Overview
- PMDC announced on Friday that the paper-based MDCAT will be held nationwide at 10:00 a.m. on August 16, 2026, and that online registration opens on June 22 with a regular window through July 8 and a late window until July 13.
- The council fixed fees at Rs9,000 for regular domestic applicants and Rs13,000 for late domestic registration, set international fees at Rs45,000 regular and Rs55,000 late, and stated all fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
- Provincial universities will run the exam under PMDC supervision, with University of Health Sciences Lahore, Sukkur IBA, Khyber Medical University, Bolan University and SZABMU assigned to their respective regions and to the Riyadh international centre.
- The test will be 180 multiple-choice questions, paper-based with no negative marking and a subject split of 81 Biology, 45 Chemistry, 36 Physics and nine each for English and Logical Reasoning; minimum qualifying marks are 55% for MBBS and 50% for BDS.
- The domicile-based centre rule limits candidates to centres in their home province and the announcement has prompted calls for more public preparation help, with authorities proposing extra free MDCAT coaching centres to support disadvantaged students.