INI-CET is an examination conducted by AIIMS, New Delhi. This exam is conducted twice a year for candidates who are seeking admission to PG Medical courses such as MS, MD, MCh and MDS.
INI-CET, or the Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test, is for qualified candidates seeking admission to postgraduate medical courses at AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER, NIMHANS, or SCTIMST.
The participating institutes include AIIMS New Delhi and other participating AIIMS, PGIMER Chandigarh, NIMHANS Bengaluru, SCTIMST Thiruvananthapuram and JIPMER Puducherry.
The courses covered include MD, MS, MDS, MD (Hospital Administration), and six-year DM and MCh programmes, subject to institute-specific seat availability and eligibility requirements.
The exam is conducted by AIIMS on behalf of all the other INIs in the country.
For Indian nationals, the eligibility requirements include:
Qualification: A recognised MBBS degree for MD, MS, six-year DM, six-year MCh and MD (Hospital Administration) courses, or a recognised BDS degree for MDS courses. The degree must be recognised by the relevant regulatory authority, such as the NMC/MCI or DCI.
Minimum Marks: 55% and above aggregate marks in General/EWS/OBC category, 50% and above aggregate marks in SC/ST category.
Internship: Completion of the mandatory 12-month compulsory rotating internship within the deadline specified in the applicable INI-CET session prospectus. Candidates must also provide the required internship completion certificate.
The internship cut-off date and certain admission requirements may differ across sessions and participating institutes. Candidates should consult the relevant Part A and Part B prospectuses before applying.
The entire process for the INI-CET examination is conducted by AIIMS, including the application, examination, results, counselling and seat allocation.
None of the other institutes conducts the examination individually. However, several other INI institutes participate, such as AIIMS all campuses, PGIMER Chandigarh, NIMHANS Bengaluru, SCTIMST Trivandrum and JIPMER Puducherry.
INI-CET consists of 200 MCQs, the duration of which is 3 hours. The examination is conducted by AIIMS, New Delhi, in online mode.
Listed below are a few platforms for preparation of INI-CET:
Prepladder was founded by three co-founders, Deepanshu Goyal, Vitul Goyal and Sahil Goyal. Deepanshu was trying to qualify NEET PG for two years when he realised that many candidates like him do not have the required resources to clear the examination. That is when PrepLadder was started in their basement with a minimum investment of 40K INR.
In 2015, Deepanshu and Vitul, two school friends, started to create a dream team to help young doctors find a career path after MBBS. PrepLadder was launched in 2019 with a new app, new resources, new content and many supportive features to guide NEET-PG applicants.
The INI-CET Seven-Week Edge is a crash course, which includes 40+ Days of Live Classes, Custom Modules (subject-wise), Practice in QBank, 3 Mock Tests and 2 Rounds of Structured Revision. This course will help candidates focus on their INI-CET preparations to strengthen the concepts which have been discussed while preparing for NEET PG. The batch advertised for September 2026 will run from 10th September 2026 to 31st October 2026.
They have many plans for different courses, starting from Rs 11,900 and ranging up to Rs. 22,500 for the elite plan, which includes all the features for medical PG preparation.
Cerebellum Academy was started in 2022 by Dr. Apurv Mehra, Dr. Praveen Tripathi, Dr. Gobind Rai Garg, Dr. Ruhee Mittal and Dr. Vivek Jain.
One of the prime medical educators on the platform is Dr. Dilip Kumar.
The platform provides INI-CET preparation through four features, including live online classes, recorded lectures, question banks and test series. It focuses on conceptual learning and prioritises clinical understanding, concept revision and practice of MCQ tests and PYQ marathons.
Their INI-CET preparation course is currently priced at Rs. 6997.
Cerebellum Academy also offers offline coaching sessions and preparation for other entrance exams such as NEET PG and FMGE.
Pre-PG Prep is a platform and an app which was founded by Arjun Kakkar in 2015. The app was independently developed by MCQdb.
The platform offers the latest clinical pattern questions for upcoming medical entrance examinations such as NEET-PG, INI-CET, JPIMER, AIIMS-PG, FMGE, DNB, CET, etc.
They offer 75000+ MCQ practice questions for candidates preparing for various medical entrance examinations. Another feature called PrepDNA offers in-depth analysis of each topic, which is required for preparation for INI-CET.
The platform also offers a feature called StudyPal, which is an AI “study-buddy” that is available to solve all your doubts instantly.
The platform offers simulation of the real examination through its MCQ-generating feature.
They currently offer two INI-CET plans, one for May 2027 priced at Rs 6,119 and another for November 2027 priced at Rs 8639.
ReflexPrep was founded by Dr. Aditya Gupta in collaboration with GoodEd Technologies Private Limited in 2023.
ReflexPrep focuses on providing candidates with Previous Year Question Papers. It provides PYQs containing the past 10 years' AIIMS/INI-CET/NEET PG papers, which are divided subject wise/topic wise.
Their app is built for revision and does not drown candidates with lengthy information; they provide precise and crisp answers for MCQs.
ReflexPrep works with TROCAR, which is a daily 15-minute topic-wise PYQ quiz, and HAMMER; they also provide a weekly grand test that perfectly simulates the real NEET PG and INI-CET exam format.
ReflexPrep offers plans starting from Rs 899 for three months and another 1-year plan for Rs 1500.
DocTutorials, launched in Hyderabad in 2017 by Adwik Bollineni, Dr. Adit Desai and Karteek Routh, provides five core modules under its INI-CET Programme.
These include video lectures, live classes, a question bank consisting of MCQs that have been reviewed by faculty, Q&A, Quick Revision Programme (QRP) with more than 240 revision videos, test series and mentorship by faculty.
The test series includes grand tests, topic tests, elite tests curated by faculty and System-Based Integrated Tests (SBIT). The platform also provides MCQ discussion videos and doubt-clearing assistance.
Doctutorials offers various plans starting from Rs 10K for three months, going up to Rs 45 K for 36 months.
(OG/ARC/MSM)