138,160 candidates registered for MDCAT 2026 on September 20

As many as 138,160 candidates are registered to appear in the MDCAT 2026 examination on September 20, with the test to be held

Islamabad: As many as 138,160 candidates are registered to appear in the MDCAT 2026 examination on September 20, with the test to be held in 34 cities across Pakistan and at one international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Punjab has the highest number of registered candidates at 49,199, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 38,841 and Sindh with 34,233 candidates.

Balochistan has 9,923 registered candidates, while 2,761 candidates are from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 1,721 from Gilgit Baltistan. Islamabad Capital Territory has 1,245 candidates, while 237 candidates are registered at the Riyadh centre.

The PMDC said a question bank of about 8,000 questions has been prepared for the examination, with experts from around 80 subjects involved in its preparation.

Separate question papers have been prepared for each province, with at least two different papers prepared for every province. Each paper will contain 180 questions.

The council said the question papers may be kept by the relevant universities after the examination. The practical conduct of the MDCAT will be the responsibility of the concerned provincial authorities and nominated universities.

The PMDC said its legal role is to prepare the examination framework, procedure and standards for the MDCAT, while the relevant authorities and universities handle the actual conduct of the test.

With more than 138,000 candidates registered across Pakistan and abroad, the examination will be held simultaneously at designated centres on September 20.