The MDCAT (Medical & Dental College Admission Test) is the one entry test standing between you and MBBS or BDS admission in Pakistan. It is conducted by the PMDC (Pakistan Medical & Dental Council). Here is everything confirmed for 2026, without the rumours.
When is MDCAT 2026?
Sunday, 16 August 2026. Note the date carefully, because it is roughly two months earlier than the September and October windows of past years. The whole prep season moved forward with it. If you are reading this in July, you are already in the final sprint.
The paper format
One paper. 180 multiple-choice questions in a single three-hour sitting, which works out to about a minute per question. It is paper-based; you bubble your answers on an OMR sheet.
Scoring is +1 per correct answer with no negative marking. Let that sink in properly, because it changes how you take the exam: a blank answer and a wrong answer score exactly the same. Attempt everything. Even a half-informed guess is free.
Subject weightage
The split below is the most important set of numbers in your entire preparation, since your study hours should follow it:
- Biology: around 81 questions (roughly 45%)
- Chemistry: around 45 questions (25%)
- Physics: around 36 questions (20%)
- English: around 9 questions (5%)
- Logical Reasoning: around 9 questions (5%)
Biology and Chemistry together make up about 70% of the paper. Giving all five subjects equal time sounds fair and disciplined, but it quietly under-prepares the two subjects that decide your result. Subject-by-subject detail is on the MDCAT subject guides.
Passing marks vs merit
Two different bars here, and students mix them up every single year:
- Passing marks: 55% for MBBS, 50% for BDS under PMDC's current rules. This only makes you eligible.
- Merit aggregate: the thing that actually gets you a seat. It combines MDCAT, FSC and Matric marks (commonly 50% + 40% + 10%), and public college merit routinely closes above 85%. The MDCAT aggregate calculator will tell you the score your target needs.
Nobody hangs a "passed MDCAT" certificate on the wall. The merit list is the exam.
Using the weeks you have left
Do not attempt to re-read every textbook; there is no time and it would not help anyway. Run an MCQ-first routine weighted by the split above and steered by whichever topics keep costing you marks. Our 6-week MDCAT study plan lays that out day by day, and the full 180-question mock will pressure-test you under the actual timing before the real thing.
Sleep well the night before. Attempt every question. Good luck.