Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal has made it clear that responsibility for any irregularity, paper leak or mismanagement in MDCAT 2025 will rest with the universities conducting the exam, not the PMDC. Speaking at the PMDC headquarters, the minister said provinces and designated public sector universities must ensure a free, fair and transparent MDCAT scheduled for October 26, 2025.
Authorities report that 140,129 candidates have registered to compete for 22,000 MBBS and BDS seats in public and private medical and dental colleges across Pakistan, with the test to be held at 32 centres nationwide and an international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The minister underlined that designated universities will manage all aspects of the exam, including organisation, invigilation and result processing.
The PMDC has developed a uniform national syllabus and an item bank of over 6,000 standardized questions in consultation with vice chancellors and academic experts. Mustafa Kamal said this national item bank will allow all universities to prepare examinations from the same source and pledged that any paper leak would be met with full accountability for the responsible province and university.
Under the announced framework, PMDC will act as the national regulatory authority with exclusive control over candidate registration, policy oversight and result validation to ensure uniform standards. Universities will be required to carry out both pre-hoc and post-hoc analyses to confirm that no incorrect or out-of-syllabus questions are included and to preserve the integrity of the assessment.
To reinforce accountability, the government has released 50 percent of examination funds to universities while withholding the remaining 50 percent until successful and transparent completion of the test. The minister praised PMDC leadership and the examination department for their work on the standardized system and urged universities to follow strict security protocols.
PMDC directives require comprehensive security and logistical arrangements at examination centres, including proper ventilation and seating, heating or cooling, drinking water, jammers to block electronic devices, walk-through gates, parent waiting areas, student verification counters and trained invigilation staff. Universities will also manage secure printing, packaging and supervised transfer of confidential papers.
The minister emphasised that the MDCAT score will carry at least 50 percent weightage in admissions to all public and private medical colleges, will be valid nationwide and will remain valid for three years. He called on the media to support transparency efforts so the standardized system developed by PMDC can restore public confidence while universities deliver an honest examination that upholds merit.
