NEET UG · Biology · Respiration in Plants

Glycolysis Pathway: NEET previous year questions

7 questions in ten years of NEET, in 6 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Asked in 10 years: 7; about 0.7 per paper
Years asked: 6/10; last asked 2026
Chance of a question next paper: 64%; historical rate, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 0.7; model; history: 0.7 a paper on average, typically 0–1

Key findings

01
Asked in 6 of 10 papers, 7 questions in all: #118 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.6 years on average.
02
86% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; none repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Net Yield of Glycolysis, asked 2 times (2022, 2026), usually as “numerical”.
04
NEET has asked 6 of the 85 ideas in this topic; 73 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (57%); 86% easy, 0% hard.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 0.7; per paper
Since 2024: 0.6; -0.0
Usual gap: 1.6 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±0.6; questions, year to year

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 7 questions on Glycolysis Pathway since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

Easy6 · 86%
Medium1 · 14%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 4 Q57%
Numerical · 1 Q14%
Match the lists · 1 Q14%
Assertion–reason · 1 Q14%

Skill tested

Recall · 5 Q71%
Calculation · 1 Q14%
Concept · 1 Q14%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 6 of the 85 ideas in this topic. 73 have never been asked yet.

Asked directly6 · 7%
Touched inside another question6 · 7%
Never asked73 · 86%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Repeated2 · 29%29%2/10
- 2026 · Q109
  How many molecules of pyruvic acid are produced at the end of glycolysis from 206 molecules of glucose?
  easyNumerical
- 2022 · Q109
  What is the net gain of ATP when each molecule of glucose is converted to two molecules of pyruvic acid ?
  easyOne-line MCQNew idea
1 · 14%14%1/10
1 · 14%14%1/10
1 · 14%14%1/10
1 · 14%14%1/10
1 · 14%14%1/10

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

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

6 different ideas were tested; 1 came more than once. Glycolysis Site and Substrate is the foundation for 75 other ideas in the syllabus.

Net Yield of Glycolysis2×
numerical
Numerical · 6% next · foundation for 7
Glycolysis Site and Substrate1×
match list on respiration steps and locations
Match the lists · 6% next · foundation for 75
ATP Investment Phase1×
assertion-reason on glycolysis
Assertion–reason · 4% next · foundation for 63
Metabolic Fates of Pyruvate1×
recall percentage energy released
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Hexokinase and First Phosphorylation1×
identify enzyme for a reaction step
One-line MCQ · 4% next
NAD+ as the Oxidizing Agent1×
role of a coenzyme
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Net Yield of Glycolysisnumerical	2	NumericalCalculation	6%	7 ideas
Glycolysis Site and Substratematch list on respiration steps and locations	1	Match the listsRecall	6%	75 ideas
ATP Investment Phaseassertion-reason on glycolysis	1	Assertion–reasonConcept	4%	63 ideas
Metabolic Fates of Pyruvaterecall percentage energy released	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Hexokinase and First Phosphorylationidentify enzyme for a reaction step	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
NAD+ as the Oxidizing Agentrole of a coenzyme	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Glycolysis Pathway questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20261 question

Q109
How many molecules of pyruvic acid are produced at the end of glycolysis from 206 molecules of glucose?
Idea: Net Yield of Glycolysis
EasyNumerical

NEET 20241 question

Q149
Match List I with List II List-I | List-II A. Citric acid cycle | I. Cytoplasm B. Glycolysis | II. Mitochondrial matrix C. Electron…
Idea: Glycolysis Site and Substrate
New ideaEasyMatch the lists

NEET 20231 question

Q106
Given below are two statements : One is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R : Assertion A : ATP is used at two…
Idea: ATP Investment Phase
New ideaEasyAssertion–reason

NEET 20222 questions

Q109
What is the net gain of ATP when each molecule of glucose is converted to two molecules of pyruvic acid ?
Idea: Net Yield of Glycolysis
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q110
What amount of energy is released from glucose during lactic acid fermentation ?
Idea: Metabolic Fates of Pyruvate
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ

NEET 20191 question

Q148
Conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate, the first irreversible reaction of glycolysis, is catalyzed by :
Idea: Hexokinase and First Phosphorylation
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20181 question

Q96
What is the role of $\mathrm{NAD^+}$ in cellular respiration ?
Idea: NAD+ as the Oxidizing Agent
New ideaEasyOne-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.