MDCAT 2026 passing marks to remain unchanged

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting any thought of bringing down the passing marks for the 2026 MDCAT, the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services has maintained that no change will be made in the prevailing passing requirements of the entry test.

The committee made these remarks during its meeting chaired by Dr Mahesh Kumar Mallani in the Islamabad offices on Friday. MDCAT 2026 will be conducted on August 16, 2026.

As part of reforms for the purpose of transparency, the question bank was increased from 6,000 questions to 8,000 questions.

A total of three question papers will be prepared, one each from the concerned provinces. From these three, only one will be picked for the entry test.

For admissions to medical and dental colleges, 10%matric, 40% intermediate and 50% MDCAT scores will be considered for the students, said a committee member on condition of anonymity. MDCAT will consist of 180 MCQs to be solved within three hours.

There will be no negative marking in the test. Biology would have the highest weightage with 45%, followed by Chemistry (25%), Physics (20%), English (5%) and Logical Reasoning (5%).

A student requires 55%marks in the test to be eligible for admission toMBBSand 50%to BDS. Around 135,000 students have already applied for MDCAT 2026, and the number of applicants would grow considerably by the closure of registration, said officials during the committee meeting.

On private medical colleges’ fees, the committee suggested that the annual fee structure should be between Rs. 1.8 million and Rs 2.5 million. The committee also stated that all medical colleges should provide the rationale for their respective fee structures.

Additionally, the government may carry out a third-party audit to establish the true cost of education.
The committee urged the medical colleges to shed light on the reasons behind vacant seats that had been approved.

Moreover, the Committee instructed that the Medical colleges should keep up the quality of education, while the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan was also tasked to amend its current 1967 laws in the present context.