NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test would be conducted only once this year and it would be a pen-and-paper affair.
An earlier proposal to hold an online test twice for admissions to medical and dental colleges would not be implemented this year.
The decision follows a meeting between officials of the Union health ministry and the National Testing Agency, the nodal body tasked with conducting NEET, on Wednesday last.
Stating that the decision not to tinker with the test pattern was taken to ease the pressure off students reeling under the pandemic, an official said: “An online test may also prove disadvantageous for the students from rural areas.”
The NTA would release the examination schedule and brochure in two-three days after a final date is decided.
The test is likely to be held either in late June or July.
Earlier, after deciding to hold the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) for engineering admissions four times this year, officials had proposed to conduct NEET twice for the first time to ease the pressure to perform their best in one attempt off students.
The proposal was approved by the medical education department of the health ministry but now may be implemented starting next year.