Medical Admissions in Pakistan 2026-27: MDCAT, PMDC and Merit

Medical and dental admission in Pakistan is governed by one national regulator, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), one national test, the MDCAT, and several provincial admitting universities that actually run the merit lists. Students lose seats every year by confusing which body does what.

This guide covers the 2026-27 cycle: what PMDC’s admission regulations require, how MDCAT 2026 was scheduled, how the 50/40/10 merit formula works, how provincial admission systems such as UHS in Punjab operate, and what the rules say about private colleges, self-finance and overseas seats. Everything is sourced from pmdc.pk and uhs.edu.pk; where those sites do not publish a figure, we say so.

Who Does What: PMDC, MDCAT and the Admitting Universities

Body	Role in admissions	Official source
PMDC	Regulator; issues the Admissions, Curriculum and Conduct Policy and Regulations; recognises colleges; approves test dates	pmdc.pk
MDCAT	Single national admission test for MBBS/BDS; registration through the PMDC portal	mdcat.pmdc.pk
Provincial admitting universities	Conduct the test in their region on Council-approved dates and run the merit lists (for example UHS for Punjab public colleges)	Each university’s website
NUMS	Admitting university for armed forces-administered colleges; its test applies only to those colleges	PMDC regulations

PMDC’s current rulebook is the “PM&DC (Admissions, Curriculum and Conduct) Policy and Regulations 2026”, notified in August 2026, which replaced the 2025 edition (Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/Publication/LawsAndRegulations). Under Regulation 6(1), each province, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory conducts a single admission test on the dates the Council approves, following the policy approved by the provincial or federal government. The list of recognised undergraduate colleges is at pmdc.pk/Colleges; a college not on it cannot offer a PMDC-recognised MBBS or BDS.

MDCAT 2026: Dates and Registration

PMDC originally scheduled MDCAT 2026 for 16 August 2026 and then rescheduled it to 20 September 2026 through a public press release, stating that all other terms, conditions and examination arrangements remained unchanged unless notified otherwise (Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/Documents/press/PRESS%20RELEASE-MDCAT%20Rescheduled.pdf). PMDC also issued a public notice extending the online registration date; the registration portal is mdcat.pmdc.pk. UHS confirms that MDCAT 2026 for candidates seeking admission in Punjab was held on 20 September 2026, with results published at results.uhs.edu.pk and a recount/review portal (Source: https://www.uhs.edu.pk/).

The PMDC pages we checked do not print the number of MCQs, subject weightage, duration, negative marking rule, passing score or validity period of MDCAT. These are set in the test policy and syllabus documents, so check the official website (PMDC’s Syllabus publication page and the admitting university’s test notification) for the current year before you prepare.

Eligibility Under the 2026 Regulations

For open-merit seats, Regulation 5 of the 2026 regulations requires an applicant to:

Have passed the MDCAT.
Hold HSSC or an equivalent 12th-grade qualification with at least 60% marks, or a higher percentage if PMDC notifies one.
Have passed biology and chemistry, with physics or mathematics as the third subject.

Applicants with foreign or non-board qualifications need an IBCC equivalence certificate with biology and chemistry mandatory (Regulations 8, 13 and 14 for the overseas and foreigners quotas). Our IBCC equivalence guide explains how to get it and why it should be done before the admission window opens.

The Merit Formula: 50/40/10

The regulations fix the weightage for private colleges at MDCAT 50%, HSSC/FSc or equivalent 40% and SSC/Matriculation 10% (Regulation 7(2)); the public-college provision in Regulation 6(3) carries the same 50/40/10 weightages, though the published PDF’s layout makes the labels hard to read, so confirm the mapping in the original document (Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/Publication/LawsAndRegulations). Our general explainer on how merit is calculated shows the arithmetic with examples.

What this means for your preparation

Half of your aggregate is one test: a 5% swing in MDCAT moves the aggregate by 2.5 points. HSSC is fixed by the time you sit the test, so MDCAT is the main variable.

Provincial Admission Systems

After MDCAT, admission is handled by the admitting university for your province or region. In Punjab, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) runs admissions to public-sector medical and dental colleges through its portal at publicmbbs.uhs.edu.pk and publishes an Admission Policy for MBBS/BDS Session 2026-27 as a PDF on its homepage (Source: https://www.uhs.edu.pk/). Read that PDF for Punjab’s dates, documents and seat categories. Other provinces have their own admitting universities and portals (see our Dow University of Health Sciences profile and the universities archive); confirm the current admitting university in the PMDC regulations or the provincial notification.

