MDCAT to be held today across Pakistan, in KSA

The Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2026 will be held today (Sunday) in 34 cities across Pakistan and at an international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), a total of 138,160 candidates have registered for the entrance examination this year. Punjab has the highest number of registered candidates at 49,199, followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 38,841 and Sindh with 34,233 candidates. A total of 9,923 candidates are registered in Balochistan, while 2,761 candidates have registered from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 1,721 from Gilgit-Baltistan. Islamabad has 1,245 registered candidates, while 237 candidates will appear at the international centre in Riyadh. The PMDC said a question bank comprising around 8,000 questions had been prepared for the test. Experts from around 80 subjects were involved in preparing the question bank. Separate question papers have been prepared for each province, with at least two different papers for every province. Each question paper contains 180 questions. The relevant universities may retain the question papers after the examination, according to the test arrangements. The practical conduct of the MDCAT examination is the responsibility of the respective provincial authorities and designated universities. The PMDC, meanwhile, has a statutory role in determining the examination framework, methodology and standards for the MDCAT. The test is a key requirement for admission to medical and dental colleges across the country.