The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has announced a new passing criteria for the MDCAT examinations.
According to the notification issued by the department on April 8, the medical universities are allowed for a one-time reduction of passing marks upto 3% for both the MBBS and BDS admissions.
New criteria for MDCAT
The new passing percentage for the MDCAT will be as follows:
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)= 52%
- Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)= 47%
PMDC has allowed all the universities to reduce the passing criteria under these three conditions:
- Filling only the vacant seats for the academic session 2025–26
- Ensuring strict merit-based transparency and institutional accountability by the admitting universities
- Monitoring the admission process by the admitting universities for the vacant seats
The criteria will be applicable only to the admissions for the 2025-26 academic year.
The council has also asked the universities to follow the same fee structure as announced on March 11, 2026.
There will be no extra charges applicable for applying to any program.
The last date for the admissions to the MDCAT entry test is April 15, 2026.
The council has made this decision by keeping in view the demand set by the students for a fair admission policy.
All of the students who will be applying for the upcoming MDCAT exam must keep in mind that this is a one-time reduction in the passing marks.
The council can change the criteria again till further notice.
MDCAT exams
The Federal Health Minister, Mustafa Kamal, in March announced that from the next academic calendar, the MDCAT exams will be held within six days after the FSc exams.
This announcement has created panic in the students preparing for the exams.
Previously, there was a gap of at least six to seven months before the commencement of the test.
But the new approach of taking exams has made it very clear that there will be very little time for preparing for the MDCAT exam.
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