Islamabad has plenty of medical colleges, but only two government ones: Federal Medical College for MBBS and the School of Dentistry for BDS. Both belong to Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), and SZABMU runs their admission itself, separately from UHS in Punjab and KMU in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
That is where the confusion starts. The other colleges in the capital are admitted by different bodies: some by the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), and the private ones by each college itself. And the seats at Federal Medical College are split by province, so an Islamabad student competes for far fewer seats than the college's 100. This guide untangles all of it, using SZABMU's official admission notice for session 2026-27, its admission portal, its merit lists from last session and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) regulations.
The short answer: SZABMU admits to three federal public colleges: Federal Medical College, Islamabad (100 MBBS), the School of Dentistry, Islamabad (50 BDS) and Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical & Dental College, Lahore (100 MBBS). You need 60% in FSc and an MDCAT pass of 55% (MBBS) or 50% (BDS) from 2026, 2025 or 2024, taken in any province. Merit is 10% Matric + 40% FSc + 50% MDCAT. Seats are split by domicile: only 6 of FMC's seats are open merit and 25 are for Islamabad (ICT). Apply on admission.szabmu.edu.pk by 30 October 2026. Islamabad's NUMS colleges need the NUMS test, and its private colleges run their own admissions.
Which public medical and dental colleges are in Islamabad?
SZABMU's list of constituent institutes names two degree colleges in Islamabad that are run by the federal government:
- Federal Medical College (FMC), Islamabad: MBBS, 100 seats a year. It is in the Al Farabi Centre, G-8/4, and PM&DC lists the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and the Federal Government Hospital, Chak Shahzad, as its hospitals.
- School of Dentistry (SoD), SZABMU: BDS, 50 seats a year, in Sector G-8/3, with its own dental hospital and PIMS.
SZABMU's admission notice covers a third federal college that is not in Islamabad: Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical & Dental College (SKZMDC), Lahore, with 100 MBBS seats. Students apply to all three through the same SZABMU form.
You may still see the old name "Federal Medical and Dental College (FMDC)" on some websites and past papers. In SZABMU's current notice the medical and dental sides are listed separately, as Federal Medical College and the School of Dentistry.
Who admits to which college in Islamabad?
The city does not decide your admission route. The type of college does.
| College type | Who admits | Test that counts |
|---|---|---|
| Federal public: FMC, School of Dentistry, SKZMDC Lahore | SZABMU, as Admitting University | PM&DC MDCAT |
| Armed forces administered: FUMC, Fazaia, Bahria, NUST and Foundation's dental college | NUMS | NUMS MDCAT |
| Private: Shifa, HBS, IMDC, Rawal, Al-Nafees and others | Each college, under PM&DC rules | PM&DC MDCAT, plus any test the college sets |
| ICT quota seats in Punjab's public colleges | UHS, Lahore | PM&DC MDCAT |
SZABMU's notice says it is "the Admitting University" for "Public Sector Medical and Dental Colleges under the Administrative Control of Federal Government". It does not cover Islamabad's private colleges. Section 7(1) of PM&DC's 2026 admission regulations says admissions to private colleges "shall be conducted and completed by each of the private college from the merit list displayed by the admitting university", and each private college must publish its own criteria. We cover the private colleges and NUMS colleges further down.
Eligibility for Federal Medical College and the School of Dentistry
FSc and subjects
You need at least 60% (660/1100) in HSSC pre-medical or an equivalent 12th-grade qualification, with biology, chemistry and either physics or mathematics. O and A level students need IBCC (Inter Boards Coordination Commission) equivalence certificates for both 10th and 12th grade, and foreign-system students must also upload their original results showing their subjects.
MDCAT from any province
This is the big difference from Punjab. SZABMU's notice accepts MDCAT 2026, 2025 or 2024 "of SZABMU, UHS, KMU, BUMHS, IBA Sukkur", with at least 55% for MBBS and 50% for BDS. On today's 180-MCQ paper that is 99 and 90 marks. So a student who took the MDCAT in Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta or Sukkur can apply to FMC with that result. A NUMS MDCAT result does not count here. Not sure which test you need? Read PM&DC MDCAT vs NUMS MDCAT.
