NEET 2021 Question Paper with Answer Key

NEET 2021 Question Paper With Answers

A medical aspirant tries hard to crack the NEET exam every year and get admission in the best MBBS college. It is a gateway that allows them to become a successful doctor. In India lakhs of medical professionals are there who graduated from the best MBBS colleges and today they have a recognised name. However, before securing admission you need to crack the NEET exam with a better rank.

When it comes to preparing for the exam, you need to go through the previous year's question papers. The best thing you can do is to go through the NEET 2021 question paper. It helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses. You can also analyse how difficult the paper was. 

When was the NEET UG examination introduced?

The NEET exam was initially introduced in 2013 by the Medical Council of India. This council ensured uniformity in medical entrance exams nationwide. The exam replaced several entrance exams. The two names are the All India Pre-Medical Test and state-level entrance exams.

It provided a fair and equal platform to all students. But several states opposed this move, and eventually the Supreme Court struck down the exam. In 2016, the NEET exam was reintroduced and made mandatory.

It was for all the medical and dental colleges across India. In 2019, the National Testing Agency took over the conduct of the NEET exam. This agency has been conducting the NEET exam in India since then. The exam is competitive, and to crack it you can solve the NEET 2021 question paper. It provides a brief overview of the exam format and helps you assess the difficulty level.

NEET question paper 2021 highlights

On 12th September 2021, the NEET 2021 exam was held. The answer key is available for download in a PDF format. The NEET 2021 question paper was an offline paper, with a 3-hour duration. Among 200 questions, candidates had to attempt 180.

Once you solve the 2021 paper, you will be aware of the question style and the marks allotted for them. In other words, it is an OMR-based exam. Solve it and see how well you have prepared for the upcoming exam.

There is no doubt that solving this paper is a smarter preparation strategy. Students often take this matter lightly, but it is very serious. Doctors who have a certain reputation in the medical field have successfully cracked this exam. The majority of them were the top rankers as they cracked it on the first attempt.

Significance of the NEET paper 2021 for the upcoming aspirants

Is it necessary to solve the NEET 2021 question paper? Many students ask this question as they think studying is the only solution. Here are the points that highlight the significance of the NEET question paper 2021. 

In NEET 2021, there was an introduction of an internal choice system in each subject. For the first time, Physics, Chemistry and Biology were split into Section A and Section B. Section A had 35 compulsory questions. On the other hand, Section B had 15 questions, of which candidates were asked to attempt any 10.

This made the total number of questions increase from 180 to 200. Candidates were still required to attempt only 180 questions. The addition of this optional section gave candidates more flexibility and eased their exam anxiety. Candidates could avoid questions that were a bit tough or unknown to them and opt for questions they were more confident about.

This was especially beneficial for candidates who had been affected by the reduction in syllabus and the pandemic. Additionally, this flexible pattern was very similar to the adaptive model that was later adopted in subsequent NEET exams. Hence, it was a kind of transitional phase in the evolution of the pattern of exams. Aspirants who are currently preparing for the exam can greatly benefit from this paper.

4.1 Conceptual questions

NEET 2021 had a clear focus on conceptual understanding rather than memorisation. Rather than asking direct memory or recall-type questions, the questions were designed so that students needed to apply fundamental concepts and understand the underlying principles.

In Physics, numerical problems require step-by-step application and proper formula use rather than mere substitution. Chemistry, particularly Organic and Physical Chemistry students, needed to apply understanding of reaction mechanisms and theoretical concepts to solve novel variations of standard problems.

In Biology, students were also tested on their understanding of processes, mechanisms and concept linkages. This conceptual testing ensured that students who had developed strong fundamentals outperformed those who had merely memorised concepts.

As NEET keeps changing, the need for strong conceptual preparation becomes even more paramount. Thus, solving the NEET 2021 question paper will allow students to assess whether their preparation method aligns with conceptual understanding rather than mere learning.

4.2 NCERT based

Another characteristic pattern of NEET 2021 was the prominence of NCERT textbooks, especially in Biology. A large number of questions were either directly copied from the NCERT or based on the statements, examples, tables and figures given in the textbook. In Biology many questions were designed using the exact terminology and phrases used in the NCERT.

It gave students who had carefully read and revised the textbook a clear edge. Questions based on figures, especially in areas such as human physiology, plant anatomy and biotechnology, tested attention to detail and understanding of the visual representation of information in the NCERT. In Inorganic Chemistry, too many questions were directly linked to the textbook.

The prominence of NCERT textbooks in NEET 2021 once again reiterated the importance of understanding NCERT to achieve high marks in NEET. The exam has clearly shown that while reference books and coaching materials are useful for practising questions, the base should always be the NCERT. This paper will help aspirants to understand that it is possible to improve the accuracy and overall marks by thoroughly revising the NCERT textbooks.

4.3 Balanced difficulty

NEET 2021 is a moderately balanced paper in terms of difficulty. It was neither too easy nor too tough, making it the perfect yardstick for serious aspirants. The Physics section was slightly tougher because of the numerical problems and time-consuming calculations.

On the other hand, the Chemistry section was moderate and doable for capable students. Biology was straightforward for students with good NCERT preparation. This moderate distribution of questions ensured that no particular subject weighed heavily on the overall result. Moreover, the presence of internal choices ensured that the difficulty level remained balanced.

