AIIMS Expected Cutoff 2026: Category-Wise Safe Score and Historical Trends Across All 20 Campuses
·Admission Guardian Editorial Team
Last updated: May 30, 2026
AIIMS Expected Cutoff 2026: Category-Wise Safe Score and Historical Trends Across All 20 Campuses
TL;DR: Getting into an AIIMS in 2026 is decided entirely by All India Rank, not raw marks. AIIMS has 100% AIQ counselling with no state quota and follows central reservation rules (UR 40.5% · OBC-NCL 27% · SC 15% · EWS 10% · ST 7.5% · PwBD 5% horizontal). The General-category safe-rank zones are: under 50 AIR for AIIMS New Delhi · under 800 for established AIIMS (Jodhpur · Bhopal · Rishikesh · Bhubaneswar) · under 3,500 for popular mid-tier AIIMS (Patna · Nagpur · Kalyani · Raipur · Gorakhpur) · under 10,000 for newer AIIMS (Jammu · Madurai · Bilaspur · Bibinagar · Rajkot). In a tough 2025-style Re-NEET 2026, those ranks need scores of 660+ (Delhi), 615+ (Tier 2), 575+ (Tier 3), and 550+ (Tier 4). In an easy 2024-style paper, those scores jump to 715+ / 702+ / 688+ / 672+. SC, ST, EWS, and PwBD candidates get substantially looser closing ranks across every tier.
If you have spent the months since result anxiety started staring at AIIMS closing ranks, you already know the punchline: AIIMS is a rank game, not a marks game. The same 686 that made Mahesh Kumar AIR 1 in 2025 would have been roughly AIR 5,100 in 2024. The same 650 that was a national-elite rank in the tough paper crashed to AIR in the inflated cycle. With the Re-NEET ahead and difficulty genuinely unpredictable, the only honest plan is to set rank targets and let the score follow. To map your projected NEET 2026 score directly to the specific AIIMS campus and category combinations realistically within reach, plug your numbers into the to check your admission chances → before MCC counselling opens in August.
This guide is written for serious AIIMS aspirants and the families helping them plan. It covers every operational AIIMS campus across India (20 campuses · 2,257 total MBBS seats including 7 foreign-national seats at New Delhi), maps category-wise closing ranks from both 2024 and 2025 actuals, projects safe ranks and scores for 2026 across all four campus tiers, and flags two specific traps that mislead AIIMS aspirants every year: the stray vacancy round anomaly that artificially inflates late-round closing ranks, and the OBC-greater-than-UR phenomenon at smaller AIIMS that looks like a data error but is actually a counselling artefact. Every closing rank has been cross-checked against MCC AIQ Round 1 through Special Stray Vacancy archives, NTA result gazettes, and AIIMS Examination Section notifications, with context updated for the cancelled 3 May paper and the rescheduled 21 June 2026 Re-NEET.
Key takeaways
AIIMS has 100% All India Quota counselling. Zero state quota. Domicile gives no advantage.
Total AIIMS MBBS intake for 2026 is approximately 2,257 seats across 20 campuses, including 7 foreign-national seats at AIIMS New Delhi.
AIIMS New Delhi General-category closing rank has held at AIR 47-48 across both 2024 and 2025. The rank is essentially fixed; the marks attached to it move with paper difficulty.
The "safe rank" rule is more reliable than any "safe score" benchmark. Aim for AIR under 8,000 (UR) · under 10,000 (OBC / EWS) · under 30,000 (SC) · under 50,000 (ST) to keep multiple AIIMS in reach.
Final-round (stray vacancy) closing ranks at smaller AIIMS misrepresent the realistic admission window. Always read Round 1 and Round 2 cutoffs alongside the final number.
AIIMS MBBS fees total roughly ₹5,856 for the entire 5.5-year course (including tuition, registration, caution, hostel), making it the highest-ROI medical education in India.
What "AIIMS Expected Cutoff 2026" actually means
AIIMS Expected Cutoff 2026 is the projected closing All India Rank at which the last MBBS seat in a given AIIMS campus, category, and counselling round will be allotted in NEET 2026, based on multi-year MCC AIQ historical data, NMC's 2025-2026 seat matrix, and the projected paper difficulty of the 21 June Re-NEET. The output is a probability-weighted rank band, paired with two score projections (one for a tough paper, one for an easy paper). It is a rank prediction first and a marks prediction second, because the rank is structurally stable across cycles while the marks attached to it swing by 60-90 points depending on the paper.
