Today marks a decisive day for 140,125 aspiring medical and dental professionals across Pakistan as the nationwide Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2025 is being conducted. The large-scale examination is taking place at 35 centers domestically, in addition to one international center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, accommodating 194 Pakistani candidates.
In a significant procedural shift this year, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) is not the direct administrator. Instead, the responsibility for conducting the test has been delegated to various universities.
To ensure fairness and maintain standards, all participating universities were given access to the National Item Bank. They are under strict obligation to adhere to PM&DC standards for paper setting and printing. Critically, the universities were required to perform a “pre-hoc analysis” to identify and remove any questions that fell outside the official syllabus.
Strict confidentiality protocols are in place, with test papers only being opened in the presence of official witnesses.
To combat impersonation and forgery, NADRA biometric verification has been made mandatory for all candidates at every center.
Specific figures show 2,645 candidates appearing at two centers in Islamabad, 761 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 2,629 across four centers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The universities are now mandated to officially announce the results within seven days of the exam’s conclusion.
