The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) on Tuesday issued new regulations for MBBS and BDS admissions for the 2026-27 academic session, changing eligibility criteria, merit calculations, seat quotas and admission deadlines for public and private medical and dental colleges. The framework replaces the 2025 regulations.
Admissions will be offered in three categories: open merit; self-finance, overseas Pakistanis and dual nationals; and foreign students. Self-finance and expatriate seats will make up 15 per cent of a college's approved seats and foreign-student seats 10 per cent. These seats are in addition to the approved allocation, and unused seats cannot be carried forward to the next year.
How merit will work
Open-merit candidates must pass the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), score at least 60 per cent in HSSC or an equivalent qualification, and pass Biology and Chemistry along with Physics or Mathematics. Merit will weigh MDCAT at 50 per cent, HSSC at 40 per cent and matriculation at 10 per cent, and private colleges must use the same formula.
Provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad must each hold a single admission test for public and private institutions in their area, while the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) will oversee admissions to colleges run by the armed forces. All admissions will go through online portals, and institutions must announce their merit and admission criteria by September 1 each year.
Admission deadlines
The final deadline is December 31 for public medical colleges, January 31 for private medical colleges, February 15 for public dental colleges and February 28 for private dental colleges. Public medical colleges must publish merit lists by December 15. Public colleges may reserve up to five per cent of seats for candidates with disabilities.
The rules also clarify house-job eligibility. Graduates whose final results are verified by their university can get a provisional licence and do a house job at a recognised teaching hospital, but foreign nationals who earn Pakistani degrees on the foreign quota will not be allowed to do house jobs or clinical practice in Pakistan. A Senate panel earlier ordered a fresh inquiry into MDCAT 2026.