The MDCAT (Medical and Dental College Admission Test) is the single national entry test for MBBS and BDS admission in Pakistan. Policy, syllabus and paper pattern are set nationally by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), and the exam is administered by five designated public universities — UHS in Punjab, Sukkur IBA in Sindh, KMU in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, BUMHS in Balochistan, and SZABMU for Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. See our official sources page for links to each, plus MDCAT 2026 dates.
The paper
PMDC has confirmed that the format and syllabus introduced for MDCAT 2025 also govern MDCAT 2026:
| MDCAT 2025 & 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Questions | 180 MCQs |
| Duration | 180 minutes |
| Options per question | 4 |
| Negative marking | None |
| Total marks | 180 (1 per question) |
| Difficulty mix | 15% easy, 70% moderate, 15% difficult |
| Qualifying — MBBS | 55% (99 marks) |
| Qualifying — BDS | 50% (90 marks) |
This means about one minute per question, with no breaks. Because there is no negative marking, you should never leave a question blank — a guess costs you nothing, and a blank earns you nothing.
Is the MDCAT 180 or 200 questions?
180. The paper changed recently: MDCAT 2023 and 2024 were 200-mark papers under the older pattern, and 2025 moved to 180 questions with a reshaped subject split — confirmed by the PMDC notices cited below, and carried into 2026. A lot of prep material, and some websites, still describe the 200-question format. Treat anything built around “200 questions” or a smaller Biology share as belonging to the retired pattern.
Subject weightage — where the marks are
The 180 questions are not spread evenly across subjects:
| Subject | Questions | Share of paper |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | 81 | 45% |
| Chemistry | 45 | 25% |
| Physics | 36 | 20% |
| English | 9 | 5% |
| Logical Reasoning | 9 | 5% |
This split is the single most important fact about the MDCAT. Biology alone is worth as much as Physics, English and Logical Reasoning combined — and 27 marks more. A weak Biology topic costs you more than a weak Physics topic, because more of the paper depends on it. Any study plan that gives every subject equal time is working against the way the exam is marked.
Qualifying is not the same as admission
Scoring 55% lets you apply for MBBS — it does not give you a seat. Admission is decided by merit lists, built under PMDC’s Admissions Regulations with a fixed formula: 50% MDCAT + 40% HSSC/FSc + 10% Matric. Half of your merit score comes from this one exam — more than your whole school record combined — and the cutoffs for real seats are far above the pass mark. In KMU’s MDCAT 2025, more than 23,000 students qualified for MBBS in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, and only a small number of them get a public seat. Passing lets you apply; your score decides whether you get a seat. See our results breakdown to see what recent scores actually looked like.
One caution
Exam policy is set year by year. Question counts, syllabus scope and dates can change between cycles — PMDC’s official announcements are the only binding source. This page reflects the format PMDC has published for MDCAT 2025 and 2026, and we update it when the next policy is issued.