NEET Qualification Codes 01 to 07: Which One Is Yours?
A NEET qualification code is the two-digit number you select on the NEET (UG) application form to tell NTA which qualifying examination makes you eligible. There are seven of them. If you are still in Class 12, your code is 01. If you have already passed, you pick one of 02 to 07, and for most droppers that is Code 02. This guide explains every NEET qualification code in the latest official bulletin, who each one fits and the one rule that can cost a Code 01 candidate the seat.
What is a NEET qualification code?
A NEET qualification code is a label for your educational route to the exam, not a score and not a category. NTA uses it to sort candidates into those still finishing school and those who have already passed something that meets the National Medical Commission (NMC) rules. The code you choose is your declaration. It decides which documents you will be asked to show later, at counselling, when a college checks that your NEET qualification was real.
Two things are worth knowing straight away. First, the code is not optional. The bulletin's instructions say that candidates who have passed "should fill Code 02 to 07" and that candidates appearing in Class 12 "should select Qualifying Code as 01". Second, it is not the same as the qualifying percentile. Your NEET qualification code is about school. The 50th percentile cut (40th for SC, ST and OBC) is about your NEET score, and our NEET qualifying marks guide covers that separately.
How many people make this choice? In 2026, NTA's Key Data Points sheet records 22,79,743 registered candidates. Every one of them picked a NEET qualification code before paying the fee.
What do all seven NEET qualification codes mean?
Here is the full table from Chapter 6, section 3 of the NEET (UG) 2026 Information Bulletin, rewritten in plain English. The bulletin's own wording is longer, so read it once yourself before you fill the form.
| Code | Who it is for | The condition attached |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Students appearing in Class 12 (or equivalent) in the exam year, result awaited | Not eligible for admission if you have not passed by the first round of counselling |
| 02 | Passed Class 12 Higher or Senior Secondary, or ISC, after 12 years of study | Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology with practicals, plus English at core level; additional subjects after Class 12 accepted |
| 03 | Passed the Intermediate or Pre-degree Examination in Science of an Indian university or board | Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology with practicals, and English as a compulsory subject |
| 04 | Passed a Pre-professional or Pre-medical Examination after Higher Secondary or Pre-University | Same four subjects, practicals included, English compulsory |
| 05 | Passed the first year of a three-year degree at a recognised university | Must be a university exam in Physics, Chemistry and Biology or Biotechnology with practicals, and the earlier exam must have had those subjects with English |
| 06 | Passed a B.Sc. from an Indian university | At least two of Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Botany, Zoology) or Biotechnology, and the earlier exam must have had all four subjects including English |
| 07 | Any other examination found equivalent in scope and standard | The last two years of 10+2 study must cover Physics, Chemistry and Biology or Biotechnology with practicals, and English |
Most readers of this page need only two rows. If you are in Class 12 now, it is Code 01. If you passed Class 12 from CBSE, CISCE or a state board, it is Code 02. Codes 03 to 06 are older or less common routes, and Code 07 is the catch-all for everything else.
Is Code 01 safe if your Class 12 result is not out yet?
Yes, you can apply and sit the exam under Code 01. That is what it is for. But the bulletin attaches a hard condition: a candidate whose Class 12 result is awaited "shall not be eligible for admission" if he or she does not pass the qualifying examination at the time of the first round of counselling. Chapter 8 repeats the point: you can be provisionally permitted to take the test, and you will not be admitted until you meet the eligibility criteria.
In practice that means three things for a Class 12 student.
- Your NEET score alone does not get you a seat. Your board result has to arrive, and it has to be a pass in the required subjects.
- A compartment or supplementary result that comes too late can leave a good NEET rank unusable for that year.
- Board marks still matter. The NEET qualification code only gets you into the exam hall. The Class 12 subject and marks rules are a separate test, set out in our NEET 2027 eligibility criteria guide.
This is not a reason to avoid Code 01. It is the normal route for anyone sitting NEET in Class 12. It is a reason to take your boards as seriously as NEET, which our guide to Class 12 boards and NEET together deals with in detail.
Which NEET qualification code should a dropper choose?
If you passed Class 12 last year or earlier and are taking NEET again, you are a passed candidate. Code 01 is no longer yours, even if you feel like a student again. The usual answer is Code 02, the regular Class 12 pass with Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology and English.
