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Monday, 5 October

NEET UG · Biology · Class 12

Principles of Inheritance and Variation: NEET previous year questions

43 questions in ten years of NEET, asked in 10 of 10 years. Here is what this chapter tests and how.

Practise this chapter
Asked in 10 years
43
10 of 10 papers
10-year average
4.1
a paper · 3.8 since 2024 -0.5
Typical range
3–5
questions a paper; fewest 2, most 5
Weighted estimate
4.1
model, recent papers count more · about 16 marks
  • Typical range (fact)
  • 10-year average (fact)
  • Weighted estimate (model)

Typical range: questions per paper in the middle eight of the ten papers, leaving out the single highest and lowest year (about the 10th to 90th percentile), each paper scaled to 180 questions. The ten-year average and the range are historical fact. The weighted estimate is a model: each paper's share, with recent papers counting more (half-life three years), and dropped syllabus removed. It is a guide to effort, not a forecast.

What to do

How to spend time on Principles of Inheritance and Variation

Priority

Must do

Among the chapters that held the first half of all NEET questions in ten years. How bands are set

Past questions
43in 10 of 10 papers
Study plan gives it
26 hover 12 months; 20 h over 6
Study this chapter →Practise →

Ideas asked most often

  1. Down, Klinefelter and Turner Syndromes4×
  2. ABO Blood Group Inheritance3×
  3. Mendelian Disorders and Their Loci2×
  4. ABO Blood Group System2×
  5. Sturtevant's Genetic Mapping2×

223 of the 257 ideas in Lumi’s map of this chapter have not been asked or touched in ten years. New questions often come from ideas like these, so learn the whole chapter, not just the list above.

Questions per year

0365’174’185’194’202’216’225’236’243’253’26

Kind of question

SHARE OF 10 YEARS
  • Recall47%
  • Concept14%
  • Calculation12%
  • Application12%
  • Match the lists5%
  • Two statements5%
  • Assertion–reason5%
  • Figure-based2%

Most common asks: numerical (4); definition recall (4); identify scientist for a discovery (3).

Profile

This chapter in numbers

Where it ranks, how steady it is, and what it costs to study.

Rank, all NEET chapters
#4
of 80 by weighted estimate
Rank in Biology
#4
of 32 chapters
Share of the paper
2.3%
ten-year average
Busiest year
2022
6 questions
Year to year
Some swing
varies by about 1.1 questions
Long-run direction
-0.11
questions per paper, per year
Easy questions
54%
44% of ideas rated hard
With a figure
5%
graph, diagram or structure
Botany / Zoology
36 / 7
questions by section
Study time
26 h
20 h on a 6-month plan
Marks per study hour
0.62
#22 of 80 chapters
Foundation for others
76%
of its ideas are used in other chapters

Difficulty, year by year

Each question rated easy, medium or hard against NCERT.

  • 20175
  • 20184
  • 20195
  • 20204
  • 20212
  • 20226
  • 20235
  • 20246
  • 20253
  • 20263
  • Easy
  • Medium
  • Hard

What it asks you to do

SHARE OF QUESTIONS
  • Recall56%
  • Concept19%
  • Application12%
  • Multi-step7%
  • Figure reading2%
  • Calculation2%
  • Data or graph2%

Coverage

How much of the chapter NEET has used

We split the chapter into 257 ideas. In ten years NEET built a question around 21 of them. Most of the chapter has never been asked, which is why learning it whole beats memorising past questions.

Asked as the main idea
21
Touched on in a question
13
Never asked
223

Topics

What repeats, topic by topic

Questions per topic in each year's paper. Topics that come every year are worth learning first.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
05+questions in that year’s paper

  • Mendelian Inheritance

    Expect a one-line factual recall item about Mendelian Inheritance; a conceptual single-answer item (reasoning rather than recall) is the next most likely shape. Past framings centre on: definition recall; numerical.

Drill down

Topic, idea, question

Open a topic to see every idea NEET tested inside it, then open an idea to read the questions. Each row shows its ten papers.

  • Open20 · 47%332252

    14 ideas inside

    • Repeated3 · 15%
    • Repeated3 · 15%
    • Repeated2 · 10%
    • 2 · 10%2
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
    • 1 · 5%
  • Open15 · 35%2233
  • Open6 · 14%22
  • Open2 · 5%2

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

The exact ideas NEET has asked

Inside the topics, 31 different ideas were tested. These came more than once, or are new since 2024.

  • Down, Klinefelter and Turner Syndromes4×

    count correct statements on a genetic disorder

  • ABO Blood Group Inheritance3×

    count correct features of abo inheritance

  • Mendelian Disorders and Their Loci2×

    correct match on genetic disorders

  • ABO Blood Group System2×

    identify incorrect statement on abo alleles

  • Sturtevant's Genetic Mapping2×

    identify scientist for a discovery

  • XO, XY and ZW Sex Determination2×

    identify group with sex determination type

  • X-linked Recessive Inheritance2×

    inheritance pattern of an x-linked trait

  • Mendel's Seven Contrasting Traits2×

    statement i/ii on mendel experiments

  • Monohybrid Punnett Square2×

    definition recall

  • Mendel's Seven Contrasting TraitsNew1×

    assertion-reason on mendelian inheritance

  • Polygenic InheritanceNew1×

    identify pattern of inheritance

  • F2 Phenotypic Ratio 9:3:3:1New1×

    numerical

  • Pedigree Carrier ProbabilityNew1×

    numerical

  • Back Cross vs Test CrossNew1×

    match list on genetics terms

  • Examples of Incomplete DominanceNew1×

    predict phenotypes of a cross

  • Law of Dominance PostulatesNew1×

    count correct statements on mendel's laws

  • Test Cross ApplicationNew1×

    identify genotype for test cross

Every question

Principles of Inheritance and Variation questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper.

