From Sikar To Namakkal: How Coaching 'Factories' Dominated 2024 NEET-UG Results

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Of India's 50 *top-scoring National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) centres, 37 are from Rajasthan’s Sikar district.

In Kota, while 74 students scored above 700, the number of students in the top 1,000 rank holders increased from 13 in 2023 to 35 in 2024.

Ranked third-best city in terms of performance, 544 out of the total 12,443 students scored over 650 marks in Kerala's Kottayam.

No other city/town in Tamil Nadu came as close as Namakkal to the proportion of candidates (5.1%) scoring above 650.

It is a well-known fact that competitive exams such as NEET have led to the mushrooming of coaching institutions in India's education landscape.

But a close analysis by The Quint of the centre and city-wise NEET results data released by the National Testing Agency on 20 July confirms one thing— the concentration of top scorers in these coaching hubs.

*(Note: This calculation is based of the top 50 centres with highest percentage of candidates scoring above 650.)

Eight cities/towns — Kota, Sikar, Kottayam, Namakkal, Jaipur, Delhi, Vijayawada and Bengaluru— accounted for over a quarter (25 percent) of the total 30,869 NEET students across India who scored 650 or more.

As many as 12.8 percent (3,960) students belong to cities with a major coaching centre ecosystem like Sikar, Kota, Kottayam and Namakkal. The Quint breaks down the data and speaks to experts to understand if this is a problem.

3.5% Students Got Over 600: NTA Data 

In 2024, nearly 23.34 lakh candidates took the NEET exam. They were competing for 1,09,333 medical seats.

The main fight, however, is for the 55,225 seats in government medical colleges. Usually, a score above 600 was good enough to land a seat in a government medical college till 2023.

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In 2023, out of the total candidates, there were 29,351 students (1.43 percent) who scored above 600 out of 720, and in 2022, there were 21,164 candidates. According to NTA's data, in 2024, the almost tripled to 82,000 (or 3.53 percent).

IIT Madras had attributed this increase to reduction in syllabus in its report submitted to the NTA.

Data shows that over 100 out of the 4,750 exam centres had more than three times (10.8 percent) the share of high-scoring candidates (above 600) than the national average (3.5 percent).

Sikar Outperforms Kota, Kottayam Shines

With this context, let's individually look at how coaching hubs like Sikar, Kota, Kottayam and Namakkal performed.

(Note: The Quint has used 650 and above as a score which gives a student high probability of securing admission in government college this time.)

1. Sikar

Rajasthan's Sikar is fast-emerging as a NEET hub and is now being referred to as Rajasthan's 'mini-Kota'. In 2024, 27,216 students appeared for the NEET exam across 49 centres.

• Of the 482 top scorers in Rajasthan (who scored more than 700 marks), 149 (Nearly 31 percent) of them are from Sikar. *Eight of the top 10 centres nationally are from here.

  (*Note: This is calculation is based on the top 50 centres with highest percentage of candidates scoring above 650)

• Nearly 6.6 percent (2,037) of the total number of students who scored above 650 out of 720 marks are from Sikar.

• While nationally, the chance of a student securing a government seat is 1.3 percent, in Sikar, the chance is at 7.48 percent.

• The number of 600+ students stand at 4,100 (or 15 percent) of the total 27,216 students.

Sikar, which had 27 people in the top-1,000 rank in 2023, saw an increase to 55 top rank holders this year— a growth of nearly 103 percent. Similarly, there has been an increase in the top-500 rank from 14 in 2023 to 29 in 2024— a growth of nearly 107 percent.

Lastly, 30 out of 49 centres in Sikar have had a better success rate and high proportion of students who ranked in the top percentiles as compared to the city's average of 7.48 percent.

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2. Kota

Kota is home to a Rs 6,000-crore coaching industry and over two lakh students move here annually to prepare for NEET and JEE.

• Out of the total number of students who scored above 700 in Rajasthan, 15.35 percent (74) are from Kota.

• While nationally, the chance of a student securing a government seat is 1.3 percent, in Kota, the chance is at 3.9 percent. Over 1,000 students scored above 650 marks, and 2,599 students scored 600+.

• In 2023, Kota had 13 people in the top-1,000 rank, and in 2024 the number rose up to 35 — a growth of nearly 169 percent. Similarly, there has been an increase in the top-500 rank from 4 in 2023 to 14 in 2024— a 250 percent growth.

• Out of the 566 candidates who appeared in the Kautilya Senior Secondary School, one student secured a perfect 720, and a total of 35 scored more than 650. 

3. Kottayam

According to data, Kottayam in Kerala has emerged as the third-best performing city in NEET this year.

• Of India's top 100 top-scoring centres, 31 are from Kottayam. Nearly 4.4 percent of the total number of students in Kottayam secured above 650 marks.

• The city, which had only 14 rank holders in the top 1,000, now has 25 aspirants.

• Out of the total number of students who appeared in three centres— Vidyananda Vidyabhavan, Junior Baselios English Medium School, and Chinmaya Vidyalaya— 8.2 percent, 11 percent and 10.4 percent scored 600+ respectively.

• Out of the 183 students in Junior Baselios, 9.28 percent of students scored above 650 marks.