Two terms worth getting straight before the tables start:
Closing rank. The deepest All India Rank that received a seat at a given AIIMS campus in a given category and counselling round. The Round 1 closing rank is always tighter than the final stray vacancy round.
Safe rank. The rank at which admission is statistically secure across all historical scenarios for a given campus and category. The "safe rank" is what students should target, not the closing rank, because closing ranks are the edge of admission.
The AIIMS admission blueprint: 100% AIQ, central reservation, MCC counselling
Unlike state government medical colleges (where 15% AIQ + 85% State Quota applies), AIIMS operates a fundamentally different admission structure that aspirants must internalise to plan correctly.
100% All India Quota: no domicile advantage
All 2,250+ MBBS seats across India's 20 operational AIIMS are pooled under the 15% AIQ counselling model conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). Every Indian citizen with NEET-UG qualification can compete for these seats based purely on All India Rank. Your home state does not give you any advantage at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, AIIMS Patna, or anywhere else. This is materially different from state government colleges where domicile is decisive.
Central reservation policy
AIIMS strictly follows Government of India central reservation rules:
Unreserved (UR / General):40.5%
OBC-Non Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL):27%
Scheduled Caste (SC):15%
Economically Weaker Section (EWS):10%
Scheduled Tribe (ST):7.5%
Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD):5% horizontal across all vertical categories
PwBD is a horizontal reservation, which means a PwBD candidate from OBC is counted in both the OBC merit list and the OBC-PwBD horizontal pool, claiming whichever route delivers a better outcome. This is the same horizontal-vs-vertical structure as in general AIQ counselling but applied at AIIMS scale.
MCC counselling rounds
All AIIMS seats are filled through the centralised MCC counselling that runs annually after NEET results. The structure for 2026 will mirror previous cycles:
Round 1: First allotment. Tightest closing ranks. Free exit if you do not report (security deposit refunded).
Round 2: Upgradation round. Candidates who reported to a Round 1 seat with "willingness to upgrade" can move to a better seat if it opens.
* AIIMS New Delhi includes 7 seats reserved for foreign nationals. The remaining 2,250 seats are open to Indian nationals via NEET UG.
The intake distribution tells its own story: AIIMS New Delhi and Jodhpur lead in capacity, twelve established campuses run at 125 seats, six newer campuses run at 100, and the two newest (Rajkot · Madurai) run at 50. The newer campuses have softer closing ranks in their early years; over time, those ranks tighten as institutional reputation builds.
Why marks are deceptive: the 2024 vs 2025 marks-vs-rank case study
The last two NEET cycles are the cleanest illustration of why an AIIMS plan must run on ranks, not scores.
NEET 2024 was the hyper-inflation year. An easy paper, grace marks for 1,563 candidates, and a Physics answer-key revision lifting 4.4 lakh scores compressed the rank list past anything the exam had seen. 67 candidates initially scored a perfect 720 (later revised to 17 after grace marks were withdrawn). NEET 2025 was the great reset: tough paper, no candidate above 700, AIR 1 at 686 for Mahesh Kumar.
Table 2: NEET marks vs AIR (2024 easy paper vs 2025 tough paper)
NEET Score
AIR 2024 (easy paper)
AIR 2025 (tough paper)
720 / 720
1 (shared by 17 toppers)
Not applicable (max: 686)
700-715
~200-2,300+
Not applicable
686
~5,100
1 (Mahesh Kumar, Rajasthan)
685-651
~5,500-26,000
2-71
650
~29,000
72
600
~70,000+
1,259
550
~1,44,000
~10,658
500
~2,09,000
~39,521
450
~2,85,000+
~69,503
UR Qualifying Cutoff
164 marks
144 marks
The implications for AIIMS planning are stark. A 600-mark candidate in 2024 was AIR ~70,000 and had no AIIMS in reach. The same 600 in 2025 was AIR 1,259 and put several mid-tier AIIMS branches comfortably within reach for OBC and EWS candidates. The score did not change. The rank changed by a factor of ~55. Anyone planning AIIMS by mock-test marks rather than mock-test rank percentile is building a strategy on the wrong variable.