Two situations change that answer:
- You started a degree. If you have since passed the first year of a three-year B.Sc. with Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Code 05 describes you. If you finished a B.Sc. with at least two of those subjects, Code 06 does. Your Class 12 pass may still fit Code 02. Pick the code whose condition you can prove with a certificate, and if two fit, read both rows in the bulletin before you decide.
- You studied abroad. Then it is Code 07, covered below.
Droppers also ask whether they need a gap certificate for NEET itself. That is a counselling and college question, not a code question, and futureMBBS has a short guide on when a gap certificate for NEET is needed. On attempts, the 2026 bulletin sets no attempt limit, which the futureMBBS page on the NEET attempt limit explains. If you are still deciding whether to drop at all, our partial drop guide weighs the options.
Can you use Biology as an additional subject for NEET qualification?
Yes. This is the biggest change to NEET qualification rules in recent years, and many older articles still get it wrong. The 2026 bulletin quotes an NMC public notice dated 22 November 2023. After a meeting on 14 June 2023, the NMC decided that the erstwhile Medical Council of India's approach needed to be revisited, because the National Education Policy allows far more flexibility in Class 12 subjects.
The result: candidates who studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology and English "even as additional subjects after passing Class 12th" from boards recognised by the government can sit NEET (UG) and can be granted an Eligibility Certificate. So a student who passed Class 12 with PCM and later cleared Biology as an additional subject from a recognised board has a real route in.
The condition is documents. The bulletin says such candidates "will be considered only if they provide documentary evidence" of having passed the qualifying examination with the required subjects. Keep the additional-subject marksheet and passing certificate with your Class 12 papers. Under the 2026 table this route is written into Code 01 and Code 02, so you pick the one that matches where you are: still finishing the additional subject this year (01) or already passed (02).
What about NIOS, foreign boards and university exams?
The 2026 bulletin does not name any single board in the code table. It talks about boards "duly recognized by the concerned Govt." That wording matters for National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and state open school students: the question is whether your board is recognised and whether you studied the four subjects with practicals, not whether your school was a regular one. Confirm it against the bulletin of your own cycle, because the 2027 text has not been published yet.
For foreign and international boards, the bulletin is explicit. A note under the table says that candidates who studied on a foreign or international board "should ensure" that their qualifying examination is equivalent in scope and standard, as explained in Code 07. And where an institute has to treat an exam of an Indian university or a foreign university as equivalent to Class 12, you must produce a certificate from that Indian university or from the Association of Indian Universities saying it is equivalent to the Class 12 intermediate science examination.
This affects more people than you might think. NTA's data shows that in 2026, 1,066 NRIs, 1,007 OCI candidates and 927 foreign nationals registered for NEET (UG). Not all of them studied on a foreign board, since many NRI students attend Indian-curriculum schools abroad, but every one of them should check Code 07 before assuming Code 02.
What happens if you choose the wrong NEET qualification code?
Expect no second chance from the form itself. The bulletin's general instruction is that a request for change in any particulars "shall not be entertained under any circumstances" outside the correction facility, and an application not in line with the instructions is liable to be rejected. The real check comes later, at counselling and admission, when your certificates are compared with what you declared.
So treat the code as a sworn statement. If you notice a mistake after submitting, your one chance is the correction window. In 2026, NTA's correction notice of 11 March 2026 listed educational qualification details for Class 10 and Class 12 among the fields candidates could change, and called the window a one-time facility. Our NEET correction window guide reproduces that full field list.
One more detail people misread: the state or union territory you enter for your Class 12 is, in the bulletin's words, "purely provisional" for appearing in the exam. It does not guarantee admission in that state. State quota rules are decided later by the counselling authorities.
How do you pick your NEET qualification code, step by step?
Do this with the bulletin open, not from memory or a friend's form.
- Put your Class 10 certificate, Class 12 marksheet or admit card, and any degree or additional-subject marksheet on the desk.
- Ask one question: will my Class 12 (or equivalent) result be out before I apply? If no, your code is 01. Stop here.
- If you have passed, check whether your Class 12 had Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology with practicals and English, either in the main scheme or as additional subjects. If yes, it is Code 02.