Under the regulations, public-college merit lists and deadlines are governed by Regulation 6(6) with final dates in Regulation 4(2), and vacant seats are handled under Regulations 6(9) and 6(10). For private colleges, each college admits from the merit list displayed by its admitting university (Regulation 7(1)), must publish its merit criteria and a provisional list (Regulations 7(2) and 7(6)), and must finalise its merit list by 15 January (Regulation 7(9)). Students may apply to both public and private colleges (Regulation 7(8)).

Private Colleges, Fees and Special Quotas

Application fee at private colleges is capped at Rs. 2,000 with no prospectus charges (Regulation 7(7)).
Colleges may charge only Council-approved tuition, which stays fixed for the programme (Regulation 19(1)); no fee may be charged before the session starts (Regulation 19(3A)); students cannot be asked for security deposits (Regulation 19(5)); discounts of 2% for six-monthly and 4% for annual advance payment apply (Regulation 19(3)).
Self-finance, overseas Pakistani and dual-national seats are 15% of approved seats within the college allocation (Regulation 8(1)); applicants need at least 60% in Intermediate plus one of MDCAT, SAT-II (minimum 550 in each subject), foreign MCAT or UCAT at 50% in the required subjects (Regulation 8(2)); unfilled seats revert to open merit (Regulation 9(4)).
Tuition on these seats is capped at USD 15,000 per year, or up to USD 20,000 if justified and approved (Regulation 9(3)); the same cap applies to the private foreigners quota (Regulation 14(5)).
A foreigners quota of 10% exists over and above approved seats, split 5% public and 5% private, for foreign nationals as defined in the regulations (Regulations 12 to 14).

All of the above is from the 2026 regulations (Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/Publication/LawsAndRegulations). If a college quotes something different, ask for the PMDC approval. Our public vs private guide covers how to compare the real cost.

Your Step-by-Step Plan for 2026-27

Confirm eligibility: pre-medical HSSC with at least 60% and passes in biology and chemistry; get IBCC equivalence if your qualification is foreign.
Register for MDCAT on the PMDC portal within the notified window and keep the fee receipt and admit card.
Sit the test on the Council-approved date for your region and download your result from the admitting university.
Read the admitting university’s admission policy (for Punjab, the UHS 2026-27 policy PDF) and prepare the documents in our documents checklist.
Apply to public colleges through the admitting university portal and, separately, to private colleges you can afford; the regulations allow both.
Track merit lists, respond to each list’s deadline, and verify any college on PMDC’s recognised colleges page before paying.

Line these steps up against the month-by-month calendar and check the admissions archive for the latest notices.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Registering on a coaching centre’s “portal” instead of mdcat.pmdc.pk.
Assuming last year’s test date or passing rule; MDCAT 2026 itself was moved from August to September.
Applying to a college not listed on PMDC’s recognised colleges page.
Paying any fee before the academic session starts or paying a “security” amount; both are barred by the regulations.
Missing the IBCC equivalence step for O/A Level or foreign qualifications until after the merit list is out.

FAQs

When was MDCAT 2026 held?

PMDC rescheduled MDCAT 2026 from 16 August 2026 to 20 September 2026; UHS confirms the test for Punjab candidates was held on 20 September 2026. Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/ and https://www.uhs.edu.pk/

What is the minimum percentage for MBBS/BDS?

Regulation 5 of the PMDC 2026 regulations requires at least 60% in HSSC or equivalent (or a higher percentage if PMDC notifies it), passes in biology and chemistry, and a pass in the MDCAT. Source: https://www.pmdc.pk/Publication/LawsAndRegulations

How is merit calculated?

MDCAT 50%, HSSC/FSc or equivalent 40% and SSC/Matric 10%, as stated for private colleges in Regulation 7(2) and with the same weightages in the public-college provision. Confirm in the regulations PDF.

What is the MDCAT passing score and how long is it valid?

The PMDC pages we checked do not state these figures. They are set in the test policy for the year, so check the official website and the admitting university’s notification.

Can I apply to both public and private colleges?

Yes. Regulation 7(8) of the 2026 regulations allows students to apply to both. Public admissions run through the admitting university (UHS in Punjab); private colleges admit from the merit list their admitting university displays.

Related Guides

Last updated: 19 October 2026. Always confirm details with the official source before acting on them.