AIIMS Lab Technologist Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

One computer based test: 90 minutes, 100 questions, 400 marks, four options each. No skill test.

Five locked sections

The paper comes in five sections of 20 questions, 18 minutes each. When a section's time runs out it closes and never comes back, and unused time doesn't carry over. A question marked for review but not saved counts as unanswered.

Negative marking

Four marks for a right answer, minus a quarter mark for a wrong one. A blind guess on four options still gains a quarter mark on average, but wrong answers count against you in a tie (see cut-off).

Medium

The CRE-5 group table lists Group 17 as English and Hindi, because it includes attendant posts that only need 10+2. AIIMS keeps the final say on medium, and requests to change it aren't entertained.

Scribes

A candidate entitled to a scribe gets at least 20 minutes extra per hour. The scribe can read and click, but not explain questions.

AIIMS gives the domain as one line, "Medical Laboratory Technology", at the level of the qualifications in the advertisement. There's no topic list or weighting. In this group those qualifications run from a two-year D.M.L.T after 10+2 science up to a B.Sc MLT.

The closest published guide is the national D.M.L.T curriculum, notified by the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions on 1 July 2026. A matching Medical Laboratory Sciences curriculum for the degree came out on 15 October 2025. The diploma is four semesters, 80 credits and 2,130 contact hours (660 theory, 1,470 practical):

So the weight sits on four benches: clinical chemistry, microbiology, haematology with blood banking, and histopathology with cytology.

The other 20 questions are General Knowledge, Aptitude and Computer Knowledge. AIIMS says nothing more about them.

Indian nationals only. Age, qualifications and experience are all judged on the closing date of registration. Each post has its own rules, so check Annexure-I to see which of the 33 rows you actually qualify for.

For Junior MLT, the 100-bed rule applies only on the diploma route; the B.Sc route needs no experience.

Age relaxation

A reserved-category candidate applying against unreserved posts gets neither age relaxation nor a lower pass mark. Anyone in government, PSU, autonomous or government-funded employment, including contract staff, must upload a No Objection Certificate by the deadline or can't sit the exam.

No skill test, no interview. Merit is the CBT score alone.

1. CBT. Reach your category's qualifying mark and you're provisionally qualified.
2. Normalisation if the test ran in several shifts: raw marks become percentiles to seven decimal places under Notice No. 35/2023.
3. Result and choice filling. Qualified candidates list the institutes they want, in order.
4. Online seat allocation by merit against those choices.
5. Document verification by the institute that allots you, on its own dates.
6. Joining.

The choice round is where it goes wrong

• Don't fill choices in time and you're not considered anywhere, whatever your rank.
• Leave out an institute you're eligible for and you won't be considered there.
• Get allotted a seat and don't report, for any reason, and your candidature for the whole exam is cancelled.

Only list posts you hold the certificates for and would actually join.

The advertisement gives only Pay Levels. The ranges below are the 7th Pay Commission matrix.

A Lab Attendant Grade II at Level 2 and a Lab Technician at Level 5 need the same 10+2 science and DMLT. The gap between ₹19,900 and ₹29,200 comes from each institute's rules, not your qualification. Allowances are added by the institute that appoints you.

Apply online only at aiimsexams.ac.in, through One Time Registration. Anything posted is destroyed.

Pay by card or net banking. The fee is per group and not refunded, except that SC and ST candidates who actually sit the exam get it back after the result.

• Use one OTR Candidate ID only. A duplicate gets you rejected.
• Photo, signature and thumb impression must follow the upload rules.
• No corrections by email or letter, and none after the schedule dates.

Experience certificates

The certificate must come from the head of the organisation or department, give dates, pay and duties, and for Junior MLT show the lab was attached to a 100-bed hospital (or, for MLT, NABL accredited). Institutes may check it against bank, PF or ESIC records. You're expected to hold every certificate when you apply, with no extra time later.

CRE-5 is conducted for 32 participating institutions: twenty-two AIIMS, AIIMS-CAPFIMS, and nine other central bodies, namely the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute Kolkata, the Employees State Insurance Corporation, the Indian Council of Medical Research, Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital, the Pasteur Institute of India, the Rural Health Training Centre at Najafgarh, the Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences at Aizawl, and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital. Not every institute recruits in every group.

Twenty-one of them have a Group 17 vacancy in CRE-5. The totals below are summed from the Total column of Annexure-II and the pay levels read from Annexure-I, row by row.

Two institutes dominate. AIIMS New Delhi alone accounts for 71 of the 229, split between 46 Junior Medical Laboratory Technologist posts and 25 Medical Laboratory Technologist posts, and AIIMS Rishikesh and AIIMS Bhopal together carry 37 of the 75 attendant vacancies.