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NEET 2026 scoring rules and the Re-NEET 2026 factor
Two pieces of mechanics quietly shape every AIIMS closing rank in this article.
Per NTA, NEET UG 2026 is a 180-question compulsory paper (Physics 45 · Chemistry 45 · Biology 90), with +4 for a correct answer, -1 for an incorrect one, 0 for unattempted, and a maximum of 720. The exam runs 3 hours normally. The 21 June 2026 Re-NEET runs 2:00 PM to 5:15 PM, granting 15 extra minutes.
The NTA has completely retired "candidate age" and "application number" as tie-breakers. The current 2025-2026 order resolves ties by Biology marks → Chemistry marks → Physics marks → overall accuracy ratio → Biology accuracy → Chemistry accuracy → Physics accuracy, and finally a computerised draw of lots under an independent expert committee. For AIIMS aspirants this matters enormously: at the top of the rank list, hundreds of candidates can cluster on identical scores, and the tie-breaker decides whether a 715 candidate lands at AIR 25 or AIR 300. Biology accuracy is the single largest lever inside a cluster.
The original NEET UG 2026, held on 3 May 2026, was cancelled by the NTA after a paper-leak controversy. Re-NEET 2026 is scheduled for 21 June 2026, with no re-registration, no extra fee, the same pattern, and the same syllabus. Results are expected in July, with MCC counselling now likely to begin only in August 2026. For AIIMS aspirants, three practical implications:
Lean Scenario B (tough paper). After the embarrassment of a leak, the NTA has strong incentive to set a tightly-secured, harder paper. A tough Re-NEET means AIIMS safe scores will look more like the 2025 column (660+ for AIIMS New Delhi, 615+ for Tier 2) than the 2024 column.
Cluster sizes will be larger. A field of 22 lakh candidates with extended preparation time tends to produce tighter score clusters at the top. Biology accuracy and tie-breaker discipline matter more than usual.
Counselling timing is compressed. With MCC Round 1 in August rather than July, the gap between result and choice-filling is short. Have your AIIMS preference list pre-drafted before result day.
Category-wise historical closing ranks across AIIMS (2024 vs 2025)
Here is the data anchor. Closing ranks are reported from the final available round of MCC AIQ counselling for each year; where the final round shows a stray vacancy anomaly, the realistic admission window is closer to Round 1 (covered in the next section).
Table 3: AIIMS category-wise closing ranks (2025 vs 2024, MCC final round)
Campus
Category
2025 Closing Rank
2024 Closing Rank
AIIMS New Delhi
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
48 · 207 · 254 · 644 · 1,405
47 · 186 · 214 · 647 · 1,150
AIIMS Jodhpur
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
386 · 766 · 1,153 · 3,960 · 7,835
321 · 635 · 471 · 4,281 · 9,842
AIIMS Bhopal
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
634 · 1,142 · 1,582 · 7,030 · 10,480
437 · 962 · 993 · 5,093 · 12,084
AIIMS Bhubaneswar
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
785 · 1,017 · 1,086 · 2,010 · 23,884
347 · 1,022 · 549 · 5,983 · 14,882
AIIMS Rishikesh
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
816 · 1,104 · 1,715 · 7,924 · 11,475
700 · 1,150 · 1,176 · 8,992 · 12,983
AIIMS Nagpur
UR · OBC · EWS · SC · ST
1,030 · 1,520 · 2,023 · 8,697 · 16,192
862 · 1,515 · · ·
Two patterns are worth pulling out. First, AIIMS New Delhi General closing has held at AIR 47-48 across both years despite the wildly different scores attached. That rank is essentially fixed; for an AIIMS Delhi target, plan for top-50 AIR regardless of paper difficulty. Second, several newer AIIMS (Patna · Deoghar · Jammu · Madurai) show much deeper "final round" closing ranks in 2025 than 2024 even though the paper was harder. That counterintuitive pattern is explained by the stray vacancy round dynamics in the next section.
The Stray Vacancy trap: why final-round ranks mislead AIIMS planners
This is the single most overlooked detail in standard AIIMS cutoff articles, and it costs aspirants accurate expectations every year. MCC counselling runs across multiple rounds, and the "final round" closing rank (Stray Vacancy or Special Stray Vacancy) often deepens dramatically from the Round 1 cutoff at smaller AIIMS campuses. Two case studies make the point.
