Out of a total of 7,226 candidates, only 2,828 managed to pass the test, putting the overall pass rate at 39 percent.
An analysis of the recently conducted entrance test at the University of Karachi has revealed that most of the successful candidates barely passed the exam, with most of them scoring between 50 and 60 marks out of 100.
According to official data, reviewed by He Express PAkGazetteCandidates who passed the test scored between 50% and 60%, while the passing percentage was fixed at 50%.
Out of a total of 7,226 candidates, only 2,828 managed to pass the test, putting the overall pass rate at 39 percent, a notable improvement over last year’s success rate of approximately 25 percent.
The test was conducted for admission to 20 academic departments for the 2026 session, including Pharmacy, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Media Marketing and Business Administration.
The detailed breakdown shows:
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50-60 points: 1,735 students (61.3%)
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60-70 points: 830 students (29.3%)
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70-80 points: 243 students (8.6%)
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80-90 points: 20 students (0.7%)
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90-100 points: 0 students (0%)
The findings reveal that no student scored above 90 points, while only 20 students (less than one percent) scored between 80 and 90. Altogether, candidates scoring 70 or higher represented only 3.6 percent of all participants, or 263 students in total.
This means that 61 percent of new admissions this year will come from students who scored 60 percent or less. University sources said that although the pass percentage has improved compared to last year, the number of high-performing candidates remains alarmingly low.
In essence, the data suggests that the Karachi University admission test remains a challenge even for the best students, with only a few managing to achieve what the report describes as the ‘elite group’ of those who obtained more than 80 points, which represents only 0.28 percent of the total candidates.
Last week, KU carried out its entrance test for the morning and afternoon programs for the 2026 academic year. For this, the university had created 22 examination centers in different departments. According to university officials, 7,769 applications were received for 1,347 places in 20 departments. Of them, 7,536 candidates appeared for the test.
The test covered admissions for programs including PhD in Pharmacy (Morning and Evening), PhD in Physiotherapy, Bachelor of Computer Science (BSCS, BSSE, AI), Business Administration (BBA), Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Aviation Technology, Applied Physics, Environmental Studies, Food Science and Technology, International Relations, Mass Communication, Commerce, Public Administration and B.Ed (H), among others.