The category split of the 229 is 105 unreserved, 49 Other Backward Classes, 39 Scheduled Caste, 21 Scheduled Tribe and 15 Economically Weaker Section.

Group composition changes between cycles. In CRE-4 this group was titled for five posts and carried 80 vacancies across 17 rows; in CRE-5 it carries 229 across 33. Read the group table of the advertisement you are applying under rather than the previous one.

The CBT is held across the major States and UTs, if enough people apply. Your preferred state is only a preference; AIIMS can allot any city.

If a group gets fewer than 500 applications, AIIMS may test it separately in Delhi NCR only, announced ten days ahead. With 3,916 qualified in CRE-4, Group 17 is unlikely to hit that.

The city is announced seven days before the admit card, and the admit card comes three days before the exam, so you get about ten days' notice.

No dates are extended. AIIMS can move the exam, or change its mode, on ten days' notice.

CRE-4 for comparison: advertised 11 November 2025, exam 22 to 24 December 2025, Group 17 result on 22 January 2026. About ten weeks end to end. New cycles appear on the CRE page on aiimsexams.ac.in.

Download it from your login on aiimsexams.ac.in three days before the exam. The city is announced seven days before that. Nothing is posted.

Bring the printout and hand it to the invigilator for attendance. Group 17 has only one admit card, since there's no skill test.

The card is made from what you typed, with no eligibility check. It lets you sit the exam and promises nothing else.

AIIMS publishes each group's result as a list of every qualified candidate by roll number, with category, PwBD and ex-servicemen flags, gender, marks out of 400 and rank. The CRE-4 Group 17 result (Result Notification No. 23/2026, 22 January 2026) ran to 3,916 names over 84 pages.

Being on it means you're called to fill choices for seat allocation, not that you have a job. Allocation results follow in separate notices. Multi-shift groups are ranked on normalised percentiles.

The CRE uses fixed qualifying marks, published in the advertisement:

Ex-servicemen qualify at their own category's mark. AIIMS can cap the list at a multiple of vacancies, but in CRE-4 Group 17 it didn't, so the lowest mark in each category sat exactly on the floor:

The top mark was 355. With 3,916 qualified for 80 vacancies, about 49 per vacancy, your rank decides your seat, not the pass mark.

Ties go to higher domain marks, then fewer wrong answers, then the older candidate, then alphabetical order of name, father's name and mother's name.

1. Work out which rows you're eligible for first. A fresh diploma holder can compete for perhaps ninety of the 229 posts. The same list becomes your choice list after the result.
2. Practise in 18-minute blocks of 20 questions with a hard stop. That's 54 seconds a question, and there's no going back to a closed section.
3. Clear each section before it closes. Fill in the blanks in the last thirty seconds and save, because review marks alone count as unanswered. Guessing pays on average, but accuracy wins ties.
4. Revise the four benches: clinical chemistry, microbiology, haematology with blood banking, and histopathology with cytology. The domain is 320 of 400 marks and the first tie-breaker.
5. Sort your experience certificate before you apply, worded to show the 100-bed or NABL condition, with dates and pay.

AIIMS publishes no previous papers or model papers for the CRE, for any group.

The CRE-5 advertisement sets out the section structure, timing, marking and tie-breaks, and each group's result notification shows what qualified candidates scored, like the CRE-4 Group 17 result. Both are free on aiimsexams.ac.in. New advertisements usually come out a few weeks before the exam.

• AIIMS Examination Section, assessment and examination registration portal
• Common Recruitment Examination, all cycles
• Notices
• Key dates
• Notice No. 35/2023, normalization procedure
• National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions, published curricula
• AIIMS New Delhi, institute portal

Is there a separate AIIMS Lab Technologist exam?

No. It's Group 17 of the Common Recruitment Examination: one application, one fee, one merit list for all the lab posts.

Can I apply with only a diploma?

Yes, for part of the group: Lab Attendant Grade II, Lab Technician, and Junior MLT if you also have a year in a 100-bed hospital lab. Level 6 and 7 posts need a B.Sc and years of experience.

Is there an interview or skill test?

No. The CBT decides it.

Will the paper be in Hindi?

CRE-5 lists Group 17 as English and Hindi.

Can I go back to a skipped question?

Only within the same 18-minute section.

How much does a wrong answer cost?

A quarter of a mark.

What score do I need?

160 for UR and EWS, 140 for OBC, 120 for SC, ST and PwBD. In CRE-4 those were also the actual cut-offs.

What if I don't fill my institute choices?

You won't be considered for any institute.