Islamabad: As private medical and dental colleges continue to struggle to fill vacant MBBS and BDS seats despite a reduction in annual tuition fee by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the regulator has now allowed a one-time relaxation in the MDCAT passing percentage, lowering the merit to 52 percent for MBBS and 47 percent for BDS admissions for the 2025-26 academic session.
In a notification issued on April 8, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council said the decision had been taken after deliberations at the national level, including the health standing committees, to address the issue of unfilled seats in medical and dental institutions in a fair and systematic manner.
Under the decision, admitting universities and institutions have first been directed to fill vacant seats from among students already lying in their pool of eligible candidates under previously announced criteria. However, if seats still remain vacant after all such students have been considered, universities may allow a one-time reduction of up to three percent in the MDCAT passing percentage for both MBBS and BDS admissions.
The PMDC said this relaxation would apply only to vacant seats for the academic session 2025-26 and would be subject to strict merit based transparency, institutional accountability and monitoring of the admission process by the admitting universities.
The move comes as many private medical and dental colleges have failed to attract enough students even after the PMDC capped the annual tuition fee at Rs1.89 million, a decision that had triggered strong resistance from private college owners, many of whom had been charging between Rs2.3 million and Rs2.5 million per annum and, in some cases, even more.
Parents and students, however, remain reluctant to opt for private sector medical and dental education, saying the cost is still unaffordable for a majority of middle class families, especially when additional expenses such as hostel charges, transport, examination fees and other institutional costs are added to the annual burden.
The inability of private colleges to fill seats has created an unusual situation in the country’s medical education sector, where on one hand thousands of students compete fiercely for a limited number of public sector seats, while on the other, many expensive seats in private colleges remain vacant due to affordability concerns.
According to the PMDC notification, all admissions already completed under the Admissions Regulations 2025 would remain valid and would be treated as properly regulated, indicating that the new decision would not affect students who have already secured admission under the earlier criteria.
The council has also made it clear that all admissions against vacant seats must strictly follow the fee structure notified by the PMDC on March 11, 2026, and that no extra or unauthorised charges would be allowed.
In a significant observation, the PMDC has gone a step further and encouraged private institutions to consider reducing tuition fees even from the currently notified or capped level in order to enhance affordability and facilitate access to medical and dental education for meritorious students.
The last date for admissions has been fixed as April 15, 2026, and all provincial health departments and admitting universities have been directed to ensure full compliance with the instructions. The PMDC warned that any violation would be dealt with under applicable laws and regulations.
The latest decision reflects mounting pressure on regulators to find a balance between maintaining academic standards and ensuring that costly private sector seats do not go waste at a time when medical education remains out of reach for many deserving students.
While private colleges are expected to welcome the lowering of merit as a temporary relief to fill empty seats and improve their financial position, the development is also likely to revive debate over the business model of private medical education in Pakistan, where high fees continue to limit access despite repeated regulatory interventions.
For many parents, the issue is no longer only about merit or eligibility, but about simple affordability, as even the revised fee cap remains beyond the reach of a large number of families already grappling with inflation and rising education costs.
With the admission deadline now just days away, the PMDC’s one time relaxation appears aimed at rescuing both vacant seats and financially strained private institutions, but it also underlines a deeper crisis in private medical and dental education, where lowering fees and now even lowering merit still may not be enough to bring students through the door.
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