Domicile and quota documents
SZABMU's rule is generous: "All Pakistani citizens (including AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan) are eligible to compete for Open Merit Seats. Additionally, they will be considered under their respective domicile quotas." So you are on two lists at once: open merit, and the quota of your domicile.
A domicile alone is not enough. You must also upload "proof of residence/property/education or any tangible evidence of stay in region of domicile". Some quotas need one more document:
- Ex-FATA: domicile verification from the Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of your merged district, on SZABMU's format.
- Federal Government Employee (FGE) quota: a parent employment certificate from the federal institution, on SZABMU's format.
- Disabled quota: a certificate from a federal or provincial government disability board. A private doctor's certificate is not accepted, and you appear before SZABMU's medical examination board.
- Foreign seats: an Iqama, residence permit, Green Card, Maple Card or foreign passport, plus proof of study abroad.
The formats are on the portal's Downloads page.
Seats at Federal Medical College and the School of Dentistry
This is the part most students miss. Of FMC's 100 MBBS seats, only 6 are open merit. The rest are divided among the provinces and regions, federal employees' children and students with disabilities:
| Quota | FMC Islamabad (MBBS) | SKZMDC Lahore (MBBS) | School of Dentistry (BDS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open merit | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Islamabad (ICT) | 25 | 16 | 14 |
| Punjab | 29 | 29 | 14 |
| Sindh (rural) | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Sindh (urban) | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Balochistan | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| FATA | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Azad Jammu and Kashmir | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Federal Government Employees | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| Foreign seats | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Disabled quota | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 50 |
So an Islamabad-domiciled student is really competing for 25 FMC seats, 16 SKZMDC seats and 14 BDS seats on the ICT quota, plus the open merit seats. SZABMU's two official pages word one SKZMDC row differently: its MBBS page says "Punjab 29", while its admission portal says "Punjab & ICT 29". If you hold an Islamabad domicile and want SKZMDC, ask SZABMU which applies to you.
The SZABMU merit formula
SZABMU uses PM&DC's national weighting: Matric 10%, FSc 40% and MDCAT 50%, each part first turned into a percentage of its own total. It is the same formula UHS and KMU use, which means your aggregate is the same number in every province; only the competition changes.
Three details from SZABMU's merit lists:
- Aggregates are printed to five decimal places, such as 93.84949.
- "If more than one candidate is equal up to four decimals, the candidate older in age shall stand higher in merit."
- Older MDCAT results out of 200 appear in the lists on their own total, so a 2024 score of 188/200 counts as 94%.
SZABMU's notice mentions no Hafiz-e-Quran marks. Work out your own figure in the Islamabad merit calculator, or read the full method in the MDCAT aggregate formula.
Federal Medical College closing merit (2025-26)
SZABMU does not publish a single closing merit sheet. Instead it issued 34 MBBS merit lists for FMC and 41 BDS merit lists for the School of Dentistry between 8 December 2025 and 27 March 2026, each naming the newly selected students with their aggregates. We went through every list and took the lowest aggregate offered a seat in each quota:
| Quota | FMC MBBS, lowest offered | School of Dentistry BDS, lowest offered |
|---|---|---|
| Open merit | 93.8303 | 93.4682 |
| Islamabad (ICT) | 92.4051 | 90.5046 |
| Punjab | 93.7803 | 93.4384 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 93.8030 | 93.2242 |
| Sindh (rural) | 90.1788 | 85.8202 |
| Sindh (urban) | 90.7182 | 85.4242 |
| Balochistan | 89.9939 | 87.1950 |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 92.9909 | 92.0727 |
| FATA | 93.1273 | 92.5131 |
| Azad Jammu and Kashmir | 93.9576 | 92.1409 |
| Federal Government Employees | 93.8697 | 93.3818 |
| Disabled quota | 91.5051 | 90.5485 |
Two honest warnings. First, an offer is not the same as a student who joined, so treat these as a close guide, not an exact cut-off. Second, we could not find the 12th BDS list online; it is unlikely to change the BDS figures, because later lists go lower. Even so, the pattern is clear: the Islamabad quota closed about 1.4 points below open merit at FMC, worth about five MDCAT marks, because ICT applicants compete only with each other for 25 seats.