AIIMS Patna 2025: Final round General closing was AIR 4,952. Round 1 General closing was approximately AIR 1,537. The realistic admission window for serious AIIMS Patna planning is the Round 1 figure (~1,537), not the stray vacancy number. The 4,952 rank was filled by candidates with much deeper ranks who registered, did not get earlier allotments, and got lucky in the final round when a seat opened.
AIIMS Deoghar 2025: Final round General closing was AIR 9,475. Round 1 General closing was approximately AIR 3,164. Again, the realistic admission window is the Round 1 figure.
The same pattern repeats at AIIMS Madurai (final 16,728, Round 1 ~3,597) and AIIMS Jammu and several newer campuses. The practical implication for an AIIMS planner: do not anchor your strategy on the final-round number alone. Use Round 1 and Round 2 cutoffs as the realistic admission window, and treat the final stray figure as the lower-probability upside that occasionally happens. A 5,000-rank candidate planning on the 9,475 Deoghar figure will not necessarily get the seat; the candidate competing at the 3,164 Round 1 level will.
The OBC-greater-than-UR anomaly: explained
A puzzling pattern shows up in 2025 data at several smaller AIIMS: the OBC closing rank looks better (smaller AIR) than the UR closing rank. At AIIMS Jammu in 2025, the General closing rank was 10,215 while OBC was 4,335. At AIIMS Madurai, General was 16,728 while OBC was 4,627. At first glance, this looks like a data error or like OBC was somehow harder to get.
The actual explanation is a counselling-round artefact. Reserved-category seats (OBC, SC, ST, EWS) typically lock fully in earlier rounds because reserved candidates upgrade rapidly through the merit list. By the time the stray vacancy round runs, OBC seats are completely filled, so the OBC "final closing rank" still reflects the Round 2 or Round 3 lock-in. Meanwhile, a small number of General seats can open up late (when General candidates decline to join or withdraw for foreign MBBS), and those seats get allotted in stray vacancy to whoever is at the top of the residual General waiting list. The deep "General closing rank" therefore reflects late-round upside, not the realistic Round 1 admission window.
For planning purposes, anchor your category-specific analysis on Round 1 and Round 2 closing ranks. The stray vacancy anomaly is a tail event, not a base case.
Expected AIIMS Cutoff 2026 by tier (category-wise safe scores)
Given the volatility across paper-difficulty scenarios, the most honest projection is a rank target paired with two score bands (one for a tough paper, one for an easy paper). The tier classification below groups campuses by realistic competitive intensity.
Use this table sideways: pick your category, pick the tier of AIIMS you are realistically targeting, and read the AIR column as your rank goal. Then check both score columns (tough-paper and easy-paper) so your mock-test calibration accounts for both Re-NEET scenarios. After the 21 June paper drops, you will know which column applies and your preparation up to that point will have covered both.
For most General-category aspirants, the realistic working target across Tiers 2 to 4 is a rank under ~10,000. That keeps multiple newer AIIMS in play even in stray vacancy rounds and protects you from over-dependence on a single campus.
How to set your safe target score for NEET 2026
A clean working framework for the next eight weeks.
Switch your mock-test display from marks to rank percentile. Most coaching platforms support this. The percentile or rank-among-test-takers metric tracks far better with NEET counselling outcomes than raw marks.
Calibrate against tough-paper Scenario B. Given the post-leak environment, plan for the harder column in Table 4. If the paper turns out easier, you will over-deliver. If it turns out as expected, you are on target. The reverse failure mode (planning for an easy paper and getting a tough one) is far more painful.
Tighten Biology accuracy ruthlessly. Inside an AIIMS cluster, Biology marks are the first tie-breaker. A clean Biology paper is worth hundreds of AIR positions inside a tight cluster, which can be the difference between AIIMS Delhi and AIIMS Bhopal at the top end.
Set a stretch and a base rank target. Stretch: AIR under 1,500 for Tier 1 or Tier 2 access. Base: AIR under 10,000 for solid Tier 3 / Tier 4 access. Plan choice-filling for both outcomes.
The AIIMS fee phenomenon: why competition is so fierce
AIIMS is not merely a prestige play; it is the highest-return medical education in the world by a wide margin. The total academic fee for the complete 5.5-year MBBS programme at AIIMS is approximately ₹5,856, broken down across tuition (₹1,350), registration, caution money, and hostel rent (₹990 for the full course). That number is correct. It is not in lakhs.
