NEET SS Counselling 2025: Special Stray Round Seat Matrix

NEET SS Counselling 2025 has moved into its special stray vacancy round, and the seat matrix is out. The Medical Counselling Committee has released a clear vacancy list showing 1,814 seats across DM, MCh and DNB Super Speciality (DNB SS) programmes.
Here's what the seat matrix covers, who can apply, and the dates you need to track.

The matrix covers 1,814 vacant seats spread across speciality groups such as Anaesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Medical Group and Surgical Group. Seats span government, private and deemed institutions across several states and Union Territories.
Tamil Nadu gets a specific mention in the notice. Any in-service seats left vacant in the state after its own stray round are expected to be reverted to the central counselling authority and added to the All India NEET SS seat matrix, so the national vacancy count could shift slightly as that process plays out.
This round exists because the NEET SS qualifying percentile was reduced from the 50th to the 30th percentile, in compliance with the Supreme Court's September 17, 2026 order in Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association & Anr vs Union of India & Ors. MCC confirmed the revised eligibility criteria in its September 28 notice.

This is a non-upgradation round, which is an important distinction if you already hold a seat from an earlier round. Here's who is eligible to participate:
• Candidates who were not allotted a seat in Round 1 or Round 2
• Candidates who became eligible only after the qualifying percentile was reduced from 50th to 30th
• Candidates who were allotted a seat in Round 1 or Round 2 but did not join it
If you fall into that last group, there's a catch worth knowing upfront. Your earlier exit involved forfeiture, so you will need to complete fresh registration and pay the applicable fees all over again to take part this time.

Here is the complete timeline for this round:

Notice that registration, payment and choice filling all run at the same time, and choice locking begins the evening before the filling window even closes. If you're planning to register, don't leave it for the last day; give yourself room to fill and review your choices properly before the lock.

You can view the complete official seat matrix directly on the government document repository. The matrix is published as a PDF and lists seats institute-wise, so you can check exactly how many seats are open at each college and in which speciality.
Access the official NEET SS special stray vacancy round seat matrix PDF here
Once you open the file, search for your preferred institute or speciality rather than scrolling the entire document, since it covers a large number of seats across the country.

Here's the process, step by step:
• Complete registration on the MCC website
• Pay the required counselling fee and security deposit
• Fill in your preferred courses and institutes
• Lock your choices within the specified window
• Wait for the seat allotment result on September 30
• Report to your allotted institute between October 1 and 6
If you were previously exited from a seat and forfeited your deposit, remember that fresh registration means paying the fees again in full, there's no carryover from your earlier attempt.

Once the seat allotment result is out on September 30, MCC will publish the allotment list showing which candidates have been allotted seats against which institutes and courses. Candidates allotted a seat then have from October 1 to October 6 to complete reporting and admission formalities.
Given how short that reporting window is, it's worth deciding in advance how you'll travel and which documents you'll need, rather than figuring it out only after you see your result.

Because this round follows directly from a court order rather than the routine counselling calendar, it comes with a slightly different structure than what you might be used to from earlier rounds. The non-upgradation rule is the biggest thing to keep in mind: this round is for filling vacant seats and bringing newly eligible candidates in, not for helping already-seated candidates move to a better college.
If you're newly eligible because of the reduced percentile, take the time to actually study the seat matrix PDF before choice filling opens. A rushed choice list built on partial information rarely produces the outcome you're hoping for.