- If your route is an intermediate, pre-medical, first-year degree or B.Sc. exam, match it to Code 03, 04, 05 or 06 using the condition column above.
- If you studied on a foreign or international board, select Code 07 and arrange the equivalence certificate early.
- Write down the code and the bulletin page you checked it against, and keep that note with your confirmation page.
Registration steps beyond this one field (documents, fees, photo specifications) are in our NEET 2027 application form guide, and futureMBBS walks through the same form in its guide to NEET UG registration documents, fees and steps.
Will the NEET qualification codes change for 2027?
Nobody can tell you yet. As of 16 October 2026, NTA has not released a NEET (UG) 2027 bulletin. Its examination calendar up to March 2027, published on 16 September 2026, lists 14 exams from December 2026 to March 2027, and NEET (UG) is not one of them. The notice adds that the calendar "does not constitute a notification for any particular examination".
What we can say is how the table has been built. The 2026 codes rest on NMC approvals dated 5 December 2025, 13 January 2026 and an email of 28 January 2026, all cited above the table. A new NMC decision could add or reword a code, as the 2023 additional-subjects notice did. When the 2027 bulletin is published, compare its Chapter 6 table with the one above before you apply. We will update this page on the same day. For when that is likely to happen, see our NEET 2027 exam date tracker.
Picking the right code takes five minutes. Getting the score that makes it count takes a year. NEETsheet is our NEET UG prep app, with NCERT-based question banks and full-length mocks for Class 11, Class 12 and droppers.
Sources
Every code, rule and figure above comes from these official documents, opened and read on 16 October 2026.
- National Testing Agency, Information Bulletin NEET (UG) 2026 (Important Instructions items 8, 9, 10 and 33; Chapter 3 checklist; Chapter 6 sections 1 to 3, qualifications and qualifying examination codes; Chapter 8 qualifying criteria): https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s37bc1ec1d9c3426357e69acd5bf320061/uploads/2026/02/202602231394640855.pdf
- National Testing Agency, "Key Data Points of NEET (UG) over Years", July 2026, table 1: https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s37bc1ec1d9c3426357e69acd5bf320061/uploads/2026/07/202607161539405935.pdf
- National Testing Agency, public notice "Correction in Particulars for NEET (UG) 2026", 11 March 2026, with Annexure I: https://nta.ac.in/Download/Notice/Notice_20260311164514.pdf
- National Testing Agency, public notice "Publication of the Examination Calendar of the National Testing Agency (NTA) up to March 2027", 16 September 2026: https://nta.ac.in/Download/Notice/Notice_20260916195948.pdf
- Association of Indian Universities, official website: https://aiu.ac.in/
- National Medical Commission, official website: https://nmc.org.in/
- National Testing Agency, official website: https://nta.ac.in/
Frequently Asked Questions
Code 01. The NEET (UG) 2026 bulletin says candidates appearing in Class 12 in the exam year should select qualifying code 01. You can sit the exam with your result awaited, but you are not eligible for admission if you have not passed Class 12 with the required subjects by the first round of counselling.
Usually Code 02. A candidate who has already passed Class 12 or an equivalent exam with Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology and English must choose one of codes 02 to 07, never 01. Code 02 covers the regular Class 12 pass from a recognised board; codes 05 and 06 fit droppers who have since passed a degree year or a B.Sc.
Yes. Under an NMC public notice of 22 November 2023, quoted in the NEET (UG) 2026 bulletin, Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology and English studied as additional subjects after Class 12 from a government-recognised board are accepted. You must show documentary evidence of passing those subjects when your candidature is checked.
Code 07. The bulletin's note says candidates from a foreign or international board must ensure their qualifying exam is equivalent in scope and standard, as explained in Code 07. Where equivalence is needed, you may have to produce a certificate from an Indian university or the Association of Indian Universities.
Only in the correction window, if NTA opens that field. In 2026 the correction notice listed Class 10 and Class 12 educational qualification details among the editable fields and called it a one-time facility. Outside that window, the bulletin says requests to change particulars are not entertained.
If you are preparing for NEET 2027, NEETsheet is our app for practice questions and timed mocks, built around the NCERT syllabus.