For comparison:
State government medical colleges:₹50,000-₹2L/yr in tuition. Total programme cost typically ₹3L-₹12L.
Private medical colleges in India:₹11L-₹17L/yr in tuition. Total real cost (with hostel, deposits, hikes) often ₹70L-₹1.2 crore.
Top Deemed Universities:₹17L-₹27L/yr. Total real cost often above ₹1.4 crore.
MBBS abroad:₹15L-₹40L total, depending on country.
A confirmed AIIMS seat is therefore worth roughly ₹70L-₹1.3 crore in financial value over the equivalent private medical college, before factoring in the AIIMS brand effect on subsequent PG admissions, government residency placements, and international fellowships. The high cutoff is not arbitrary; it is the market clearing for the most under-priced credential in Indian medicine.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is there any state quota or domicile reservation at AIIMS?
No. AIIMS operates 100% All India Quota counselling across all 20 operational campuses. Every seat is open to every Indian citizen based purely on NEET-UG All India Rank. Domicile provides no advantage at AIIMS Jodhpur for a Rajasthan candidate or at AIIMS Bhubaneswar for an Odisha candidate.
Q: What is the fee for AIIMS MBBS?
Approximately ₹5,856 for the complete 5.5-year course, including tuition (₹1,350), registration, caution money, and hostel rent (₹990). This is the total bottom line, not the per-year figure. AIIMS offers the lowest-cost, highest-quality MBBS programme in India.
Q: What rank do I need for AIIMS New Delhi?
For General-category candidates, top 50 AIR has historically secured AIIMS New Delhi across both NEET 2024 and 2025. The rank is essentially fixed; the score attached to it moves with paper difficulty (715+ in an easy paper, 660+ in a tough one). For OBC: top 200. EWS: top 250. SC: top 650. ST: top 1,300.
Q: Why did AIIMS Jammu have a higher OBC cutoff than General in 2025?
A counselling-round artefact. Reserved-category seats fully lock in earlier rounds; OBC closing reflects Round 2 or Round 3. A few General seats opened in stray vacancy (when General candidates declined or withdrew) and were filled at deeper ranks. The realistic admission window for General is the Round 1 figure, not the stray vacancy number.
Q: Will the 21 June Re-NEET 2026 change AIIMS cutoffs?
The pattern, syllabus, and seat pool are unchanged. Difficulty risk leans high after the leak, which makes Scenario B (tough paper) more probable. In a tough Re-NEET, the rank targets in Table 4 stay the same, but the score targets drop closer to the 2025 benchmarks. MCC counselling is expected to begin in August 2026.
The bottom line
AIIMS in 2026 is a rank target, not a score target. The students who walk into AIIMS Delhi, Jodhpur, or Bhubaneswar in 2026 will not be the ones who fixated on a marks goal; they will be the ones who set a rank target (top 50 for AIIMS Delhi · top 800 for Tier 2 · top 3,500 for Tier 3 · top 10,000 for Tier 4), drilled Biology accuracy to win tie-breakers, and walked into MCC Round 1 with a preference list already drafted across all 20 campuses by category and tier.
Map your projected NEET 2026 score and category to the specific AIIMS campuses realistically in reach using the NEET 2026 College Predictor →. Then use the NEET 2026 cut-off target tool to work backward from a specific AIIMS campus and category, setting your remaining preparation calendar to the rank that campus actually requires. The Re-NEET window from now to August is enough to turn a strong projection into a confirmed AIIMS seat, but only if you walk in with a rank-first strategy rather than a marks-first one.
Official references: National Testing Agency 2024 and 2025 result gazettes and exam bulletins (neet.nta.nic.in) · Medical Counselling Committee All India Quota allotment archives, Rounds 1, 2, 3, Stray and Special Stray Vacancy (mcc.nic.in) · National Medical Commission seat approvals for the 2025-2026 cycle (nmc.org.in) · Ministry of Health and Family Welfare seat-expansion notifications · AIIMS Examination Section seat-matrix notifications. Closing ranks reported reflect the most recent available counselling round; final stray vacancy rounds can show deeper closing ranks that misrepresent the realistic admission window. Projections for 2026 are modelled estimates and will move with the actual 21 June Re-NEET paper, cohort behaviour, and round-wise allotment.
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