As NEET-PG cut-off falls, dental PG admissions offer a cautionary parallel
This imbalance, experts say, reflects deeper structural constraints rather than short-term fluctuations.
- Jan 20, 2026,
- Updated Jan 20, 2026 7:46 PM IST
The reduction in qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025 to shore up seat occupancy has brought back a familiar problem in healthcare education, one that dental colleges have grappled with for years as regulators have relied on repeated cut-off relaxations to fill vacant postgraduate seats.
Data from the Dental Council of India (DCI) show that postgraduate dental capacity has increased steadily over the past five academic years, but admissions have not kept pace.
Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, permitted MDS seats rose from around 6,700 to over 7,300. Despite this expansion, between 600 and 700 postgraduate dental seats have remained vacant each year, pointing to a persistent gap between training capacity and demand.
This imbalance, experts say, reflects deeper structural constraints rather than short-term fluctuations.
“Vacancies in NEET-PG dental courses arise largely from a mismatch between training capacity and career absorption,” said Prof. Dr Anil Chandna, former Executive Member of the DCI. “While MDS seats have expanded steadily, the number of candidates willing to invest in postgraduate dental education has not grown at the same pace, especially given the cost of training and the limited number of specialist positions outside major urban centres.”
He added that repeated cut-off relaxations have become an administrative response rather than a long-term solution. “Lowering the qualifying percentile is a short-term measure to ensure seats do not remain vacant, but it does not address underlying issues such as uneven distribution of specialist jobs, return on investment, and the absence of structured roles for dental postgraduates in the public health system,” Dr Chandna said.
The stress in dental postgraduate admissions prompted regulatory intervention last year. In August 2025, the qualifying percentile for NEET-MDS was lowered after several rounds of counselling failed to fill a large number of MDS seats. The move was intended to improve seat utilisation rather than expand intake further.
A similar approach has now been adopted in medical postgraduate education. On January 13, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025, allowing a wider pool of candidates to participate in the third round of counselling. The revision followed directions from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and was aimed at preventing postgraduate seats from remaining unfilled. While candidate ranks were unchanged, the lower cut-off significantly expanded eligibility.
Resident doctors have raised concerns over how the process unfolded. In a statement issued on January 18, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association said that qualifying percentiles for the third round of counselling had been reduced to zero or negative levels. “On January 15, 2026, NBEMS announced that cut-offs for Round 3 were slashed to zero or even negative percentiles,” the association said, linking the move to prolonged counselling delays and unfilled seats.
Undergraduate dental education, however, presents a contrasting picture. BDS seat utilisation has improved sharply over the same period. Vacant undergraduate dental seats fell from more than 6,000 in 2021–22 to fewer than 300 in 2025–26, according to Dental Council data reviewed by Business Today. The improvement suggests that demand for undergraduate dental education has strengthened, even as postgraduate dentistry continues to struggle with absorption.
Medical PG education now shows similar stress
Postgraduate medical education is now showing signs of the same imbalance. While competition for MBBS seats remains intense, a number of PG medical seats have gone vacant in recent admission cycles, particularly in certain specialities and institutions outside major urban centres. The January 2026 cut-off reduction for NEET-PG follows the same logic used in dental education, widening eligibility late in the counselling process to improve fill rates.
Medical associations have argued that unfilled PG seats affect staffing levels in teaching hospitals and place pressure on healthcare services. Others within the profession have raised concerns about the repeated lowering of qualifying thresholds and its implications for training standards.
A recurring fix across streams
The parallel between NEET-PG and NEET-MDS highlights a broader challenge in postgraduate healthcare education. Capacity has expanded faster than demand in several disciplines, while career prospects, training costs and institutional distribution remain uneven. As a result, regulators have gradually turned to percentile revisions during counselling cycles to address vacancies.
