many times can you try?” It’s “Is this still the right path for you?”

When Should You Stop?

There’s no universal answer. But here’s a simple test:

1. Have your scores improved by at least 30-40 marks each year? If yes, keep going.
2. Are you still motivated and not just doing it because you feel you “have to”? If yes, keep going.
3. Can your family support you financially and emotionally without hardship? If yes, keep going.
4. Have you tried changing your method - coaching, study plan, resources - and still seen no progress after three attempts? Then it’s time to reconsider.

Some students who stopped after four attempts switched to B.Sc. Nursing, Paramedical courses, or even pharmacy. Five years later, they’re working in hospitals. Some are even applying for postgraduate medical programs abroad.

Medicine isn’t the only way to help people. Sometimes, the bravest choice isn’t to keep trying - it’s to redirect your energy.

What the NTA Doesn’t Tell You

The NTA doesn’t publish data on how many people take NEET more than five times. But internal reports from coaching centers suggest that less than 1% of candidates attempt NEET more than six times. Most drop out after three or four tries - not because they’re not good enough, but because they realize there are other paths.

What’s interesting? Those who clear NEET on their sixth or seventh attempt often score higher than those who clear it on the first try. Why? Because they’ve learned how to handle pressure. They know how to manage time. They’ve seen every trick the exam throws at them.

Success isn’t about the number of attempts. It’s about what you do between them.

Final Thought: The Highest Attempt Is the One You Don’t Quit

The highest number of attempts recorded for NEET isn’t in any official document. But if you ask coaching centers in Kota, Patna, or Hyderabad, they’ll tell you about students who’ve taken it nine or ten times. Some of them made it. Some didn’t. But all of them changed.

NEET doesn’t measure how many times you tried. It measures how much you’ve grown. If you’re still showing up, you’re already winning.