The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has increased the MDCAT fee by 80 percent, putting a financial burden on students dreaming of becoming doctors. This increase has been made over two years. Last year, the test fee was Rs7,000, which has now been increased to Rs 9,000, while in 2023, this fee was Rs5,000.
Last year, 32,977 candidates from all over Pakistan participated. This year, the PMDC will earn an income of Rs 296,793,000. According to the PMDC, the entry test will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at the same time in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The exam will be conducted in Pakistan under five different universities, including the University of Health Sciences Lahore for Punjab candidates, the IBA University Sukkur for Sindh candidates, the Khyber Medical University Peshawar for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa candidates, the Bolan Medical University Quetta and Federal Capital Territory, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan for Balochistan, and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad for overseas Pakistanis (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).
Online registration for MDCAT will start from August 8, 2025 and will continue till August 25. The last date for registration with the late fee has been set as September 1. The registration fee for examination centres in Pakistan is Rs 9,000 and Rs 13,000 with late fee. For international centres like Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the registration fee will be Rs45,000 and Rs55,000 with late fee, while all fees will be non-refundable and non-transferable.
The test for admission to medical and dental colleges will be held in various cities of the country, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Swat, Abbottabad, Gilgit, Riyadh and other cities. Candidates have been instructed to select the city only according to their domicile because once the examination centre is selected; it cannot be changed later.
The MDCAT will be in the English language and the paper will consist of multiple choice questions. There will be a total of 180 questions in which no negative marking will be done. The questions will be from subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English and Logical Thinking. The paper will include 15 percent easy, 70 percent medium and 15 percent difficult level questions.
