PMDC restores 50% passing marks for MBBS, BDS students

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  Pakistan Medical and Dental Council （PM&DC） building can be seen in this image. — PMDC website/File

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council （PMDC）, the official body responsible for maintaining the medical practitioners’ registry, has reversed its previous decision that had raised the passing marks for MBBS and BDS to 65%.

According to a new notification, the passing marks for the 2024–25 session had been raised from 50% to 65%, but that change has now been reversed.  Advertisement

The notification states that the passing marks for MBBS and BDS have been restored to 50% for the 2024–2025 session.  

The PMDC has also ended the 85% attendance requirement for MBBS and BDS students. For the 2024–2025 session, the previous 75% attendance requirement will apply again.  

The council has directed all medical universities to implement the notification.

On 3 February 2025, the PMDC raised the passing marks for MBBS and BDS examinations from 50% to 70% and increased the attendance requirement from 75% to 90%.

A notification issued back then said that the council had revised the minimum attendance benchmark to 90% “to ensure adequate curricular exposure and practical experience”.  

It also confirmed that the passing threshold in annual MBBS/BDS exams had been moved up to 70%. The same notification also laid out the following conditions for overseas applicants.

“Expatriate candidates holding a Higher Secondary School Certificate （HSSC） or A-Level qualification from either inside or outside Pakistan, accompanied by an equivalence certificate from the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen （IBCC）, with Chemistry and Biology as mandatory subjects and Physics or Mathematics as optional subjects, are eligible for admission to MBBS/BDS programs on specified seats,” it stated.