One-month delay could allow coaching centres to earn around Rs5 billion more from students
Islamabad: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) on Thursday postponed the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) by more than a month, citing the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a move that is likely to benefit private tuition academies financially.
Ironically, the medical education regulator had insisted only days earlier that the examination would be held on August 16 without any delay.
Under the revised schedule, the nationwide MDCAT, originally fixed for August 16, will now be held on September 20. PMDC said the decision was taken on the directives of the prime minister to ensure the smooth, secure and transparent conduct of the examination while facilitating candidates.
The postponement gives thousands of students an additional five weeks to continue attending private coaching academies, a development that critics say will significantly increase the financial burden on aspiring medical students and their families while generating billions of rupees in additional business for the coaching industry.
Official figures show that 136,086 candidates have registered for MDCAT 2026 to compete for just over 22,000 MBBS and BDS seats across the country.
Even on a conservative estimate, if only 100,000 of these candidates pay an average of Rs50,000 each to private academies for extended preparation, the coaching industry would collect around Rs5 billion from students and their parents.
Health sector officials and education observers have repeatedly alleged that private coaching academies were lobbying for a postponement of the examination, arguing that a delay would allow them to continue charging students for preparation classes.
Ironically, only two days ago, PMDC and officials of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination had categorically ruled out any postponement, insisting that the examination would be held simultaneously across Pakistan on August 16.
At the time, ministry officials had told newsmen that hundreds of calls and messages, allegedly made on behalf of private academies, were being received by ministry officials, PMDC authorities and other influential quarters seeking a delay in the examination.
Officials had also maintained that the prime minister had directed PMDC to ensure that MDCAT was conducted on August 16 as scheduled and that no laxity in preparations would be tolerated.
PMDC had further announced that all arrangements had been finalised, memorandums of understanding had been signed with designated admitting universities and examination centres had been established across the country, including special centres for candidates from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Balochistan and even Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The council had also indicated that the three-hour examination would begin at 10am on August 16, the answer key would be uploaded immediately after the test, candidates would receive carbon copies of their responses and the results were expected to be announced by August 22.
However, in a news release issued on Thursday, PMDC announced that the examination had been rescheduled to September 20 on the directions of the prime minister.
The council said all other terms, conditions and examination arrangements would remain unchanged unless notified otherwise and advised candidates to regularly visit its official communication channels for further updates.
The sudden reversal has raised questions among students and parents over the reasons behind the change after repeated official assurances that the examination would not be postponed despite sustained pressure for a delay.
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