KARACHI( The COW News Digital) The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has significantly increased the fee for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), raising concerns among aspiring doctors and their families over the growing financial burden. The fee has been hiked by 80% in just two years, from Rs5,000 in 2023 to Rs9,000 for the 2025 session.
According to PMDC, the nationwide entrance test will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025, simultaneously in Pakistan and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Last year, in 2024, the test fee was Rs7,000, and a total of 32,977 candidates appeared across the country. Based on similar participation this year, PMDC is expected to generate around Rs2.96 billion in revenue from MDCAT registrations alone.
The 2025 MDCAT will be conducted by different universities depending on the candidate’s domicile. In Punjab, the test will be organized by the University of Health Sciences (Lahore); in Sindh, by Sukkur IBA University; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, by Khyber Medical University (Peshawar); in Balochistan, by Bolan Medical University (Quetta); and for Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as overseas Pakistanis in Riyadh, by the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (Islamabad).
Online registration will open on August 8, 2025, and close on August 25. Candidates applying with late fees can register until September 1. The fee for local test centers is Rs9,000, which rises to Rs13,000 with late payment. For overseas centers such as Riyadh, the fee is Rs45,000, increasing to Rs55,000 with late payment. All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
The MDCAT will be held in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Swat, Abbottabad, Gilgit, Riyadh, and other cities. Candidates must choose their exam city based strictly on their domicile, as changes will not be allowed later.
The test will be conducted in English and will consist of 180 multiple-choice questions with no negative marking. Questions will cover Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, and Logical Reasoning, with 15% being easy, 70% of medium difficulty, and 15% challenging.
This substantial fee hike has sparked debate among students and parents, with many arguing that it adds unnecessary pressure on already financially strained households. Education experts have called for PMDC to review the decision, suggesting that accessibility to medical education should not be hindered by steep costs.
