Minimum Attendance for MBBS: NMC 75 and 80 Per Cent Rules

The minimum attendance for MBBS in India is 75 per cent in theory and 80 per cent in practical or clinical work, counted separately for every subject and every phase. Fall short in one subject and you cannot sit that subject's university exam. There is no NMC condonation; the only relief is remedial classes, and only above 60 per cent.

Reviewed by MUDr. Andreas Zehetner. Published 22 October 2026. Rules last checked against the NMC CBME Guidelines 2024 on 22 October 2026.

Key takeaways on MBBS attendance rules

• The thresholds are 75 per cent theory and 80 per cent practical or clinical, per subject, per phase. They come from the NMC's Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum Guidelines dated 12 September 2024, not from the gazetted 2023 regulations, which leave attendance to these guidelines.

• Separate floors apply to other parts of the course: 75 per cent in the Foundation Course, 75 per cent in AETCOM, 80 per cent in Family Adoption Programme visits and 75 per cent in electives.

• Attendance is only half the gate. You also need 50 per cent in internal assessment, combined theory and practical, with at least 40 per cent in each separately.

• A student between 60 and 75 per cent can be allowed remedial classes and then the supplementary exam. Below 60 per cent, there is no route into that year's exam at all.

• Being detained is not an attempt. Attempts are counted only when you actually appear for the university exam.

• During internship, the leave allowance is 15 days in total, and medical leave sits inside those 15 days. Anything beyond extends the internship.

MBBS attendance requirements at a glance

Source: NMC CBME Curriculum Guidelines 2024 (PDF, 12 September 2024), eligibility to appear for professional examinations, and Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations 2021 (PDF, gazette 18 November 2021), leave rules.

Where the minimum attendance for MBBS rule actually comes from

Many pages on MBBS in India cite "NMC regulations" for the percentages. The gazetted Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2023 (PDF, 2 June 2023) do not contain the word attendance. Clause 21 says every student "shall undergo training as per the guidelines published by the UGMEB of NMC and displayed on the NMC website from time to time". The guidelines are the CBME Curriculum Guidelines, first issued on 31 August 2024, withdrawn on 5 September 2024, and re-issued in their current form on 12 September 2024.

The operative text, from the assessment section of those guidelines, reads: "There shall be a minimum of 75% attendance in theory and 80% attendance in practical/clinical for eligibility to appear for the examinations in that subject. In subjects that are taught in more than one phase, the learner must have 75% attendance in theory and 80% attendance in practical in each phase of instruction in that subject. There shall be a minimum of 75% attendance in AETCOM and minimum of 80% attendance in family visits under Family adoption programme."

The percentages are the same ones the old Medical Council of India wrote into clause 11.1.1 of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997 as amended on 4 November 2019 (PDF). What changed in 2024 is the detail around them: the 80 per cent floor for family visits, AETCOM attendance now gating every exam in the phase, the explicit 60 per cent floor for remedial classes, and a written duty on colleges to warn students and parents before detaining anyone.

How MBBS attendance is counted: per subject, per phase

Attendance is not one number for the year. Each of the MBBS subjects in each year carries its own count. It is a separate number for theory and for practical in every subject, and in every phase in which that subject is taught. A first-year student with 90 per cent in Anatomy, 85 per cent in Physiology and 70 per cent in Biochemistry theory is eligible in two subjects and detained in the third. The guideline for combined exams is just as strict: "If an examination comprises more than one subject (for e.g., General Surgery and allied branches), the candidate must have a minimum of 75% attendance in each subject including its allied branches, and 80% attendance in each clinical posting."

Three things follow. A strong month cannot rescue a weak subject, because the count is by subject. Clinical postings in later years are counted posting by posting, so a two-week posting with three days missed can be short on its own. And electives cannot be used to top up: the guidelines say "the elective time shall not be used to make up for missed clinical postings, shortage of attendance or other purposes".

Attendance is now recorded electronically. The NMC's Minimum Standard Requirements for undergraduate courses, 2023, say in clause 3.2 that Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance, "preferably with face recognition of all students attending every lecture/teaching class/seminar shall be recorded and linked to NMC". That is the NMC UG Minimum Standard Requirements 2023 (PDF). The face-authentication app has been the NMC's attendance method since 24 April 2025, so the register your college submits is the one the regulator sees.

What happens if your attendance is below 75 per cent in MBBS

The guidelines set out a ladder, and where you land on it depends on your exact percentage.

The exact wording: "For attendance, he will be allowed remedial measures ONLY IF attendance is more than 60% for each component." And: "Students who have less than 75% attendance in theory and 80% attendance in practical cannot appear for University examination, however; they may appear for Supplementary examination provided they attend the remedial classes organised between University Sit and Supplementary exam. Students who have attendance 60% or above shall be eligible for such remedial classes."

A detained first-year student who then fails the supplementary goes to the junior batch, under the rule that "there shall be no supplementary batches"; our web story on failing a year in MBBS walks through that sequence. The clock matters here: first professional must be cleared within four attempts and four years, a limit the NMC relaxed to five attempts for admissions from 2019-20 onwards in its notice of 15 October 2026. Our web story on the NMC mercy attempt for first-year MBBS summarises who qualifies.

Does detention for attendance count as an attempt?

