NEET Previous Year Papers 2016–2025: What 10 Years of Questions Show
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Ten years of NEET papers are a lot of evidence. We went through 11 official papers, from NEET 2016 (phase 1 and phase 2) to NEET 2025, and tagged all 2,060 questions to the official syllabus. Here is what changed over time and what stayed the same.
The papers we used
- NEET 2016 phase 1 and phase 2, NEET 2017 and NEET 2018 (conducted by CBSE).
- NEET 2019 to 2025 (conducted by NTA).
- 2016–2020 and 2025: 180 questions. 2021–2024: 200 questions, with 180 to be attempted.
Because the 2021–2024 papers had extra questions, raw counts are not fair for comparing years. Below we compare each unit's share of its subject in the first five papers (2016 phase 1 to 2019) against the last five (2021 to 2025). The 2020 paper sits in the middle and is left out of this comparison. The tables show the three units that gained the most share and the three that lost the most.
Subject balance has stayed fixed
Every paper in the set gives half its questions to Biology and a quarter each to Physics and Chemistry: 45 + 45 + 90 in the 180-question papers, and 50 + 50 + 100 in the 200-question papers. Across all 11 papers that is 515 Physics, 515 Chemistry and 1,030 Biology questions. Biology remains the subject with the most marks at stake.
Physics: electricity rose, heat and optics dipped
| Physics unit | 2016–2019 papers (5) | 2021–2025 papers (5) | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrostatics | 12 (5.3%) | 21 (8.6%) | +3.2 points |
| Physics and Measurement | 3 (1.3%) | 11 (4.5%) | +3.2 points |
| Current Electricity | 12 (5.3%) | 20 (8.2%) | +2.8 points |
| Properties of Solids and Liquids | 20 (8.9%) | 14 (5.7%) | −3.2 points |
| Thermodynamics | 10 (4.4%) | 4 (1.6%) | −2.8 points |
| Optics | 24 (10.7%) | 20 (8.2%) | −2.5 points |
The first five papers had 225 Physics questions in total; the last five had 245. Electrostatics and Current Electricity together rose from 24 to 41 questions. Physics and Measurement, which covers units, errors and dimensions, went from 3 questions to 11. On the other side, Properties of Solids and Liquids, Thermodynamics and Optics lost share, although Optics still had 4 questions in every paper from 2020 to 2025. Class 12 units account for 148 of the 245 Physics questions in the last five papers.
Chemistry: the syllabus cut shows up clearly
| Chemistry unit | 2016–2019 papers (5) | 2021–2025 papers (5) | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Compounds Containing Nitrogen | 6 (2.7%) | 13 (5.3%) | +2.6 points |
| Some Basic Concepts in Chemistry | 6 (2.7%) | 13 (5.3%) | +2.6 points |
| d- and f-Block Elements | 8 (3.6%) | 15 (6.1%) | +2.6 points |
| p-Block Elements | 27 (12.0%) | 16 (6.5%) | −5.5 points |
| Equilibrium | 15 (6.7%) | 12 (4.9%) | −1.8 points |
| Some Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry | 15 (6.7%) | 12 (4.9%) | −1.8 points |
The biggest fall in the whole data set is p-Block Elements, from 27 questions in the first five papers to 16 in the last five, and only 1 in NEET 2025. This matches the revision, which kept only the general trends of Groups 13 to 18. Meanwhile, d- and f-Block Elements, Organic Compounds Containing Nitrogen and Some Basic Concepts (the mole concept unit) roughly doubled. Purification and Characterisation of Organic Compounds, a unit that became explicit in the revised syllabus, went from 1 question to 6.
Biology: cell biology and biotechnology grew
| Biology unit | 2016–2019 papers (5) | 2021–2025 papers (5) | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cell Structure and Function (Botany) | 38 (8.4%) | 63 (12.9%) | +4.4 points |
| Biotechnology and its Applications (Zoology) | 24 (5.3%) | 41 (8.4%) | +3.0 points |
| Plant Physiology (Botany) | 30 (6.7%) | 44 (9.0%) | +2.3 points |
| Human Physiology (Zoology) | 65 (14.4%) | 51 (10.4%) | −4.0 points |
| Diversity in Living World (Botany) | 38 (8.4%) | 26 (5.3%) | −3.1 points |
| Reproduction (Botany) | 23 (5.1%) | 14 (2.9%) | −2.3 points |
Shares here are of all Biology questions (450 in the first five papers, 490 in the last five). Cell Structure and Function grew the most, from 38 to 63 questions. Biotechnology and Its Applications went from 24 to 41, and Plant Physiology from 30 to 44. Human Physiology is still large, but its share fell. That fits with the revision, which removed Digestion and Absorption as well as reflex action and the sense organs from this area. Diversity in Living World (Botany) and plant Reproduction also lost share.
What stayed steady
Some units are reliable every single year. Here are year-by-year question counts for a few of them:
| Unit | 2016 P1 | 2016 P2 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optics | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Electrostatics | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| p-Block Elements | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Cell Structure and Function | 11 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 9 |
| Human Physiology | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 7 |
| Biotechnology and its Applications | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
Optics never had fewer than 4 questions. Human Physiology had at least 11 questions in every paper up to 2024 and 7 in 2025. Cell Structure and Function ranged from 5 to 15.
Biology is NCERT-chapter based
The official Biology syllabus is written chapter by chapter around the NCERT books for Classes 11 and 12. All 1,030 Biology questions in our data fit into one of the 10 official units and their NCERT chapters. The top topics, such as the cell cycle, the plant kingdom, plant anatomy, protein synthesis and recombinant DNA technology, are all core NCERT chapters. Reading the NCERT text closely, including diagrams, tables and examples, is the most direct preparation for this section.
Removed topics faded out
Papers from 2016 to 2023 each had 24 to 32 questions on topics that are now out of syllabus. In NEET 2024 that dropped to 9 borderline cases and in NEET 2025 to 2. So the recent papers are the closest match to what you will face.
What to take from this
- Give more time to units whose share has grown: Cell Structure and Function, Biotechnology, Plant Physiology, Electrostatics, Current Electricity, and the mole concept.
- Do not ignore units that dipped. A smaller share is still several questions a paper.
- Practise the latest papers under timed conditions and older papers by unit. Find them all on our NEET previous year papers page and build unit-wise sets in the topic-wise test builder.
- For dates and updates on the exam, see the NEET tracker.
Data source: Doubtly's own analysis of 2,060 questions from 11 official NEET (UG) papers (2016 phase 1 and phase 2, and 2017 to 2025), each tagged to the official NMC NEET (UG) 2026 syllabus. Official papers, answer keys and syllabus: neet.nta.nic.in.
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