ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services Regulations and Coordination unanimously supported maintaining the current MDCAT passing criteria and explicitly opposed any reduction in the passing marks.
The committee, which met on Friday under the chairmanship of MNA Dr. Mahesh Kumar Mallanito, reviewed preparations for the MDCAT 2026, matters related to medical education, and reforms in the pharmacy sector.
The committee was informed that the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2026 would be held on August16.
To further strengthen transparency and fairness in the examination process, the question bank had been expanded from 6,000 questions to 8,000 questions this year.
Each province would be provided with three separate question papers, from which one paper would be selected for the examination.
The committee was informed that admissions to medical and dental colleges would be based on 10percent Matriculation marks, 40percent Intermediate marks, and 50 percent MDCAT score.
The committee was told that 135,000 students had registered for MDCAT 2026 so far while the number of applicants was expected to increase further.
The committee deliberated on the fee structure of private medical colleges and decided that the annual tuition fees should be capped between Rs1.8 million and Rs2.5 million.
Private medical colleges would also be required to justify their fee structures.
Furthermore, a third-party audit would be conducted to determine the actual per-student cost of medical education.
To further enhance transparency in the admission process, members of the committee would hold meetings with the vice chancellors concerned of their respective provinces after 20 July.
The committee was informed that 188 medical colleges had been currently registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), including 60 private institutions.
It was noted that private medical colleges produced approximately 22,000 graduates annually, while government medical colleges graduated around 14,000 students each year.
The PMDC clarified that reports regarding the proposed increase in the salary of the president of the PMDC to Rs1.2 million per month and the enhancement of TA/DA for PMDC council members to Rs50,000had not been finalized and remained proposals only.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the briefing given by the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan, the committee directed the council to revise the Pharmacy Council Rules, 1967, to address contemporary challenges facing the pharmacy profession.
A draft of the revised rules is expected to be presented to the committee in October for consideration before being laid before the National Assembly.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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