The MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) admission test for the next academic year will be held on February 9 while the admission test for Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) will be held on March 8, 2024.

The decision was taken at a meeting on the MBBS and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) admission tests for the academic year 2023-24 held at the Health Ministry on Sunday.

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Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque presided over the meeting.

Talking to reporters after the meeting the Health Minister said all medical coaching centres across the country will remain shut for one month from January 9.

Like the previous year, the minimum pass mark was fixed at 40.

Meanwhile, foreign students can apply to appear in the admission test on January 4 while students from the country can apply from January 11 online.

A circular on the admission test will be issued on January 10, he said.

The application submission deadline will end on January 23 and the students can pay fees till January 24, said the minister adding that the roll number and seat plan will be known by January 26 while the admit card will be provided on February 5.

The exam will begin at 10 am and the government fixed Tk 1,000 as admission fee, said the minister.

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MBBS admission test will be held against 11,728 seats—of these, 5,380 seats are available for government medical colleges while 6,348 seats are available in private medical colleges while 375 seats are available in army-run colleges.

Replying to a question over leakage of question paper, the minister said “There was no complaint about the medical admission test question in the past five years. We have brought many developments in medical admission tests as  the system has been modernised and all are controlled digitally.”

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Earlier, the MBBS admissions test for the 2022-23 session was held on March 10, 2023.

A total of 1,39,217 applicants competed for 11,122 seats in the medical college admission test.