NEET result 2020 declared, Odisha`s Soyeb Aftab and Delhi`s Akanksha Singh attain perfect score: Check rank list

In a first, two candidates attained full marks in medical entrance exam NEET, results of which were declared on Friday night, according to National Testing Agency (NTA) officials. Odisha's Soyeb Aftab and Delhi's Akanksha Singh have scored 720 out of 720 marks but Aftab has been ranked first and Singh second as per the NTA's tie-breaking policy, the officials said.

The same tie-breaking policy has been used for deciding further ranks.

Candidates should know that NEET 2020 result can only be downloaded up to 90 days from the date of declaration. The results were announced at 5 pm at the NEET official websites and the candidates can visit websites--ntaneet.nic.in or at mcc.nic.in to check their marks.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) final answer key was also released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday at its official websites.

Top six NEET students: Odisha's Soyeb Aftab (M/720), Delhi's Akanksha Singh (F/720), Telangana's Tummala Snikitha (F/715), Rajasthan's Vineet Sharma (M/715), Haryana's Amrisha Khaitan (F/715) and Andhra Pradesh's Guthi Chaitanya Sindhu (F/715).

They have been ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Similarly, those ranked from 8th to 20th have scored 710 marks and those ranked from 25th to 50th have scored 705 out of 720 marks.

Odisha's Soyeb Aftab: A student of ALLEN Career Institute Kota for the last three years, Soyeb secured AIR 1. Shoaib became the first student in the country to score 720 out of 720 in the exam. Shoaib said that his dream is to serve the country by becoming a good cardiologist. He wants to study further in AIIMS, Delhi. 

"I cleared all my doubts during the coronavirus period as there was extra time and I saw this period as an opportunity," he said speaking to Zee Media. Shoaib's mother Sultana Razia said that she wishes him to serve the poor people as a doctor. She added that years of penance have paid off. Sultana Razia also became emotional during the conversation with Zee Media. 

He said, "There is no doctor in my family, so I didn't expect this. I had hoped to make it to top 100 or top 50 but I never expected to score 720/720. The exam was being postponed, so there was a lot of pressure. But the goal was to stay calm and utilise time."

He stayed away from home due to studies for the last three years and had the full support of his mother. "I used to think in my childhood that machines would cure people. I studied for 10 to 12 hours regularly. There was less attention to physical health during studies. I am glad I have not gone home during the coronavirus period. I said at home that I will come only after passing the exam," he said.

Delhi's Akanksha Singh: A student of Aakash Institute Kota, Akanksha secured AIR 2. She has been ranked second, despite having the same marks as that of Soyeb Aftab, because she is younger to him. She is the topper among the female candidates.

Check rank list: Here's the rank list of top 50 candidates

NEET tie-breaker: If two or more candidates secure the same marks in NEET exam, the candidate obtaining the higher marks in Biology (Botany and Zoology) will be given preference in the ranking. If the tie still exists after calculating Biology marks, preference will be given to candidates who attained higher marks in Chemistry. In the next step, candidates with lesser wrong answers in all the NEET subjects will be given an advantage. However, if the tie still remains, the NEET aspirant older in age will be preferred.

NEET candidates 2020: A total of 7,71,500 candidates have qualified the exam for which over 13.66 lakh candidates had appeared. The highest number of qualifying candidates are from Tripura (88,889) followed by Maharashtra (79,974).

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted on September 13 amid strict precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. From this year, the admissions to MBBS course in 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, will also be made through NEET following the amendment in National Medical Commission Act, 2019, passed by Parliament last year.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal: Moments after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Result 2020 was announced on Friday, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank thanked the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Pokhriyal thanked the NTA for giving a new cohort of doctors this year. He said that the exams were conducted during "testing" times and the spirit of cooperative federalism was clearly visible.

"The result has been declared. I congratulate all candidates who have cleared the exam and wish them good luck for future. I thank NTA for giving a  new cohort of Doctors this year. Exams were conducted during "testing" times and the spirit of Cooperative Federalism was clearly visible. I thank all the Chief Ministers for the same," he tweeted. 

Encouraging those students who couldn't clear the test, Pokhriyal said that the students who couldn't make it, shouldn't feel disheartened. Boosting their morale he said that "opportunities in other sectors are waiting for you". He added that an exam "cannot define you".

"Students who couldn't make it, please don't feel disheartened. Opportunities in other sectors are waiting for you. An exam cannot define you. The country needs your intellect and acumen in those sectors," he tweeted.

NEET exam: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted on September 13 amid strict precautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. From this year, the admissions to MBBS course in 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, will also be made through NEET following the amendment in National Medical Commission Act, 2019, passed by Parliament 2019.

The test was offered in 11 languages -- English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu -- this year. Based on the initial report, more than 77 per cent aspirants took the test in English, around 12 per cent in Hindi and 11 per cent in other languages.

The exam was earlier postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the government decided to go ahead with it, despite opposition by a section, to mitigate any further academic loss. The National Testing Agency had set in place strict standard operating procedures in view of the pandemic, including measures like reducing the number of candidates per room from the earlier 24 to 12.

The NTA had also increased the number of centres from 2,546 in 2019 to 3,862 this year to ensure crowd management and staggered entry and exit protocols. Unlike the engineering entrance (JEE), NEET-UG, the medical admission test, is a pen and paper exam and held once a year.

Accordingly, the NTA had changed centres for a few candidates this week in compliance with social distancing norms and COVID restrictions. In many places, NTA also arranged buses and private vehicles to transfer candidates who arrived at the centres assigned to them earlier instead of the changed one.

While all the candidates were asked to go to the exam centres with masks and sanitisers, once they entered the centre, they were asked to use the three-ply masks provided by the examination authority. The NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3, but was pushed to July 26 and then scheduled for September 13.