This is how students could plan their strategies to overcome tough spots. It is due to this moderate yet slightly tough question balance that NEET 2021 was able to distinguish between average and highly prepared students. As far as today’s aspirants are concerned, attempting this paper will give them a realistic idea of how prepared they are. It gives them an idea of the competition, the concepts and the time management skills required to secure a high rank in NEET.

NEET 2021 official answer key

The NEET 2021 question paper has been released, along with the official answer key. It allows the candidates to analyse their performance and verify their responses. There are three types of official answer keys

5.1 Provisional answer key

The provisional NEET 2021 question paper answer key is the first form that is made available by the National Testing Agency after the exam is completed. This answer key is released before the results are announced. Moreover, it ensures transparency in the calculation of results.

The answer key allows candidates to match their answers to the officially recommended answers and estimate their expected marks. But since it is a provisional answer key, it is subject to challenges.

Candidates who feel that the answers in the provisional key are incorrect can raise objections within a stipulated time frame. The objections need to be accompanied by valid academic references as proof. The release of the provisional answer key ensures fairness in the process.

The reason is that it allows candidates to raise objections regarding any discrepancies before the final result is announced. This has a major role in increasing the credibility and reliability of the entire process.

5.2 Final answer key

It is the corrected and formally accepted answer key that is published after all the objections to the provisional key have been carefully evaluated. After the objection period closes, a team of experienced academicians carefully reviews all objections.

It checks the claims made in the answer against authentic academic sources to determine whether any corrections are needed. If any answer is discovered to be incorrect in the provisional answer key, it is corrected in the final answer key. In some instances, if a question is discovered to be ambiguous or incorrect, grace marks may be awarded to deserving candidates as per the guidelines of the concerned examination authority.

The final answer key is not subject to dispute and becomes the final word on the matter. It is used as the basis for preparing the NEET result and rank list. Thus, the result and rank declared by the NTA are calculated strictly based on the final answer key. This is how it becomes the most authentic document in the entire process.

5.3 Coaching institute answer keys

The coaching institute's answer keys are unofficial. They are published by some renowned coaching institutes just after the NEET exam. These answer keys are designed by subject experts based on memory-based questions posted by students or on reconstructed paper sets.

The objective of these answer keys is to give students an immediate sense of their performance without waiting for the official provisional answer key. Although these answer keys are highly accurate because experts design them.

They are not officially recognised and may have some minor discrepancies. Since they are designed very quickly, there is always a possibility of slight discrepancies in comparison to the official key.

Difference between NEET 2021 and 2020 question paper

Cut off analysis for NEET 2021

The exam authority determines the cut-off based on the difficulty level. Besides that, they also prioritise the number of candidates. 

Qualifying percentage 

• General category: 50th percentile
• OBC/SC/ST: 40th percentile

Government MBBS safe score

If you score above 600, you can get into the government colleges. It has been observed that the cut-off varies as per category and state. 

Mistakes made by the students in the NEET 2021 exam

There are a few common mistakes made by the candidates in the NEET 2021 question paper. Here are the mistakes mentioned below: 

Inappropriate time management in Physics 

The Physics section posed time management challenges for many students because it required them to solve extended calculation problems. A candidate's ability to answer easier questions was limited when they devoted excessive time to a single challenging problem. The testing system prevented some candidates from answering all the questions they could. This is how their scores were reduced. 

Overlooking Section B instructions 

NEET 2021 question paper brought about an internal choice in Section B. In this section the candidates were required to attempt only 10 questions out of 15. However some candidates either did not read the instructions properly or attempted more questions than required which led to confusion and wastage of time. This resulted in some candidates making avoidable mistakes that could have been avoided with greater attention.

Being overconfident in Biology 

Since Biology is regarded as a scoring subject and is mostly NCERT-based. A few students tended to be overconfident about it. This resulted in careless reading of questions particularly statement based questions. Key details and keywords were missed. It resulted in avoidable errors in the scoring part.

Guesswork and negative marking 

Under exam pressure some students tended to guess when they were not sure. Since NEET uses a negative marking system for incorrect answers, random guessing often results in a lower score. It would have been better to skip some questions rather than guess.

Ignoring the NCERT diagrams 

The exam contained multiple Biology questions which used NCERT textbook diagrams and tables as their foundation. Students who focused only on textual content and ignored diagrams faced difficulties in answering the questions correctly. The students who studied diagrams through regular practice developed better confidence and improved accuracy in their performance.

Influence of NCERT on the 2021 NEET question paper

Biology had the maximum reliance on NCERT textbooks. Therefore, a complete preparation from the textbook is a must for acing the exam. Many questions were directly line-based, which means that the questions were asked in such a way that they used the exact phrase or concept from NCERT.

Students who have thoroughly read the lines, including examples and highlighted points, found these questions easy. Even small details like specific terms, definitions and scientific names were of utmost importance in answering the questions correctly.

Chemistry, especially Inorganic Chemistry, also had a strong NCERT influence. A large number of questions were directly picked from facts, periodic trends, coordination compounds and concepts of chemical bonding as described in NCERT.

This only strengthens the fact that Inorganic Chemistry in NEET is a highly textbook-based subject. The NEET 2021 question paper again reiterated the importance of understanding NCERT textbooks. It was in the case of Biology and Inorganic Chemistry that are the backbone of the NEET exam.

Conclusion

Therefore, before you appear for the upcoming exam, you need to be thorough with the NEET 2021 question paper. Solving this question paper means that your path to clear the exam becomes clear. Study and allot some time to solving the previous year’s question papers. You can easily crack the exam.