What is MDCAT? Format, Marks, Syllabus and Who Takes It

What is MDCAT? MDCAT is the Medical and Dental College Admission Test, the entry test you must pass to get into an MBBS or BDS programme in Pakistan. It is held once a year and is regulated by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). If you want a seat in a public or private medical or dental college, your MDCAT score is the gate you have to clear. This guide breaks down the full form, the format, the marks, the syllabus, and exactly who is eligible to sit it.

What does MDCAT stand for?

MDCAT stands for Medical and Dental College Admission Test. You will also see it written as NMDCAT or National MDCAT. They refer to the same exam. The naming changed when the test moved to a single national syllabus, but for students applying today it is the same MBBS and BDS entry test.

The exam is regulated by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), which publishes the official syllabus and rules. Registration runs through the PMDC portal at pmdc.pk.

Who conducts MDCAT?

The PMDC sets the national rules, syllabus, and eligibility, but the test itself is conducted province by province. As of 2025, each province appoints a public university to run the exam in its region. For example, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) handles it in Punjab and Khyber Medical University (KMU) handles it in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This matters for one reason: you sit MDCAT in the province or region of your domicile, and the centre you pick cannot be changed once selected. Pick carefully during registration.

What is MDCAT and how many MCQs does it have?

For MDCAT 2025, the test has 180 multiple-choice questions worth 180 total marks, completed in 3 hours. It is a paper-based exam with no negative marking, so never leave a question blank. A wrong answer costs you nothing extra, and a lucky guess can still score.

Every question carries one mark. The paper is built to a fixed difficulty mix: roughly 15% easy, 70% moderate, and 15% difficult. That means most of your score comes from getting the moderate questions right, not from cracking the hardest few.

What is the MDCAT marks distribution by subject?

MDCAT covers five subjects. Biology carries by far the most weight at 81 MCQs, so it deserves the most study time. Here is the official MDCAT 2025 subject-wise distribution from the PMDC curriculum.

Biology and Chemistry together are 70% of the paper. If your time is tight, that is where the marks are. English and Logical Reasoning are small in count but easy to leave on the table, so do not ignore them in your last weeks. You can practice MDCAT MCQs on Parhlai to find which subjects are dragging your score down before exam day.

What is the MDCAT syllabus?

The MDCAT syllabus is the national curriculum set by the PMDC, drawn mostly from the FSc Pre-Medical (HSSC) course. It is published as a fixed list of learning objectives for each of the five subjects, so you know exactly what can be asked.

The five sections are:

• Biology - the largest section, covering cell biology, biomolecules, human physiology, genetics, and more
• Chemistry - physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry
• Physics - mechanics, electricity, waves, and modern physics
• English - grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension
• Logical Reasoning - critical thinking and problem-solving questions

Always study from the current-year PMDC syllabus, because the objective list can be revised. Topics outside the published syllabus will not appear, so do not waste time on them.

Who is eligible to take MDCAT?

You can take MDCAT if you have passed (or are awaiting result of) FSc Pre-Medical or an equivalent qualification such as A-Levels, with Biology and Chemistry as core subjects. For the 2025-26 session, the PMDC requires a minimum of 65% marks in FSc Pre-Medical or the equivalent intermediate qualification. This raised the earlier 60% floor, which no longer applies.

Aim for 65% or above to stay eligible for MBBS and BDS admission. These thresholds have changed between sessions, so confirm the exact cut-off for your year on the PMDC portal at pmdc.pk before you register.

What is the MDCAT passing percentage?

For admission, the qualifying MDCAT marks are 55% for MBBS and 50% for BDS, as set by the PMDC. Clearing this is the minimum to be considered, not enough to win a seat. These are the standing thresholds, but PMDC has varied them by session before, so confirm the figure for your year on pmdc.pk.

Your final merit is an aggregate, with MDCAT carrying the largest weight alongside your FSc and Matric marks. Because public seats are limited and competition is high, students who get in usually score far above the passing line. Treat 55% as the floor, not the target.

MDCAT at a glance

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