The Nursing Officer Recruitment Common Eligibility Test (NORCET-9) conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has drawn controversy after allegations of a paper leak surfaced soon after the declaration of stage 1 results on September 18, 2025. Out of the 88,902 candidates who appeared, 46,014 qualified for the next stage.
Soon after the results were announced, several candidates claimed that nearly 60% of the questions were already circulating on social media platforms such as X before the test. Reports of technical glitches, including system crashes and exam delays, further fueled discontent among aspirants, leading to online protests.
AIIMS has issued an official clarification dismissing the allegations. According to the institute, the content shared online was memory-based questions recalled by candidates post-exam, which is a common occurrence in competitive tests.
“Upon careful review, it is clarified that the materials shared online consist exclusively of memory-based questions recalled by the candidates after the examination, a routine and widespread practice. This does not constitute a paper leak,” AIIMS said.
An internal committee was constituted to probe the claims, and after review, the institute confirmed that the integrity of NORCET-9 remains intact, with no malpractice or undue advantage reported. AIIMS reiterated that all recruitment exams are conducted in a fair and transparent manner, with merit being the only selection criterion.
The Stage 2 exam of NORCET-9 is scheduled for September 27, 2025. The admit cards will be released on September 24, while details of the exam city and state will be notified a week prior.
NORCET-9 is being held to fill 3,700 nursing officer posts across AIIMS campuses and other medical institutions in India. Interestingly, the cut-off marks for this edition have seen a dip compared to previous years. The unreserved category cut-off was 90.71, lower than 93.53 in NORCET-8 and 95.84 in NORCET-7.