If you are searching for NEET PG negative marking, start with the official scheme. According to the NEET-PG 2026 Information Bulletin, a correct answer earned 4 marks, a wrong answer lost 1, and a question left blank scored 0. Everything below that line is our view on how to decide under the clock. The 2027 scheme will be whatever the 2027 bulletin says.
What was the NEET PG 2026 marking scheme?
The bulletin sets three outcomes for each multiple choice question: +4, -1, or 0. There were four options per question. Once a section's 42 minutes were over, that section closed, and you could not return to change a mark. We wrote about that lock in the section-wise exam pattern post.
When we checked, the NBEMS NEET-PG page listed no 2027 bulletin, so treat the advice below as practice for the last known scheme.
Does that mean you should always guess?
We don't think so. On paper, a blank is safer than a wrong answer. In a locked section, a long guess has a second cost: the time it takes from questions you may know. In our view, the marking scheme answers what a wrong answer costs in marks. It does not answer what a slow guess costs in the rest of the section.
When would we leave a question blank?
Here is the rule we would practise. It is our opinion, not a promise about scores.
- Leave it blank if you cannot narrow it past a coin flip, or if the question has already eaten the time of the next one.
- Answer and move on if you can cut it to two options you can defend, and you still have pace for the rest of the section.
- Answer firmly if you know it, even if it took a little longer than average. Don't second-guess a known answer to "save" time you no longer need.
We would rather finish a section with a few honest blanks than with a cluster of late, thin guesses that also stole time from easier questions behind them.
How do you practise the skip decision?
Not by reading more marking schemes. By answering under a clock and writing one line after each set: how many you left blank on purpose, and whether the ones you forced were also wrong.
Short timed sets fit a duty day. We wrote about fitting them into a posting in NEET PG preparation with internship, and about finding weak subjects after a result in the first two weeks after results. Use the same notebook habit here. Over a few weeks, the page shows whether your guesses are earning marks or just spending seconds.
What this is not
This is not a calculator that tells you a score. Individual accuracy on guesses varies, and no post can know yours. We are not saying that guessing raises ranks, or that blanks always lose marks relative to a guess. We are saying: under a locked clock, decide before the question starts eating the next one.
Where Prepari fits
We built Prepari to make that decision visible. Sessions run 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes, drawn from 35,000+ questions across 19 subjects. Every answer is timed, so you can see which subjects slow you into thin guesses, and wrong answers come back for review.
The next step
In your next timed set, pick one rule in advance: if you cannot cut a question to two options in under a minute, leave it and move. Note how many you left. That is enough for today.
Start practicing at prepari.in. 20 free questions a day.
This post is our opinion on how to decide under negative marking, not official guidance, and it may change when NBEMS publishes the 2027 bulletin. Drafted with AI assistance for Prepari. The 2026 marking scheme was checked against the NEET-PG 2026 Information Bulletin and the NBEMS NEET-PG page on 5 October 2026.