UP cancels UPCPMT 2016; to refund students exam fees

Uttar Pradesh has become one of the first states to officially announce the cancellation of its combined pre-medical entrance test (CPMT) 2016, after the recent verdict on NEET. The state medical education officials have also announced refund of fees to lakhs of students who has registered for CPMT 2016, which was scheduled on May 17.

It will now hold a separate exam for students seeking admission to state Ayurvedic, Unani and homeopathy colleges. Principal secretary medical education Anup Pandey confirmed the news.

"The exam will be conducted by an institution nominated as per due procedure. The details would be announced and publicized soon," he said to TOI.

He also implied that Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University has been directed by the Medical Education department to refund the fee to students who applied for CPMT-2016. The university was conducting the exam. The details of the refund are expected to be posted soon on cpmtup2016.org.

Many students will now have to appear for the NEET phase II to seek admission in reputed state medical colleges like King George's Medical University, Saifai Medical University, and other state medical colleges. CPMT was the earlier route to admission in these colleges.

These students will now have a second chance to clear the NEET, as the SC has allowed students to re-appear in NEET-phase II. In other words, students who have appeared for NEET Phase I or state CET’s now have one more lifeline-for securing medical college admissions this academic year.

Goa, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh are reported to have conducted own common medical entrance tests. However, after the recent verdict of SC on NEET, the respective state governments have been forced to file a review petition, leaving many students in a lurch. These exams at the moment are not legally valid, till the next hearing in the court.