NEET UG · Biology · Plant Kingdom
Pteridophytes: NEET previous year questions
8 questions in ten years of NEET, in 8 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.
- Asked in 10 years
- 8
- about 0.8 per paper
- Years asked
- 8/10
- last asked 2026
- Weighted estimate
- 0.8
- model; history: 0.8 a paper on average, typically 0–1
Key findings
- 01
Asked in 8 of 10 papers, 8 questions in all: #99 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.1 years on average.
- 02
88% 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 Homospory vs Heterospory, asked 2 times (2018, 2021), usually as “true statement selection on plant groups”.
- 04
NEET has asked 7 of the 82 ideas in this topic; 67 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
- 05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (75%); 50% easy, 0% hard.
Questions per year
- Up to 2023
- 0.8
- per paper
- Since 2024
- 0.7
- -0.1
- Usual gap
- 1.1 yrs
- between papers asking it
- Swing
- ±0.4
- questions, year to year
How it is asked
Difficulty, format and skill
Across all 8 questions on Pteridophytes since 2017.
Difficulty
QUESTIONS- Easy4 · 50%
- Medium4 · 50%
- Hard0 · 0%
Format
SHARE- One-line MCQ · 6 Q75%
- Other · 1 Q13%
- Match the lists · 1 Q13%
Skill tested
SHARE- Recall · 6 Q75%
- Application · 1 Q13%
- Concept · 1 Q13%
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.
- Idea asked for the first time
- Idea asked in an earlier paper
Coverage of the topic
NEET has asked 7 of the 82 ideas in this topic. 67 have never been asked yet.
- Asked directly7 · 9%
- Touched inside another question8 · 10%
- Never asked67 · 82%
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.
- Repeated2 · 25%
- 2021 · Q117Genera like Selaginella and Salvinia produce two kinds of spores. Such plants are known as :
easyOne-line MCQ
- 2018 · Q130Which of the following statements is correct ?
mediumOne-line MCQNew idea
- 2021 · Q117
- 1 · 13%
- 1 · 13%
- 1 · 13%
- 1 · 13%
- 1 · 13%
- 1 · 13%
Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.
Ideas
Every idea inside this topic
7 different ideas were tested; 1 came more than once. Homospory vs Heterospory is the foundation for 19 other ideas in the syllabus.
- Homospory vs Heterospory2×
true statement selection on plant groups
One-line MCQ · 4% next · foundation for 19 - Class Sphenopsida1×
classify example of a type
One-line MCQ · 6% next · foundation for 7 - Haplo-Diplontic Life Cycle1×
order of steps in a process
Other · 6% next · foundation for 2 - Extended Examples of Heterospory1×
identify pair of examples of a feature
One-line MCQ · 4% next - Independent Alternation of Generations1×
match list on life cycle patterns
Match the lists · 4% next - Position of Strobili in Equisetum1×
identify example of a plant feature
One-line MCQ · 4% next - Retention of Female Gametophyte1×
identify group showing an evolutionary trend
One-line MCQ · 4% next · foundation for 1
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
Pteridophytes 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
- Q121Sphenopsida class belongs to __________.
Idea: Class Sphenopsida
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
NEET 20251 question
- Q111Given below are the stages in the life cycle of pteridophytes. Arrange the following stages in the correct sequence. A. Prothallus stage…
Idea: Haplo-Diplontic Life Cycle
New ideaMediumOther
NEET 20231 question
- Q134Identify the pair of heterosporous pteridophytes among the following :
Idea: Extended Examples of Heterospory
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
NEET 20221 question
- Q148Match the plant with the kind of life cycle it exhibits : List - I | List - II (a) Spirogyra | (i) Dominant diploid sporophyte vascular…
Idea: Independent Alternation of Generations
New ideaMediumMatch the lists
NEET 20211 question
- Q117Genera like Selaginella and Salvinia produce two kinds of spores. Such plants are known as :
Idea: Homospory vs Heterospory
EasyOne-line MCQ
NEET 20201 question
- Q71Strobili or cones are found in :
Idea: Position of Strobili in Equisetum
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
NEET 20191 question
- Q146From evolutionary point of view, retention of the female gametophyte with developing young embryo on the parent sporophyte for some time,…
Idea: Retention of Female Gametophyte
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ
NEET 20181 question
- Q130Which of the following statements is correct ?
Idea: Homospory vs Heterospory
New ideaMediumOne-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.