In dental education, this approach has become routine at the postgraduate level. “Medical postgraduate admissions now appear to be following the same trajectory. With both streams relying on late-stage eligibility relaxations to fill seats, policymakers are under growing pressure to address the underlying factors behind persistent vacancies rather than depend on repeated cut-off adjustments,” said a senior union health ministry official on condition of anonymity.
ends
The reduction in qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025 to shore up seat occupancy has brought back a familiar problem in healthcare education, one that dental colleges have grappled with for years as regulators have relied on repeated cut-off relaxations to fill vacant postgraduate seats.
Data from the Dental Council of India (DCI) show that postgraduate dental capacity has increased steadily over the past five academic years, but admissions have not kept pace.
Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, permitted MDS seats rose from around 6,700 to over 7,300. Despite this expansion, between 600 and 700 postgraduate dental seats have remained vacant each year, pointing to a persistent gap between training capacity and demand.
This imbalance, experts say, reflects deeper structural constraints rather than short-term fluctuations.
“Vacancies in NEET-PG dental courses arise largely from a mismatch between training capacity and career absorption,” said Prof. Dr Anil Chandna, former Executive Member of the DCI. “While MDS seats have expanded steadily, the number of candidates willing to invest in postgraduate dental education has not grown at the same pace, especially given the cost of training and the limited number of specialist positions outside major urban centres.”
He added that repeated cut-off relaxations have become an administrative response rather than a long-term solution. “Lowering the qualifying percentile is a short-term measure to ensure seats do not remain vacant, but it does not address underlying issues such as uneven distribution of specialist jobs, return on investment, and the absence of structured roles for dental postgraduates in the public health system,” Dr Chandna said.
The stress in dental postgraduate admissions prompted regulatory intervention last year. In August 2025, the qualifying percentile for NEET-MDS was lowered after several rounds of counselling failed to fill a large number of MDS seats. The move was intended to improve seat utilisation rather than expand intake further.
A similar approach has now been adopted in medical postgraduate education. On January 13, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025, allowing a wider pool of candidates to participate in the third round of counselling. The revision followed directions from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and was aimed at preventing postgraduate seats from remaining unfilled. While candidate ranks were unchanged, the lower cut-off significantly expanded eligibility.
Resident doctors have raised concerns over how the process unfolded. In a statement issued on January 18, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association said that qualifying percentiles for the third round of counselling had been reduced to zero or negative levels. “On January 15, 2026, NBEMS announced that cut-offs for Round 3 were slashed to zero or even negative percentiles,” the association said, linking the move to prolonged counselling delays and unfilled seats.
Undergraduate dental education, however, presents a contrasting picture. BDS seat utilisation has improved sharply over the same period. Vacant undergraduate dental seats fell from more than 6,000 in 2021–22 to fewer than 300 in 2025–26, according to Dental Council data reviewed by Business Today. The improvement suggests that demand for undergraduate dental education has strengthened, even as postgraduate dentistry continues to struggle with absorption.
Medical PG education now shows similar stress
Postgraduate medical education is now showing signs of the same imbalance. While competition for MBBS seats remains intense, a number of PG medical seats have gone vacant in recent admission cycles, particularly in certain specialities and institutions outside major urban centres. The January 2026 cut-off reduction for NEET-PG follows the same logic used in dental education, widening eligibility late in the counselling process to improve fill rates.
Medical associations have argued that unfilled PG seats affect staffing levels in teaching hospitals and place pressure on healthcare services. Others within the profession have raised concerns about the repeated lowering of qualifying thresholds and its implications for training standards.
A recurring fix across streams
The parallel between NEET-PG and NEET-MDS highlights a broader challenge in postgraduate healthcare education. Capacity has expanded faster than demand in several disciplines, while career prospects, training costs and institutional distribution remain uneven. As a result, regulators have gradually turned to percentile revisions during counselling cycles to address vacancies.
In dental education, this approach has become routine at the postgraduate level. “Medical postgraduate admissions now appear to be following the same trajectory. With both streams relying on late-stage eligibility relaxations to fill seats, policymakers are under growing pressure to address the underlying factors behind persistent vacancies rather than depend on repeated cut-off adjustments,” said a senior union health ministry official on condition of anonymity.
ends