After much wait, National Testing Agency (NTA) finally declared results of NEET UG 2022 on Wednesday.
Rajasthan's Tanishka bagged the top rank in the highly competitive nationwide medical entrance exam NEET conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The reason why many became curious about the exact modus operandi behind the selection of the topper is the fact that besides Tanishka, three more candidates also scored the same which is 715 out of 720 in this year's NEET while only Tanishka was declared the all-India topper.
The other three students who scored 715 marks or 99.9997733 are Delhi boy Vatsa Ashish Batra, and Hrishikesh Nagbhushan Gangule, Rucha Pawashe from Karnataka.
Here comes an explainer to clear all the confusions.
The tie-breaker rules
The National Testing Agency (NTA) follows a certain tie-breaker rulebook which is adopted considering the possibility of occurrence of such incidents when decision-making becomes a crucial task.
"Candidates who scored identical marks are accorded ranks as per the tie-breaker rule where the candidate with higher marks in biology is ranked above the rest. In case of identical marks in biology, the same rule is applied for chemistry followed by physics. Even after this, if the scores remain identical, the elder candidate gets the higher rank," a National Testing Agency (NTA) official said.
This is not the first time
Occurence of a similar incident was observed in 2020 as well when 2 students – Soyeb Aftab and Akanksha Singh – secured perfect 720/720 marks but the former was given AIR 1 due to his age following the NTA's tie-breaking policy. Back then, the ultimate rule for breaking ties was to give a better rank to the candidate who is older in age. Since both of them had secured perfect marks, the age factor must have been the deciding criterion.
NTA's modified tie-breaker rules
In 2022, NTA introduced modifications to previously existing tie-breaking rules. Now, if 2 or more candidates secure same marks in the exam, ties between them are resolved in the following sequential order:
a. Candidate obtaining higher marks/percentile score in Biology (Botany & Zoology) in the test is given priority, followed by
b. Candidate obtaining higher marks/percentile score in Chemistry in the Test, followed by,
c. Candidate obtaining higher marks/percentile score in Physics in the Test, followed by,
d. Candidate with less proportion of the number of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in all the subjects in the Test,
e. Candidate with less proportion of a number of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Biology (Botany & Zoology), followed by
f. Candidate with less proportion of a number of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Chemistry, followed by
g. Candidate with less proportion of a number of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Physics, followed by
h. Candidate older in age, followed by
i. Application number in ascending order.
(With agency inputs)
