ISLAMABAD: MDCAT 2026 will be held nationwide on Sunday, September 20, with 138,158 candidates registered for the medical and dental college entrance examination, according to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council data.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) said it will conduct the examination across 35 cities and towns in Pakistan, along with an international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The test was previously scheduled for August 16 before being moved to September 20.
In Sindh, SIBA Testing Services (STS) has arranged eight examination venues across seven cities, with two centres in Karachi and one each in Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana and Sukkur. A ninth SIBA-managed venue at the Pakistan National Council of Arts in Islamabad will serve eligible Sindh-domiciled candidates assigned there.
The Karachi centres are NED University of Engineering and Technology, where 6,000 candidates are expected, and Dow University of Health Sciences’ Ojha Campus, with 4,964 candidates, according to the examination arrangements provided. Hyderabad’s Public School, Unit No. 3, Latifabad, is assigned 5,000 candidates.
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Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Jamshoro will accommodate 4,627 candidates, while Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur Public School in Mirpurkhas is assigned 2,093. Quaid-e-Awam University in Shaheed Benazirabad will host 2,562 candidates, and the Police Training School Ground in Larkana will host 3,123.
PMDC’s official examination pattern consists of 180 multiple-choice questions in English with no negative marking. The paper includes 81 Biology, 45 Chemistry, 36 Physics, nine English and nine Logical Reasoning questions.
STS said the examination will last three hours and advised candidates to follow the reporting time and centre instructions issued to them. Candidates will not be permitted to leave before the test ends.
