📖 Hifz-e-Quran & MBBS Merit

The "20 bonus marks for Hifz-e-Quran" claim you've seen online has been outdated since 2021.

This one's genuinely changed more than once, and a lot of older content never caught up. Here's the real, multi-source-confirmed timeline — including the actual Supreme Court order — and what's genuinely still in place today versus what's been gone for years.

Published June 21, 2026

2021National Policy Abolished
Apr 4, 2023Supreme Court Closed Case
VariesCurrent Status by College

The Short, Accurate Answer

There is no longer a national, uniform 20-mark bonus added to FSc or merit scores for Hifz-e-Quran candidates in PMDC-regulated MBBS/BDS admissions. That policy was removed in 2021. However, the picture isn't a clean "it doesn't exist anywhere" either — some individual private medical colleges currently run their own separate, institution-specific Hifz-e-Quran provisions, completely independent of the old national rule.

The Actual Timeline

2018-19Regulation 9(9) of the MBBS and BDS (Admissions, House Job and Internship) Regulations, 2018 (amended 2019), grants 20 additional marks to Hifz-e-Quran candidates nationally.
2021PMDC issues new Medical and Dental Undergraduate Education (Admissions, Curriculum and Conduct) Regulations, 2021 — which grant no additional marks for Hifz-e-Quran. The 20-mark policy ends.
Jan-Mar 2023A Supreme Court bench led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa raises questions about the old policy via suo motu notice, examining whether it conformed with Article 25 (equality) of the Constitution.
Apr 4, 2023A six-member bench formally disposes of the case after PMDC's counsel confirms the 20-mark policy was already removed in 2021 — the Court finds the case moot, without ruling on the underlying constitutional question.

Confirmed across multiple independent sources (Associated Press of Pakistan, ProPakistani, Business Recorder, Geo News, Samaa, The Nation) and the Supreme Court's own published order.

One legal nuance worth knowing: the Supreme Court didn't actually rule on whether the old 20-mark policy was constitutional — it simply found the case no longer relevant since PMDC had already scrapped the rule before the matter was resolved. The broader constitutional question around Article 25 equality was left unaddressed on the merits.

What Some Private Colleges Still Do

Separately from the abolished national rule, a handful of private medical colleges currently maintain their own Hifz-e-Quran-related provisions as part of their individual admission policy — not a revival of Regulation 9(9), but an institution-specific choice:

Ziauddin University Reserves Hifz-e-Quran seats for 10% of its MBBS intake as part of its own scholarship structure, per its current admission page.
Foundation University (FUSH) Its NUMS-affiliated admission process references integrating "marks of Hifz-e-Quran Test" into its own merit list generation, separate from PMDC's national formula.

Meanwhile, some other colleges' document checklists still list a "Hifz-e-Quran Certificate" as something to submit "if claiming to be Hafiz-e-Quran," without clearly stating what, if anything, it currently affects — which may simply be a leftover template line rather than an active provision. This is exactly why a blanket assumption either way is risky.

What This Means For You

🚫
Don't expect 20 bonus marks nationallyThat hasn't been PMDC policy since 2021, and the Supreme Court formally closed the matter in 2023. Articles still claiming otherwise are outdated.
🔍
Check each specific private college directlyIf a particular institution matters to you, look at its current admission prospectus or contact admissions directly — don't rely on a generic "yes" or "no" for every college.
📄
Get any claimed benefit in writingIf a college tells you Hifz-e-Quran status affects your application, ask for that in the official prospectus or a written confirmation — not a verbal assurance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Hifz-e-Quran candidates get 20 bonus marks?

Not nationally — that policy ended in 2021, and the Supreme Court closed the related case in 2023.

Has this completely disappeared?

The national rule has, but some individual private colleges run their own separate, smaller-scale provisions today.

How do I check a specific college's current policy?

Go directly to that college's current admission prospectus or official page — this varies by institution now, not by a single national rule.

Whatever your background, the MDCAT score is what carries the most weight.

50% of your merit aggregate comes from MDCAT itself. Practice with chapterwise tests and full mock exams — free, on NexaMed Prep.

Start practicing now →