The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) on Thursday postponed the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2026, announcing that the exam will now be held on September 20 instead of August 16.
The decision has been taken on the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as he instructed the concerned department to conduct a more transparent and organised exam.
The PMDC said that all terms and arrangements will remain intact; only the exam’s date was changed. The PMDC directed students to get the latest information from the website.
In May this year, the PMDC had made it mandatory for students seeking to pursue medical or dental studies abroad to qualify for the MDCAT and obtain registration before departure.
In a statement, the PMDC said that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had chaired a high-level committee overseeing the strengthening of the regulatory framework for medical and dental education in Pakistan.
The meeting of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of Medical and Dental Colleges and Postgraduate (PG) Qualifications was held to review reforms and regulatory measures, it added.
During the meeting, the committee resolved that all students intending to pursue medical or dental education abroad must “mandatorily qualify for the MDCAT examination and obtain registration with the PMDC” before going abroad to avoid any future inconvenience during recognition, licensing, or registration.
Last year, the PMDC had rescheduled the MDCAT in view of the prevailing flood situation across the country.
