Introduction:

The Honourable Supreme Court has allowed medical aspiring candidates above the age of 25 years to appear in the NEET UG 2019 exam. Granting an interim relief to the medical aspirants, aged above 25 years, the apex court however stated that the candidature of such candidates will be subject to the final outcome of the case before the court on validity of CBSE's decision to fix upper age limit.

Upper Age Limit Removed:

The official NEET UG 2019 notification was released on November 1. The notification specified the upper age limit for students as 25 years as on the date of the examination which means any student above the age of 25 on May 5, 2019 is not eligible for the NEET UG exam this year. However, with the current Supreme Court directive such students can now apply for the exam with the condition that their eligibility status will be subject to the final ruling in the case.

From 2019 onward several entrance exams have been handed over to National Testing Agency (NTA) which was constituted for the sole purpose of conducting entrance and competitive exams and relieve other bodies such as CBSE of these duties.

NTA began the application process for NEET UG 2019 exam on November 1, 2018. Supreme Court has also asked NTA to extend the deadline for application process to allow such students to apply for the exam. Earlier the last date to apply for the exam was November 30, 2018. NTA has extended the NEET 2019 registration date. Candidates can now register till December 7, 2018. After its decision to allow candidates above 25 years of age to apply for the exam, Supreme Court had asked National Testing Agency (NTA), to extend the deadline for NEET UG application by a week to accommodate all such students who were not able to apply earlier because of the upper age limit criteria. Such candidates can then apply for the NEET UG 2019 entrance exam on or before December 7, 2018. Candidates can pay the fees, through online mode, till December 8, 2018.

This year onwards NTA will conduct the exam; till last year CBSE was the exam conducting body for the country's biggest medical entrance examination for admission to MBBS and BDS courses. The exam is scheduled for May 5, 2019. Admit cards will be available April 15, onwards.

The upper age limit for NEET UG has been a point of contention for students earlier also. Supreme Court had, in 2017, scrapped upper age limit for those aspiring to appear in the NEET, but dismissed an age relaxation petition in 2018.

Meanwhile the candidature of Open School students is also subject to the outcome of the Special Leave Petitions/Appeals filed by the Medical Council of India.