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4. Namakkal

For years, Namakkal in Tamil Nadu used to be the district that produced the state toppers in the board exams. Today, it boasts around 15 coaching centres, Frontline Magazine reported.

• Out of the 6,180 students who appeared across 11 exam centres in Namakkal, 5.06 percent (313) students scored 650+.

• 12.68 percent (784) students secure more than 600 out of 720 marks.

• Out of the 129 students who scored 700+ in Tamil Nadu, nearly 25 percent are from Namakkal.

• The success rate of students who scored above 650+ in The Spectrum Academy exam centre was two percentage points (7.46 percent) above the town's average.

(Note: Merely looking at 2024 data without a state-wise, city-wise, and centre wise comparison with the previous years would not help in pointing out anomalies or massive differences.)

This analysis is not to say that only students belonging to these coaching hubs made it to the top-scorer list. However, it is important to know the large difference in terms of performance between coaching hub and other cities.

'Money Is Confused As Merit': Why Coaching Is Part of The NEET Issue

The on-going NEET controversy marred by allegations of paper leak and malpractices has not only sparked a debate over India's medical education, but also raised doubt regarding the centralisation of examinations for admissions into higher education programmes.

Experts The Quint spoke to said that the growth of "coaching culture" is a direct effect of centralisation of exams in India. Once seen as a supplementary resource, the industry has grown into a huge sector.

According to a research paper in the Economic and Political Weekly, the total market revenue of the coaching industry in India is approximately Rs 58,000 crore and is projected to reach 1.3 lakh crore by 2028.

Speaking with The Quint, Furqan Qamar, an educationist and former advisor (Education) in the erstwhile Planning Commission of India, said:

"Coaching is a major menace of the (Education) system. Coaching institutes have a vested interest to show that students who undertake coaching from them have greater chances to succeed and therefore they will try their best to ensure that these students score good marks. Sometimes, its ethical and sometimes institutes cross the line,"

Furqan Qamar to The Quint

Stating that the problem lies in the education system, former Union Health Secretary Sujatha Rao said that with over dependence of coaching, the reliance on "school systems is coming down, and budgets for education comes down, and coaching institutions going up."

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"The coaching industry is a consequence of a failed school system due to poor governance. There is a ruination of school system... what is scaring is that this fact does not upset of our political leaders. There is more privatisation of education, and closure of public schools..." Rao said.

Both Qamar and Rao agreed that coaching institutes were a "money-making business."

"First, you can enter coaching institutes only if you have the money... If Sikar is producing high number of toppers and their strike rate is very good, more people will want to enrol themselves in coaching institutes and these places continue minting money,"

Rao told The Quint

"What you see as merit is actually a function of money that a parent pumps in for their child to succeed. Therefore, it makes the system inequitable," Furqan Qamar said.

The 2021 Justice AK Rajan Committee report, which studied the impact of NEET in Tamil Nadu, too talks about how coaching centres have further helped affluent students to clear the medical entrance test, leaving aspirants from underprivileged sections behind.

The total business of these coaching firms in the state is approximately Rs 5750 crore, exclusively incurred on NEET, the report highlights.

Speaking to The Quint. Prof. L Jawahar Nesan, former Vice-Chancellor of JSS Technical University and key member of the report said:

"With NEET, what has happened is that students who can afford to pay such exorbitant fees have more opportunities than those who cannot pay. If you take the case of Rajasthan, 27,000 students appeared for the exam, of which 2,000 secured more than 650+, which is good enough to enter a government medical college. Why is it that certain coaching centres do much better than others?"

Alleged Jawahar Nesan to The Quint

With mushrooming tuition classes and mounting fee structure, affordability has become a serious challenge for many.

"This has discouraged vulnerable communities, like socially depressed and backward, educationally and geographically backward," Nesan added.

"If you see in Rajasthan, Sikar and Kota is where there is high concentration of top scores. There are 2-3 possibilities for this. One, coaching institutes enrol only brighter students. Second, centres design their teachings in a way to ensure students crack such exams. Third, it is possible that exam centres could be influenced by nearby coaching centres. Paper leak is one issue, but there are many ways these exams can be manipulated," Furqan Qamar said.

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Coaching Vs Learning

As soon as the NTA released the NEET results, several news reports alleged that a student from Gujarat, who failed her Class 12 exams, scored 705 out of 720 in the NEET-UG exam.

The experts told The Quint that an over-reliance on scores obtained in entrance examinations by coaching centres make students “marks scoring machines”, which discourages learning.

"NEET is not testing students academically. Coaching centres know that students need to be prepared to answer multiple-choice questions (MCQ). Prospective medical aspirants do not get an opportunity to acquire all-round skills essential prior to enter medical studies. Medicine needs both quantitative and qualitative testing, which is what state board and CBSE exams do. But coaching is a one-dimensional testing which does not test the student's academical achievement,"

Jawahar Nesan to The Quint

The current NEET crisis is symptomatic of a failed state that is "unable to ensure high-quality school education," experts concluded.

"Coaching is a part of a problem, yes. You can regulate it, but they will all go underground. The solution lies in reforming our admission process and examination system," said Furqan Qamar.