QUETTA, Pakistan: Nearly 10,000 students from Balochistan registered for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2026, more than double the number who appeared in the province’s first centralised medical college admission test eight years ago, highlighting growing demand for professional higher education among young people in the province.
The MDCAT 2026 was conducted on Sunday, with the Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences (BUMHS), Quetta, overseeing the examination in Balochistan. Around 9,960 candidates have registered for MDCAT across the province.
The figure compares with 4,774 candidates who appeared in the centralised Balochistan medical college admission test on February 4, 2018.
The increase of more than 100 percent over eight years comes as the provincial and federal governments have expanded spending, scholarships and other initiatives aimed at improving access to education.
For the 2026-27 fiscal year, the Balochistan government increased combined allocations for school and higher education from Rs125 billion to Rs144 billion, a rise of about 15 percent. The government also announced 3,000 new posts in the School Education Department.
The province’s School Education Department says its 2026 enrolment drive has brought 118,000 new admissions, while more than 6.2 million free textbooks have been dispatched for the 2026-27 academic year. The department currently lists more than 14,700 public schools and nearly 1.2 million enrolled students.
The government has also focused on expanding access to higher education. The Higher Education Commission said in March that it had awarded 8,343 scholarships to students from Balochistan and erstwhile FATA, with 4,583 beneficiaries having completed their studies. It said the selection process for another 1,000 undergraduate scholarships for 2025-26 was underway.
MDCAT 2026 successfully concluded across Pakistan on Sunday, with thousands of candidates appearing for the test for admission to medical and dental colleges.
According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), a total of 138,160 candidates registered for the entrance examination this year across 34 cities and towns, along with an international centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
