What is INI CET?

INI CET stands for Institutes of National Importance Combined Entrance Test. It covers MD, MS, MDS, direct six-year DM/MCh and MD Hospital Administration admissions at the participating INIs. AIIMS New Delhi handles the examination, result and central seat allocation; the allotted institute checks admission eligibility and documents.

MBBS graduates can pursue medical postgraduate routes such as Doctor of Medicine (MD), while BDS graduates apply for MDS. MD, MS and MDS are normally three-year programmes; the direct DM/MCh routes named in this exam are six-year programmes. They should not be confused with the three-year super-speciality route after a postgraduate medical degree.

Admissions are organised by January and July sessions. Dates on this page refer to January 2027; a January-session deadline does not apply to the later July intake.

INI CET January 2027 Dates

The registration-status window follows the application deadline. Log in to check whether your uploaded photograph, signature and left thumb impression have been accepted, and follow any instructions shown against your application. The final status and admit card are scheduled together on 26 October.

7 November is the expected result date in the examination schedule. Counselling round dates are separate from the result date.

INI CET Eligibility 2027

Use the aggregate of all professional MBBS/BDS examinations, not only the final professional examination. For a subject cleared through a supplementary examination, use the marks obtained on successful completion. Candidates whose internship ends after 31 January 2027 are not eligible for this session.

Foreign graduates, foreign nationals and OCI candidates

For an Indian national with a foreign medical degree, FMGE marks are considered in place of the degree aggregate; the applicable 55% or 50% category threshold still applies. Foreign nationals need 55% aggregate or equivalent, the required internship, and a grading-system certificate if their university uses grades.

OCI candidates born before 4 March 2021 who obtained their OCI card before that date are considered for Indian-national unreserved seats only. Other OCI candidates follow the foreign-national route. Upload the earliest valid OCI card; OCI applicants do not need the foreign-national NOC. Foreign nationals need the NOC from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by 30 October, 5 pm; an NOC only from the Ministry of External Affairs is not sufficient.

Sponsored Indian applicants follow the same category-wise aggregate requirement and must be employees of the sponsoring authority. The required three years of service are counted up to 31 January 2027 for AIIMS, NIMHANS and SCTIMST, but up to 31 December 2026 for JIPMER and PGIMER. The original sponsorship certificate is required at admission.

Institute-specific conditions

Qualifying for the entrance test does not make every course available to every candidate. Age limits, sponsorship, disability suitability and course-specific conditions can differ. For example, NIMHANS lists an upper age of 32 years at course commencement for its post-MBBS MCh Neurosurgery route, without category-based age relaxation for that route. SCTIMST lists a 40-year limit on 1 January 2027 for its six-year MCh Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery route, with specified relaxations.

Candidates who have completed or are pursuing the listed MD/MS/MDS/direct DM/MCh or MD Hospital Administration programmes at seat allocation are not eligible for another such admission under the common rule. PGIMER applies its existing-PG restriction at the application stage. This can affect eligibility before choices are filled.

INI CET Registration and Application Fee

January 2027 registration is a one-time process covering personal details, qualifications, experience, images and payment. The application window ran from 16 September to 13 October 2026. Older instructions asking candidates to generate an EUC before a separate final-registration stage do not describe this session.

1. Open the INI-CET application under Academic Courses on the AIIMS examination portal and register with the required personal details.
2. Enter qualification, internship and council-registration details. Select the correct nationality and reservation category.
3. Upload the photograph, signature, left thumb impression and applicable category or OCI documents.
4. Pay the application fee and select three examination states in order of preference.
5. Complete submission and retain the application details and payment record. Check the status when the status window opens.

Payment is online by debit card, credit card or net banking; bank processing charges may be extra. The application fee is non-refundable. If the same application is charged more than once, additional payments are refunded after verification and completion of the examination process. An application without the required fee is rejected.

OBC-NCL and EWS certificates

For this session, OBC-NCL and EWS certificates must be issued from 1 April to 13 October 2026, valid for financial year 2026-27 and based on financial year 2025-26. OBC reservation requires the Central List and non-creamy-layer status; a state-only OBC certificate does not meet this requirement.

An applicant awaiting OBC-NCL renewal could upload the older certificate with the renewal acknowledgement during registration, but the valid certificate still had to meet the stated period and submission conditions. The category/OCI upload deadline was 13 October, 5 pm. Sponsored certificates have a separate deadline of 30 October, 5 pm.

INI CET Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme

The four parts contain randomly divided questions; they are not four subject-wise sections. Only the active part can be viewed or answered. After 45 minutes it is submitted automatically, and the next part opens. You cannot return to a previous part or use its leftover time later.

Finish reviewing skipped questions within the active part. The marking scheme lists unanswered and marked-for-review questions at zero, so do not leave a response in review status assuming it is a final submitted answer.

