INI-CET
Direct answer
The Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test, or INI-CET, is the postgraduate medical entrance examination conducted by AIIMS New Delhi for admission to MD and MS courses at the Institutes of National Importance. Preparing for it means a focused revision of the MBBS curriculum with particular attention to clinical application, practised through previous-year questions, mock tests and time-locked sectional rehearsal. This guide explains the exam's pattern, syllabus and a stage-wise preparation approach.
About the exam
INI-CET is conducted by AIIMS New Delhi twice a year, for the January and July admission sessions, with the examination typically held some months ahead of each session. It admits candidates to MD and MS seats at the participating Institutes of National Importance: the AIIMS campuses across India, JIPMER Puducherry and Karaikal, PGIMER Chandigarh, NIMHANS Bengaluru and SCTIMST Thiruvananthapuram. MBBS graduates, including serving officers and interns who meet the published internship criteria, take the examination instead of or alongside NEET-PG to compete for seats at these institutes. Detailed notifications, application windows and the prospectus are published by AIIMS New Delhi on aiimsexams.ac.in.
Exam pattern and marking
- Mode: computer-based test.
- Questions: 200 multiple-choice questions covering the MBBS curriculum.
- Sections: the paper is administered in four time-locked parts of 50 questions each; candidates proceed from one part to the next and cannot return to an earlier part.
- Marks: one mark for each correct answer, a total of 200; one-third of a mark is deducted for each incorrect answer; unattempted questions carry no penalty.
- Duration: three hours.
- Language: English.
- Qualifying: category-wise minimum percentile cut-offs are announced by AIIMS with each session's results.
Syllabus overview
The INI-CET syllabus is drawn from the standard MBBS curriculum across pre-clinical, para-clinical and clinical subjects. The pre-clinical portion includes anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, tested with an eye to clinical correlation. Para-clinical subjects cover pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, forensic medicine and community medicine. The clinical block carries the greater share and spans general medicine with its sub-specialities, general surgery and allied surgical disciplines, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, dermatology, psychiatry, radiology and imaging, anaesthesiology and emergency care. INI-CET papers have a reputation for conceptual, application-based questions — clinical vignettes, mechanism-of-disease reasoning, image interpretation and recent advances — rather than plain factual recall. Because AIIMS sets the paper, questions frequently reflect themes emphasised in standard AIIMS teaching material and previous AIIMS-PG papers, which makes solving past INI-CET and AIIMS papers a central element of preparation alongside textbook revision.
How to prepare
- Ground yourself in the core subjects. Revise the MBBS syllabus subject by subject, giving clinical subjects the larger share of time while keeping anatomy, pathology, pharmacology and physiology conceptually solid.
- Practise purpose-built questions. Work through topic-wise question banks and, most importantly, previous-year INI-CET and AIIMS-PG papers to absorb the exam's conceptual, image-heavy style.
- Rehearse the time-locked format. Take full-length computer mocks of 200 questions in three hours, divided into four timed parts, to build stamina and to learn calibrated guessing under one-third negative marking.
- Revise repeatedly, not endlessly. Compress subjects into short notes and charts, revise in cycles, and track errors in a written log so that recurring weak topics are addressed rather than repeated.
Preparation with PrepElephant
PrepElephant supports INI-CET preparation with previous-year question practice, question banks, mock tests and revision tools in the PrepElephant app, along with free guides and resources on this website. The examination is conducted by AIIMS New Delhi, and all notifications, applications and results should be confirmed through official AIIMS channels.
After the exam
Candidates receive a percentile and rank, and AIIMS New Delhi conducts online counselling and seat allocation across the participating institutes, with category-wise and institute-wise seat matrices published during the process. Qualifying INI-CET leads to admission to a three-year MD or MS course at an Institute of National Importance — an AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER, NIMHANS or SCTIMST — after which graduates may pursue superspeciality entrances such as INI-SS or NEET-SS.
Qualifications this exam leads to
Frequently asked questions
Who is eligible for INI-CET?
Candidates must hold an MBBS degree from a recognised institution, have completed the compulsory rotating internship by the cut-off date specified for the session, and be registered with the National Medical Commission or a State Medical Council. AIIMS graduates and sponsored candidates follow the eligibility conditions stated in the prospectus.
How many times is INI-CET held in a year?
Twice, for the January and July admission sessions. Exact dates are announced by AIIMS New Delhi for each session on aiimsexams.ac.in.
Is there a limit on the number of attempts?
No fixed attempt limit is prescribed; candidates may appear in successive sessions as long as they continue to satisfy the eligibility conditions.
What is the marking scheme?
Each correct answer earns one mark and each incorrect answer costs one-third of a mark. Unattempted questions carry no penalty, so accuracy matters more than sheer volume of attempts.
How is INI-CET different from NEET-PG?
INI-CET admits candidates to MD and MS seats only at the Institutes of National Importance, while NEET-PG covers MD, MS and diploma seats across medical colleges nationwide. Many candidates prepare for both, since the syllabus overlaps substantially.
Is INI-CET difficult?
The paper is application-based and conceptually demanding, with a different flavour from NEET-PG rather than a uniformly higher difficulty. Consistent revision combined with previous-paper practice is the established approach.
What are the time-locked sections?
The 200 questions are delivered in four parts of 50 questions each. Once a part's time is over, the screen moves to the next part and earlier questions can no longer be revisited.
How are results and counselling conducted?
AIIMS declares session-wise percentiles, ranks and category cut-offs, followed by online counselling and seat allotment across the participating institutes according to rank, category and filled preferences.
Does PrepElephant cover INI-CET?
Yes. PrepElephant offers previous-year question practice, question banks, mock tests and revision tools for INI-CET in the app, along with free guides and resources on this website.
Official sources
aiimsexams.ac.in
Practise this in the PrepElephant app
Question banks, previous-year questions, mock tests and revision tools — for Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test. Free to start.