NCAHP notifies UGC: NEET UG must for physiotherapy, university tests for psychology courses

NEET UG Counselling: The physiotherapy and occupational therapy aspirants around the country may have to take the National Eligibility cum Entrance - Undergraduate (NEET UG) exam from the upcoming academic year 2026-27, while those seeking to pursue psychology and medical and psychiatric social work will likely be subjected to an entrance test by the college or university where they intend to enrol.

The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP), the apex body for allied and healthcare professions and education, has sent a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC), detailing the new uniform admission criteria for 15 allied and healthcare programmes (AHP). The commission has requested the higher education regulator to ensure that all the universities under its purview adhere to the listed eligibility requirements and the admission process from 2026-27.

These admission guidelines mark a significant step in the direction of standardising and regulating AHPs – commonly called ‘paramedical’ courses, but NCAHP has prohibited the use of this term. However, these norms will only be applicable if and when the state governments, their councils for respective AHPs and the varsities adopt them.

The standardisation efforts are being spearheaded by NCAHP, which was established by the central government in 2021 to regulate and maintain the standards of education and services provided by allied and healthcare professionals across India. The commission is tasked with overseeing 56 allied health sciences across 10 broad categories. However, it was only in 2024 that the body was formally constituted.

Also read Allied health sciences, paramedical courses plagued by fake ‘councils’ running across states

NEET UG for BPT, BOT; university tests for BPsy, BMPSW

As its initial work, NCAHP has focused on establishing state-level councils for AHPs, which would be key to implementing the commission’s guidelines. The commission has also released 17 uniform competency-based curricula for 17 programmes, covering 28 professions under its ambit. It’s, however, yet to put in place a centralised mechanism to recognise and affiliate courses and institutes.

While NCAHP has prescribed NEET as the gateway for two healthcare programmes – Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) and Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (BOT) – and university-level tests for Bachelor of Psychology (BPsy) and Bachelor of Medical and Psychiatric Social Work (BMPSW) as the gateway to admission, the enrollment to other programmes are to be carried on the basis of the candidates’ Class 12 scores.

Except for BPsy and BMPSW, all the courses will require the aspirants to have studied physics, chemistry and biology – or mathematics in some cases. Physiotherapy, optometry and occupational therapy also have 50% aggregate score in the three subjects – 40% for reserved category students – as one of the eligibility criteria for admission.

The students also need to have studied and passed English in Class 12 for four programmes – BPT, BOT, Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Hons) and Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management (BSc HIM).

NCAHP criteria to UGC: Medical courses, eligibility, admission

Yagna Shukla, NCAHP chairperson, explained that since psychology and medical psychiatry programmes are open to students from different streams, there needs to be a common test to evaluate them.

“It will be the responsibility of state councils to carry out the admission process as prescribed. We are in constant communication with them. Some, like those in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have already agreed to abide by the common standards,” she said.

Also read ‘TGMC Autonomy Undermined’: Doctors protest Telangana bid to pack medical council with bureaucrats

Psychology Courses: The grey area

However, the question of how psychology programmes will be governed remains to be resolved. Currently, except for clinical psychology programmes, which are regulated to some extent by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, there’s no singular standard-setting body for psychology in the country.

One of the broad categories under NCAHP’s province is ‘community care, behavioural health sciences and other professionals’. It includes 15 professions, such as ‘psychologist’, ‘behavioural analysis’, ‘integrated behaviour health counsellor’, and ‘mental health support workers’ – fields which largely cover the existing psychology courses.

Shukla said while clinical psychology courses will continue to be looked after by RCI, the commission aims to bring all ‘applied psychology’ programmes under its ambit “to the extent possible”.

It has suggested a UG course called ‘BPsy’, which would cover applied psychology and behavioural sciences, while the master's curriculum is still under development. A different programme – BMPSW – has been prescribed to train students in both medical social work and psychiatric social work. The students will be able to specialise in one of these fields at the PG level. "This is being done for the first time, leading to uniformity and standardisation," said Shukla.

Setting common standards for the existing psychology programmes, however, will be a challenge, as there is considerable variation in both the content and nomenclature of psychology courses offered by both humanities and science faculties. The commission, however, isn’t very keen on regulating the psychology programmes within the humanities’ domain. “The experts have opined that the BA Psychology course teaches only part of the psychology profession,” said Shukla.

Also read UGC ban on psychology degrees in distance-education mode leaves 1.3 lakh students in limbo

The NCAHP’s desire to professionalise and standardise psychology programmes has already caused some chaos last year, when UGC, at the behest of the commission, announced the discontinuation of distance-learning programmes in psychology. Those who did BA, MA, BSc and MSc Psychology programmes in online and distance learning (ODL) mode as well as the students currently enrolled in them are anxious about the validity and utility of their courses.

Shukla said that the ODL courses in psychology will continue to be banned. She suggested that while the varsities will have the option of keeping their regular courses out of NCAHP’s ambit, the psychology graduates will only be permitted to register as psychologists and do clinical practice if their programmes are recoginsed by the commission.

NCAHP, however, plans to provide ‘provisional registrations’ for psychology and other AHP graduates if their courses don’t meet the standards of the commission’s common curricula. They will have to undergo a ‘bridge course’ at one of the recognised institutes to cover the deficit and be granted the license to pratices their respective professions. “We will soon issue the norms and conditions for provisional registrations,” said Shukla.