PMDC hikes MDCAT fee by 80%

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has increased the fee for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) by 80% over two years, placing an additional financial burden on aspiring medical students and their families.

According to the revised fee structure, the MDCAT registration fee for 2025 has been raised to Rs. 9,000, up from Rs. 7,000 in 2024 and Rs. 5,000 in 2023. Based on last year’s participation of 32,977 candidates, PMDC is expected to generate an estimated revenue of Rs. 2.96 billion from this year’s examination.

PMDC has announced that the admission test will be held simultaneously in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Sunday, October 5, 2025.

In Pakistan, the test will be conducted through five designated universities:

University of Health Sciences (Lahore) for Punjab

Sukkur IBA University for Sindh

Khyber Medical University (Peshawar) for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Bolan Medical University (Quetta) for Balochistan

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (Islamabad) for Islamabad, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, and overseas Pakistanis (Riyadh center)

Online registration will begin on August 8, 2025, and continue until August 25. The deadline with a late fee is September 1.

Read more: Record-breaking 1,061 Pakistani doctors secure US Residency in a single year: PMDC

For test centers within Pakistan, the registration fee is set at Rs. 9,000, and Rs. 13,000 with late fee.

For the Riyadh center in Saudi Arabia, the registration fee is Rs. 45,000 and Rs. 55,000 with late fee. All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.

The MDCAT will be held in cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Swat, Abbottabad, Gilgit, and Riyadh, among others.

Candidates are advised to choose their test center based strictly on their domicile, as no changes will be allowed once the center is selected.

The test will be conducted in English and comprise 180 multiple-choice questions with no negative marking.

Questions will be drawn from subjects including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, and Logical Reasoning, categorized as 15% easy, 70% moderate, and 15% difficult.