The Karnataka State Allied and Healthcare Council has issued a major directive. From the 2026-27 academic year, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test will be mandatory for admissions to Bachelor of Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Occupational Therapy courses across the state.
Council Directs Universities to Implement New Norm
Professor UT Iftikhar Ali Fareed, the chairman of KSAHC, sent a circular to all universities. He asked vice-chancellors of public, private, and deemed universities to ensure strict compliance with this new requirement. The council based this decision on a letter from the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions to the National Testing Agency and the health ministry.
Until now, admissions to these programs relied on different criteria. Students gained entry through the common entrance test or their pre-university marks. This change represents a significant shift in the admission process for these healthcare courses.
Streamlining Allied Health Sciences Education
ST Srinivas, the secretary of KSAHC, explained the reasoning behind this move. He stated that allied health sciences previously lacked oversight from any specific agency. The formation of the council aims to streamline these courses. Making NEET mandatory forms a crucial part of this standardization effort.
Srinivas clarified an important detail about the new requirement. Students must appear for the NEET exam, but there are no specific qualifying marks they need to obtain for admission to these programs. The mere act of taking the test becomes compulsory.
Current Seat Availability and Expected Impact
Karnataka currently has twenty-seven colleges offering occupational therapy courses. These institutions provide six hundred fifty-five seats, with one hundred thirty-one falling under the government quota. The physiotherapy landscape is even larger.
Two hundred three colleges offer physiotherapy programs across the state. They provide eight thousand nine hundred fifteen seats in total. This includes six private universities and four government colleges. Two thousand six seats belong to the government quota.
This policy change will likely increase NEET registrations from Karnataka. Last year, one point five lakh students registered for the exam from the state. One point four lakh of them actually appeared for the test. Eighty-three thousand five hundred eighty-two candidates qualified.
The 2024 numbers show a similar pattern. One point five lakh students appeared for NEET, and eighty-eight thousand eight hundred eighty-seven managed to qualify. The new mandate will probably push these numbers even higher as physiotherapy and occupational therapy aspirants join the examination pool.