The large number of lists also tells you something useful: seats keep opening up as selected students go elsewhere or miss the fee deadline, right up to March. Keep checking every list.
Fee
SZABMU charges a non-refundable application processing fee of Rs 3,000 for MBBS and Rs 3,000 for BDS, paid separately. After you are selected you deposit the college fee, with your original documents, at the college by the deadline on the merit list. SZABMU's 2026-27 notice does not print the annual tuition for FMC or the School of Dentistry, and we could not open the college's own website when we checked, so ask the college or SZABMU's admission office (051-9107687 or 051-9107689) for the current figure. We will not guess a number.
How to apply on the SZABMU portal
- Go to admission.szabmu.edu.pk/public and register with your email, a password, and your CNIC/NICOP/passport number (a B-Form number is allowed).
- Fill in personal information, then MDCAT information, then academic information.
- Upload scanned originals in JPEG or JPG. The notice sets a limit of 512 KB per document; the portal's FAQ says 800 KB, so keep every file under 512 KB to be safe.
- Apply separately for MBBS and BDS if you want both, and give your order of preference for the colleges. A college you leave off cannot be given to you.
- Print the fee challan (Rs 3,000 per programme), pay it and upload the paid challan.
- Check everything before you press submit. SZABMU says "Application form once submitted cannot be changed by the applicant." This is stricter than UHS, where you can edit until the deadline.
Documents checklist
- Passport-size colour photo on a blue or white background
- Your valid CNIC, CRC, NICOP or passport
- Matric and FSc certificates or transcripts, or IBCC equivalence for O and A levels
- Domicile certificate, plus proof of residence, property or education in that region
- MDCAT result certificate
- Paid processing fee challan (separate for MBBS and BDS)
- If needed: FGE certificate, disability board certificate, ex-FATA domicile verification
SZABMU admission timeline
For session 2026-27 the portal opened on 11 October 2026 and the last date is 30 October 2026. SZABMU has not yet announced merit list dates. Last session, the notice came out on 7 November 2025, the provisional merit list followed on 24 November, and the first merit list on 8 December. SZABMU sends no call letters: everything is posted on szabmu.edu.pk, and a selected student who misses the fee deadline loses the seat to the next person on the list.
How Islamabad's private medical colleges admit
Islamabad's private colleges are not part of SZABMU's central admission. Under PM&DC's regulations each one runs its own online admission after the MDCAT result, publishes its own criteria, and must still require an MDCAT pass. That means different forms, dates and fees for each college.
Shifa College of Medicine shows how different it can be. Its 2026-27 booklet from Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (STMU) uses its own formula for local seats: PM&DC MDCAT 50%, Shifa Entrance Test (theory) 30% and an oral test through multiple mini interviews 20%. The entrance test, run through the National Testing Service, was held on 27 September 2026, and first-year MBBS costs Rs 2,271,000 including tuition of Rs 2,121,000. Its online applications for local seats closed on 24 August 2026, before most provinces' MDCAT, so private college deadlines can come much earlier than SZABMU's.
SZABMU lists these private colleges in Islamabad as affiliated with it, with their approved seats: HBS Medical & Dental College (150 MBBS, 75 BDS), Islamabad Medical & Dental College (100 MBBS, 50 BDS), Rawal Institute of Health Sciences (100 MBBS, 75 BDS) and Bashir College of Dentistry (50 BDS). Being affiliated with SZABMU does not put them in SZABMU's admission notice. Check each college's own website for its criteria and dates.