Score example: 150 correct answers, 30 incorrect answers and 20 unanswered questions give 150 - (30/3) = 140 marks. This is a raw-score calculation, not a percentile or predicted rank.

Candidates approved for a scribe and/or compensatory time receive the applicable accommodation. Eligibility includes specified benchmark-disability routes and candidates with less than 40% disability who have the required certification of difficulty in writing. The required certificate and approval conditions still apply.

INI CET Syllabus and Preparation

For the medical route, organise revision around your MBBS subjects. The subject groups below are a revision map, not fixed question allocations for the four timed parts.

For MDS, revise the BDS foundation subjects along with dental anatomy and histology, dental materials, oral pathology, oral medicine and radiology, oral surgery, conservative dentistry and endodontics, prosthodontics, periodontology, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry and public health dentistry. Do not replace dental revision with a medical-only question bank.

How to practise for the four-part test

• Solve mixed-subject sets of 50 questions in 45 minutes. Keep the same hard stop during a full 200-question practice test.
• Review uncertain questions before each part closes, rather than saving all review for the end of three hours.
• Separate errors caused by a missing concept from errors caused by a missed word, image finding or answer-selection mistake. Revisit the relevant subject notes, then attempt similar questions.
• Compare correct, incorrect and unanswered counts across practice tests. A higher attempt count is useful only when the extra correct answers outweigh the one-third penalties.

For an integrated clinical question, connect the relevant anatomy or physiology with the disease process, investigation and treatment. This is a revision approach, not a claim that a particular topic will carry a fixed percentage of the paper. The examination scheme does not publish a chapter-wise question quota.

INI CET Admit Card and Examination Centre

The INI CET admit card is scheduled for 26 October 2026. Download it from MyPage using your registration ID and password. AIIMS does not send it by post or email. A printed admit card valid for the January 2027 session is required for entry.

Check your name, photograph, examination centre and instructions as soon as the card is available. Report a discrepancy through the help/query section of MyPage; the examination section allows up to three working days to respond, depending on query volume. Follow the identification, reporting and entry requirements printed on your card.

Applicants select three states after fee payment. Allocation depends on completed applications and available computer nodes; a centre outside the preferred states can be assigned. The allotted centre and shift cannot be changed on request.

INI CET Result, Qualifying Percentile and Tie-Breaks

The expected result date is 7 November 2026. The minimum qualifying percentile depends on the seat category:

50th percentile does not mean 50% marks. Percentile is a relative measure of performance. A qualifying percentile allows consideration for seat allocation; the closing rank for a particular institute and speciality depends on the seats and choices in that round.

If candidates have equal marks, AIIMS resolves the tie in this order: fewer negative marks, higher percentage in the qualifying degree, older age, then name in alphabetical order. There is no fixed raw-mark number that guarantees a particular rank before the result.

INI CET Participating Institutes, Seats and Reservation

The list includes AIIMS Delhi and 18 other AIIMS, along with JIPMER Puducherry, NIMHANS, PGIMER and SCTIMST. A participating institute may offer only particular courses or specialities through this session; its name on the list is not a promise of every PG course.

For total seats, use the January 2027 institute-wise and speciality-wise seat position. General seats and sponsored/foreign-national seats are separate. AIIMS will publish the updated consolidated seat list before the result; older totals cannot be used as this session's intake.

AIIMS reservation

The AIIMS rules provide the following reservation, excluding sponsored/foreign-national seats. Other INIs apply their own applicable rosters and institutional rules.

Horizontal PwBD reservation operates within the relevant categories, rather than adding five percentage points to the vertical total. The disability and course-suitability assessment is separate from meeting the qualifying percentile.

INI CET Counselling and Admission

Seat allocation is online and uses the merit order, your institute-speciality preferences and the reservation rules of each INI. The process includes a mock round, at least two allocation rounds and an open round. The detailed dates and acceptance instructions will be issued separately.

1. Check your result and whether you meet the qualifying percentile for the seat category.
2. Read the session's seat matrix and the admission conditions for each institute and course you want to choose.
3. Enter institute-speciality combinations in your genuine order of preference. Review the order before locking it.
4. After allotment, complete the required acceptance and reporting steps within that round's deadline.
5. Present original documents, complete the institute's medical assessment and pay the applicable admission fees before joining.

Keep the qualifying-degree records, professional examination marksheets, internship-completion evidence, council registration and applicable category/OCI/sponsorship documents ready. The allotted institute may require additional documents. A provisional allotment does not replace verification of the original records.

Courses begin on 1 January 2027, and the overall last date of admission is 28 February 2027. Your allotment or offer letter can specify an earlier joining deadline; the overall closing date is not extra time to accept a seat.

1. January-session dates
2. Eligibility requirements
3. Fees and certificates

1. Four-part exam format
2. Medical and dental revision

1. Qualifying percentile
2. Seat-allocation steps