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Over the past several years, women have consistently made up the larger share of NEET qualifiers. In the 2026 and 2025 results, over 58% of the qualified candidates are women.
NEET’s gender data over the years shows a clear direction — India’s future doctors are increasingly likely to include a growing number of women. (AI Image)
Women have strengthened their position in India’s medical entrance examination ecosystem, with female candidates accounting for 58% of NEET-qualified candidates this year. The latest NEET-UG results show that women continue to outnumber men among successful candidates, reflecting a steady rise in female participation in medical education.
The trend is not new. Over the past several years, women have consistently made up the larger share of NEET qualifiers. In NEET-UG 2025, almost 7.22 lakh women qualified compared with 5.14 lakh men. The 2026 results again showed women making up more than 58% of qualified candidates, with the female qualification rate also reported to be higher than that of male candidates.
“More than 58 per cent of all qualified candidates are women. Women also qualified at a higher rate than men: 56.8 per cent of women who appeared qualified, as against 55.1 per cent of men,” the NTA stated.
Two female candidates have also secured place in the top 10 — Kudale Shravani Krishna from Maharashtra secured rank 5 while Riya Ranjan from Bihar grabbed the sixth spot.
| Year | Female Qualified Candidates | Male Qualified Candidates |
| 2020 | 4,27,943 | 3,43,556 |
| 2021 | 4,94,806 | 3,75,260 |
| 2022 | 5,63,902 | 4,29,160 |
| 2024 | 7,69,277 | 5,46,566 |
| 2025 | 7,22,462 | 5,14,063 |
| 2026 | 654049 | 467134 |
What The Numbers Indicate
The shift represents a broader change in India’s medical education pipeline. A field that once had fewer women aspirants now sees women forming the majority among candidates clearing the country’s largest undergraduate medical entrance examination.
The increase in female representation in NEET reflects several long-term changes including:
– Greater access to science education for girls across states,
– Increased preference for medicine as a career option among women,
– Improved participation of female students in competitive examinations.
NEET’s gender data over the years shows a clear direction — India’s future doctors are increasingly likely to include a growing number of women.
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The cut off marks has seen a huge rise this year. The qualifying cut off for the Unreserved (UR)/Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category has increased sharply this year. It has gone up from 686–144 in 2025 to 715–213 in 2026.
About the Author
Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in …Read More
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