NUMS colleges in Islamabad and Rawalpindi
NUMS is the Admitting University for armed forces administered colleges, and only the NUMS MDCAT counts for them. In Islamabad these are Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University College of Dentistry, Fazaia Medical College, Bahria University College of Medicine and NUST School of Health Sciences, as listed in NUMS's centralised admission advert. Next door in Rawalpindi is Army Medical College, NUMS's own college. Our guide to NUMS medical colleges, fees and admission covers them in full, and you can practise with NUMS past papers.
More seats for Islamabad students in Punjab
Islamabad-domiciled students also have 26 MBBS and 4 BDS seats in Punjab's public medical and dental colleges, filled by UHS on a separate quota portal. That is more MBBS seats than FMC's ICT quota. Read the dates and rules in our UHS quota seats guide. Punjab's private colleges, admitted centrally by UHS, accept a domicile from any district of Pakistan; see our UHS Punjab admission policy guide.
Frequently asked questions
How many government medical colleges are there in Islamabad?
One for MBBS, Federal Medical College (100 seats), and one for BDS, the School of Dentistry at SZABMU (50 seats). Both are admitted by SZABMU, which also admits to Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical & Dental College in Lahore.
Who conducts admission to Federal Medical College Islamabad?
Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), as the Admitting University for federal public colleges. Apply on admission.szabmu.edu.pk.
How many seats are there for Islamabad domicile at FMC?
25 of FMC's 100 MBBS seats, plus 14 of the School of Dentistry's 50 BDS seats and 16 MBBS seats at SKZMDC Lahore. Islamabad students also compete for the open merit seats.
Can I apply to FMC with a KPK, Punjab or Sindh MDCAT?
Yes. SZABMU accepts MDCAT 2026, 2025 or 2024 conducted by SZABMU, UHS, KMU, BUMHS or IBA Sukkur, with at least 55% for MBBS or 50% for BDS.
Can students from other provinces get admission in Islamabad's federal colleges?
Yes. Every Pakistani citizen, including AJ&K and GB, can compete for open merit and for their own domicile quota. Punjab has the biggest quota at FMC (29 seats).
What was the closing merit of Federal Medical College last year?
In session 2025-26, the lowest aggregate offered an FMC seat was 93.8303 on open merit and 92.4051 on the Islamabad quota, across SZABMU's 34 merit lists.
What is the last date to apply for SZABMU MBBS and BDS admission?
30 October 2026 for session 2026-27. Applications opened on 11 October 2026.
Does SZABMU admit students to Shifa, HBS or Islamabad Medical & Dental College?
No. Those are private colleges, and under PM&DC's rules each private college runs its own admission. NUMS-run colleges such as Foundation University Medical College and Fazaia Medical College admit through NUMS.
With so few seats per quota, a handful of MDCAT marks decides who gets in. If you are preparing for next year, start on ePrepare with lectures, explained MCQs, past papers from every board including Federal, and full-length papers that show exactly where your marks leak.
Sources: SZABMU Admission Notice, Public Sector Medical and Dental Colleges, Session 2026-27; SZABMU MBBS and BDS admission pages (eligibility, documents, seat allocation); SZABMU admission portal 2026-27 (eligibility, quota, downloads and FAQs); SZABMU list of constituent and affiliated institutes; SZABMU's 1st to 34th FMC and 1st to 41st School of Dentistry merit lists, session 2025-26 (closing aggregates worked out by ePrepare); PM&DC Medical and Dental (Admissions, Curriculum and Conduct) Policy and Regulations 2026 and PM&DC's list of recognised colleges with teaching hospitals; NUMS combined advertisement for centralised admissions, session 2025-26; STMU admission information booklet, session 2026-27 (Shifa College of Medicine); UHS prospectus, session 2026-27 (ICT quota seats in Punjab). Dates and seats can change; always check szabmu.edu.pk.