NEET 20263 questions

  • Q138Given below are two statements: Statement I: Down's syndrome is caused by the absence of one of the X-chromosomes. Statement II: Turner's…Two statements
  • Q169For a person with blood group 'O', which of the following is not a possible combination of parents' blood group genotypes ?One-line MCQ
  • Q175Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R. Assertion A: In an experiment,…Assertion–reason

NEET 20253 questions

  • Q130What is the pattern of inheritance for polygenic trait?One-line MCQ
  • Q145Genes R and Y follow independent assortment. If RRYY produce round yellow seeds and rryy produce wrinkled green seeds, what will be the…One-line MCQ
  • Q152With the help of given pedigree, find out the probability for the birth of a child having no disease and being a carrier (has the disease…Numerical · figure

NEET 20246 questions

  • Q113Match List I with List II List I | List II A. Two or more alternative forms of a gene | I. Back cross B. Cross of F1_1 progeny with…Match the lists
  • Q118Which one of the following can be explained on the basis of Mendel's Law of Dominance? A. Out of one pair of factors one is dominant and…Other
  • Q126A pink flowered Snapdragon plant was crossed with a red flowered Snapdragon plant. What type of phenotype/s is/are expected in the progeny?One-line MCQ
  • Q135In a plant, black seed color (BB/Bb) is dominant over white seed color (bb). In order to find out the genotype of the black seed plant,…One-line MCQ
  • Q182Match List I with List II List-I | List-II A. Down's syndrome | I. 11th chromosome B. α-Thalassaemia | II. 'X' chromosome C.…Match the lists
  • Q190As per ABO blood grouping system, the blood group of father is B+^+, mother is A+^+ and child is O+^+. Their respective genotype can be…Other

NEET 20235 questions

  • Q111Frequency of recombination between gene pairs on same chromosome as a measure of the distance between genes to map their position on…One-line MCQ
  • Q133The phenomenon of pleiotropism refers toOne-line MCQ
  • Q143Which of the following statements are correct about Klinefelter's Syndrome? A. This disorder was first described by Langdon Down (1866).…Other
  • Q180Broad palm with single palm crease is visible in a person suffering from-One-line MCQ
  • Q185Which one of the following symbols represents mating between relatives in human pedigree analysis?Figure-based · figure

NEET 20226 questions

  • Q106XO type of sex determination can be found in :One-line MCQ
  • Q126Given below are two statements : Statement I : Mendel studied seven pairs of contrasting traits in pea plants and proposed the Laws of…Two statements
  • Q144Which of the following occurs due to the presence of autosome linked dominant trait ?One-line MCQ
  • Q146Given below are two statements : one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A) : Mendel's law of…Assertion–reason
  • Q187The recombination frequency between the genes a & c is 5%, b & c is 15%, b & d is 9%, a & b is 20%, c & d is 24% and a & d is 29%. What…One-line MCQ
  • Q198If a colour blind female marries a man whose mother was also colour blind, what are the chances of her progeny having colour blindness ?One-line MCQ

NEET 20212 questions

  • Q125The production of gametes by the parents, formation of zygotes, the F1F_1 and F2F_2 plants, can be understood from a diagram called :One-line MCQ
  • Q179In a cross between a male and female, both heterozygous for sickle cell anaemia gene, what percentage of the progeny will be diseased ?One-line MCQ

NEET 20204 questions

  • Q6Identify the wrong statement with reference to the gene 'I' that controls ABO blood groups.One-line MCQ
  • Q8Select the correct match.One-line MCQ
  • Q61How many true breeding pea plant varieties did Mendel select as pairs, which were similar except in one character with contrasting traits ?One-line MCQ
  • Q83Experimental verification of the chromosomal theory of inheritance was done by :One-line MCQ

NEET 20195 questions

  • Q121Select the incorrect statement.One-line MCQ
  • Q129What map unit (Centimorgan) is adopted in the construction of genetic maps ?One-line MCQ
  • Q147In Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), a red flower was crossed with a white flower and in F1F_1 generation, pink flowers were obtained. When pink…One-line MCQ
  • Q165The frequency of recombination between gene pairs on the same chromosome as a measure of the distance between genes was explained by :One-line MCQ
  • Q176What is the genetic disorder in which an individual has an overall masculine development, gynaecomastia, and is sterile ?One-line MCQ

NEET 20184 questions

  • Q104Which of the following pairs is wrongly matched ?One-line MCQ
  • Q105Select the correct statement :One-line MCQ
  • Q159A woman has an X-linked condition on one of her X chromosomes. This chromosome can be inherited byOne-line MCQ
  • Q180Which of the following characteristics represent 'Inheritance of blood groups' in humans ? a. Dominance b. Co-dominance c. Multiple allele…Other

NEET 20175 questions

  • Q128A disease caused by an autosomal primary non-disjunction isOne-line MCQ
  • Q134The genotypes of a Husband and Wife are IAIBI^AI^B and IAiI^Ai. Among the blood types of their children, how many different genotypes and…One-line MCQ
  • Q147Among the following characters, which one was not considered by Mendel in his experiments on pea ?One-line MCQ
  • Q151Which one from those given below is the period for Mendel's hybridization experiments ?One-line MCQ
  • Q179Thalassemia and sickle cell anemia are caused due to a problem in globin molecule synthesis. Select the correct statement.One-line MCQ

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.

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