No. The CBME 2024 guidelines say: "If a candidate has not appeared for university examination (both theory and practical) for a subject then it shall not be counted as an attempt for that subject." Only appearing counts, and appearing for theory alone or practical alone is a full attempt. So a student detained in first year has lost a year but not one of the four attempts. This matters because the four-attempt limit, not the attendance rule, is what ends an MBBS admission. Our guide to attempt limits in NEET and MBBS sets the two rules side by side.

Can attendance shortage be condoned in MBBS?

Not by the NMC. The CBME 2024 guidelines contain no condonation clause. The only relief in the NMC text is the remedial-class route for students above 60 per cent. The NMC's own CBME FAQ, question 3, says a student with attendance "less than 75% for theory and less than 80% for practical/clinical training" is "required to take classes with junior batch commencing in the next academic year", and that "the college authorities may arrange for additional classes to compensate for attendance deficit". That FAQ is on the NMC site as the NMC CBME FAQ (PDF).

Universities differ in how they put this into practice, and this is the part students hear about from seniors and get wrong. Kerala University of Health Sciences states in its examination notices that "there is no provision for condonation of shortage of attendance" and that shortage even in a non-examination subject bars a student. Some deemed universities keep an older institutional rule under which the Vice Chancellor can condone a shortfall, but never below a stated floor such as 70 per cent. Neither practice overrides the NMC floor of 60 per cent for the remedial route, and no university can let a student with 50 per cent attendance sit the exam.

Is medical leave excluded from the attendance count?

During the MBBS course, no. The NMC text has no exclusion for sickness, bereavement, sports or any other reason. A hospital certificate explains the absence to the college; it does not remove the days from the denominator. What the guidelines do say is that remedial classes "can be planned for students missing regular classes on genuine grounds", which is the formal place for a long illness: it can take a student from 65 per cent to the supplementary exam, but it cannot take a student from 55 per cent anywhere.

During internship, the position is different and stricter. The Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations 2021 allow "a maximum of fifteen days leave with prior permission, during the entire period of internship", and say "Medical Leave shall be included within the fifteen days of normal leave". Leave beyond that needs a Medical Board, and "the internship shall be extended" by the number of extra days, in the department where the absence happened. Maternity leave follows government rules, and paternity leave is two weeks. Our post on the MBBS internship in India covers the rotation and stipend rules.

Attendance rules for the Foundation Course, AETCOM, family visits and electives

These four are the ones students forget, because they are not "subjects" with a textbook. Each has its own floor, and each can detain you from a mainstream exam.

• Foundation Course. The first weeks of MBBS. "The Foundation Course shall have a minimum of 75% attendance of all students mandatorily. This will be certified by the Principal/Dean of the college."

• AETCOM. The attitude, ethics and communication modules that run through all phases. "75% attendance in AETCOM Module is mandatory for eligibility to appear for all university examinations of all subjects in each Phase." Miss AETCOM and you are detained in every subject, not one.

• Family Adoption Programme. The village or community visits that start in first year. The floor is 80 per cent of the visits, the same as practical work.

• Electives. The block before Third Professional Part II. "75% attendance in the electives and submission of log book maintained during electives is required for eligibility to appear in the University MBBS examination." Students below 75 per cent "will not be eligible for the Third Professional Part II examination".

Your college must warn you before detaining you

This is a rule, not a courtesy. The CBME 2024 guidelines say "the students/parents must be intimated about the possibility of being detained much before the final university examination". Colleges operate it in different ways. Government Medical College Jammu, for example, asks every head of department to submit monthly attendance to the Dean and to inform parents or guardians of students with low attendance. If your college has a mid-term attendance list, read it. If it does not publish one, ask the department office for your percentage in each subject every month.

How to stay above the line: a working plan

1. Find out the cut-off date for attendance calculation at your university. Universities set a date a few weeks before the exam, after which attendance is frozen. One deemed university's notice for its September 2025 first-year exam set the cut-off at 14 August 2025, four weeks before the papers.

2. Keep your own tally per subject, theory and practical separately, from day one. A college register can be corrected only if you notice the error early.

3. Treat 80 per cent as the floor for everything, so that a two-week illness does not drop a practical below the line. In a typical 200-hour theory course, 75 per cent means you can miss 50 hours in the whole year; in a 60-hour clinical posting, 80 per cent means 12 hours.

4. Get every absence documented at the time, in writing, with the department. It will not remove the days, but it is what the college needs to place you in remedial classes "on genuine grounds".

5. If you are told you are detained, ask for the percentage in writing, check it against the 60 per cent floor, and ask in the same letter to be enrolled in remedial classes for the supplementary exam.

Sources

• NMC Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum Guidelines, dated 12 September 2024, sections on Foundation Course, AETCOM, electives and eligibility to appear for professional examinations (PDF)

• NMC Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2023, gazette dated 2 June 2023, clauses 20 and 21 (PDF)

• Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997 as amended on 4 November 2019, clause 11.1.1 (PDF)

• NMC Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations 2021, gazette dated 18 November 2021, leave rules (PDF)

• NMC Minimum Standard Requirements for Undergraduate Courses 2023, clause 3.2 on biometric attendance (PDF)

• NMC CBME Frequently Asked Questions, question 3 on attendance shortage (PDF)