PMDC withdraws 65% passing marks rule, restores old criteria

• 85% attendance requirement rule stands scrapped.
• Previous 75% attendance rule to reapply for 2024–25.
• All medical universities directed to implement notification.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the statutory regulatory authority that maintains the official register of medical practitioners, has withdrawn its earlier decision that set 65% as the passing marks for MBBS and BDS.

 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. 

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 laid out new 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.