Status: MDCAT 2026 is scheduled for Sunday, 16 August 2026. The exam has not been held yet, so no answer key exists right now. This page explains how the key and the scoring actually work, and we will update it with the official key and links as soon as they are out after the exam. Bookmark it.
When is the MDCAT 2026 answer key released?
The MDCAT is conducted by the PMDC (Pakistan Medical & Dental Council), and there is no live "response key" during the test. Here is what actually happens afterwards:
- Objections go in at the centre. If you think a question was outside the official syllabus, you record it on the objection form at your exam centre. PMDC reviews these right after the exam, and a question confirmed to be out of syllabus gets removed from scoring altogether. This is why the final key can differ from whatever circulates on exam night.
- Unofficial keys come first. Within hours, academies and student WhatsApp groups will be full of keys reconstructed from memory. Useful for a rough idea. Not final.
- Official papers and keys are published by the conducting universities and PMDC after the exam.
- Results go up on the PMDC result portal.
The moment the official key is live, you will find it linked here.
How MDCAT scoring works (so you can estimate your score)
The paper is 180 MCQs with no negative marking. Every correct answer is +1, and a wrong answer costs nothing.
So the estimate is simple: your raw score is the number of questions you got right, out of 180. No penalty maths. It is also why you should have bubbled something for every single question on the OMR sheet; a blank and a wrong answer score exactly the same, so a considered guess was always free.
From score to a seat
The raw score is step one. Admission runs on a merit aggregate combining MDCAT, FSC and Matric marks (commonly 50% MDCAT + 40% FSC + 10% Matric), and that aggregate is what the merit lists are built from.
- Put your estimated score into the MDCAT aggregate calculator to see where you stand.
- Keep the two bars separate in your head: passing is 55% for MBBS and 50% for BDS, while merit for public medical colleges routinely closes well above 85%.
While you wait
Checking your remembered answers against practice questions settles nerves faster than refreshing Twitter. Work through topic-wise MCQs with explanations on the MDCAT subject pages, or sit a full mock test if you are a repeater already thinking about next cycle.
Check back after 16 August. We will post the key and the official result link the moment they exist. Good luck.