Exam guide · 04 · Scoring & validity
There is no cutoff, and no second year
Two beliefs about NATA scoring are near-universal and both are wrong: that there is a qualifying cutoff around 70/200, and that a score lasts two years. Neither appears in any COA document. What the brochure does say about percentile, carry-over and validity is more consequential than either myth.
Every claim below carries its status. Nothing is asserted without a source, and where the brochure does not state something, or two sections read differently, that is shown rather than resolved.
What the record says
There is no minimum qualifying score. Any non-zero percentile qualifies.
§10.1 verbatim: "No minimum Raw Score is prescribed for qualifying in NATA 2026. The Final Scorecard issued by the Council, indicating the best Raw Score and the corresponding non-zero Percentile Score, shall be the valid qualifying NATA score." You cannot fail NATA by missing a threshold, because no threshold exists.
Source · verified 2026-07-16
The widely-quoted "NATA cutoff of 70/200" is folklore. No official document supports it.
For NATA 2025, coaching sites variously state 70/200 (with Part A >=20 and Part B >=30), 60/200, and 75/200. They do not agree with each other, and none traces to a COA document. Moot for 2026 regardless: the concept does not exist. What DOES exist is an admission cutoff — the score at which a given college, category and quota stopped admitting in a given year. That is an outcome of demand, not a rule of the exam.
Read this carefully: Listed here specifically so the claim can be refuted rather than repeated. Sources conflict and none is official.
Percentile is computed only after all Phase 1 sessions close, against the entire examinee population.
This is why results are normalised across the roughly ten-week rolling window, and why a candidate cannot read their standing from raw marks mid-window.
Source · verified 2026-07-16
Where two Phase 1 attempts are taken, the best raw score is carried into the percentile calculation.
Source · verified 2026-07-16
A NATA 2026 score is valid for the 2026-27 academic session only. There is no two-year validity.
§10.2: "The NATA 2026 score shall be valid for the academic session 2026-2027." The two-year claim is widely repeated and does not appear in the brochure. A candidate planning a drop year must re-sit.
Source · verified 2026-07-16
A candidate holding a valid NATA 2025 score who takes ONE Phase 1 attempt in 2026 keeps the better of the two years.
This is the rule V2.0 reversed. V1.0 (08.03.2026) said the 2025 score would be "rendered invalid" and only the 2026 score would count. V2.0 (10.04.2026) changed this row to "Better of both scores of NATA 2025 & 2026". The Phase 2 row was unchanged in both.
Read this carefully: Anyone advising from the V1.0 PDF — still live at the most widely-cited nata.in URL — is giving out the withdrawn rule. This is the clearest reason to check Appendix VI of whatever copy you are reading.
Source · verified 2026-07-16
Admission authorities may rank on either the best raw score or the percentile, according to their own rules.
"Admission authorities across the country may prepare state-wise merit lists using either the best Raw Score or the Percentile Score, in accordance with their respective admission rules."
Source · verified 2026-07-16
Sources cited on this page
- NATA 2026 Information Brochure V2.0
Published 2026-04-10
The current version, and the highest that exists as of 2026-07-16. TRAP: nata.in serves two brochures simultaneously. V2.0 is at Final-NATA-BROCHURE-2026.pdf; the older, more widely-linked nata-brochure-final.pdf still serves the SUPERSEDED V1.0. Both are titled 'NATA BROCHURE 2026 final'. The coa.gov.in copy above is byte-identical to nata.in's current V2.0. Always check the version box at Appendix VI before trusting a downloaded copy.