NEET Biology Exam Guide

NEET and Biology

In NEET, the Biology syllabus comprises Botany and Zoology, both carrying significant weightage in the overall exam. Each section carries 50 marks, and candidates need to answer 45 questions in each part, giving a total of 360 marks for the Biology component of the exam. 

The NEET exam therefore puts a big focus on biology—it covers almost half the questions and tends to have the highest impact on your NEET score. The biology section mostly throws in straightforward, concept-based questions which are great for students who've prepped strategically, helping them get high scores.

The exam syllabus changes slightly every year, and the 2024 NEET Syllabus got an update on November 22, 2023, straight from the NTA's official website. They've added and dropped a few topics for the upcoming exam.

That's why it's crucial for students to get hold of the updated NEET Biology Syllabus 2024. By knowing the syllabus inside out, you can see which topics each chapter covers as you prepare for NEET 2024. Plus, understanding how much weight each topic carries in marks helps you sort them into more and less important categories.

What Biology topics are included in NEET?

Just like physics and chemistry, the NEET Biology syllabus comes from the Class 11 and 12 curriculum. It covers topics such as genetics, cell biology, reproduction, human physiology, plant physiology, and ecology. 

The Biology segment has two distinct sections: Section A and Section B. Both sections will comprise 35 and 15 questions, respectively. However, in Section B, only 10 questions have to be answered. Despite this, the total number of questions in the Biology section will remain consistent at 90. There are ten topics covered in the syllabus which are outlined below:

What is the weightage of the biology topics?

All the Section A questions have to be answered, but you only need to do 10 of the Section B questions. The weightage between the sections is as follows:

How do you prepare for the Biology section of NEET 2024?

Studying from the NCERT textbooks from Class XI and XII is a starting point, but it won’t give you the depth and breadth of knowledge you need. That is because not all of the questions come from the NCERT books. The questions fall into three types:

Questions directly from the NCERT textbook

There are around 68-72 questions that come from the NCERT books

Past paper questions

These will be around 8-10 of the questions from previous years

Questions modified from previous ones

About 8-10 questions will be new or modified questions. They are normally at a hard level that only the top students are able to answer correctly.

Reference books are a handy way to improve your depth of knowledge, but these can be a bit pricey unless you can get hold of a second hand one or resell it afterwards! The best books for NEET biology are:

1. NCERT Biology Class 11 textbook

2. NCERT Biology Class 12 textbook

3. Pradeep’s A Textbook for Biology Class 12

4. Dinesh - Objective Biology

5. Truman - Objective Biology for NEET

You need to practice, practice, practice. Working through past paper questions is one of the best ways to build your confidence with the biology part of NEET. While past papers give you exposure to the standard of NEET biology questions it doesn’t necessarily help you if you don’t understand the solutions, so you need a range of tools to help you.

A lot of students opt for private tutoring, but this is not always affordable, so online resources such as Save My Exams can help you with your preparation at a lower cost.