The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has approached the Supreme Court seeking approval to conduct the NEET PG 2025 examination on August 3 in a single shift. This move comes after the top court, on May 30, cancelled the earlier two-shift exam format and asked NBEMS to hold the test in one shift to maintain fairness.
In its plea, NBEMS informed the court that August 3 is the earliest possible date suggested by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), its technology partner, to conduct the exam across more than 250 cities. TCS stated that it would need adequate time to prepare over 1,000 exam centres, each with specific infrastructure and trained personnel, to handle over 2.42 lakh candidates.
TCS stated that the exam will require over 60,000 staff members, including technical teams, security personnel, invigilators, and administrators. Additionally, more than 2,000 local servers need to be arranged and set up across centres, depending on hardware availability. Each centre must meet strict technical and security guidelines, including a three-tier power backup, anti-cheating surveillance systems, and secure premises.
NBEMS added that before the Supreme Court order, it had planned to conduct the exam in two shifts on June 15 in 448 centres across 195 cities. But with the shift to a single-slot format, the number of centres may cross 1,000, based on previous years’ data.
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The board also highlighted the need to reopen the application portal to allow candidates to reselect their preferred exam centres. It has already reached out to state officials, DGPs, and district magistrates to ensure cybersecurity, power supply, and law and order arrangements for smooth conduct.
NBEMS clarified in its application that it is fully committed to conducting the exam in a single shift, and the request for the new date is made purely for practical feasibility and logistical coordination with all stakeholders.
Join NEET News 2025 The Supreme Court had earlier accepted a petition from candidates and doctors’ associations raising concerns about the inconsistency in question paper difficulty levels in the previous two-shift model. The court observed that conducting the exam in two shifts was arbitrary and unfair to students.
NBEMS had previously defended the two-shift system, citing security reasons, but assured the court that it would follow the directions. The board is now waiting for the court’s permission to confirm the August 3 schedule.
