In the December 2025 NRE Step I sitting, PM&DC data reported by the press show 7,076 candidates appeared and 1,473 passed, about 20.8%. Two countries supplied most of the field: Kyrgyzstan (4,256 candidates, 951 passed, about 22%) and China (2,154 candidates, 333 passed, 15.5%). Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan sat between 30% and 33%. Countries with fewer than 20 candidates produced figures from 0% to 100% that mean nothing statistically. The country of study is a weak predictor of whether you will pass. Your preparation is a far stronger one.
The December 2025 figures
The table uses the country breakdown reported by The News on 15 January 2026 from PM&DC data. Where the report gave only counts, we calculated the rate and mark it as calculated.
| Country of graduation | Appeared | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyrgyzstan | 4,256 | 951 | about 22% (reported) |
| China | 2,154 | 333 | 15.5% (reported) |
| Kazakhstan | 174 | 54 | about 31% (reported) |
| Afghanistan | 160 | 18 | just over 11% (reported) |
| Uzbekistan | 116 | 35 | 30% (reported) |
| Tajikistan | 91 | 30 | roughly 33% (reported) |
| Iran | 39 | 20 | about 51% (calculated) |
| Russia | 16 | 2 | about 12.5% (calculated) |
| Ukraine | 14 | 2 | about 14% (calculated) |
| Bangladesh | 11 | 10 | about 91% (calculated) |
| Malaysia | 3 | 1 | 1 of 3 |
| Belarus | 3 | 1 | 1 of 3 |
The same report said no candidate passed from Barbados, Cuba, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, the Philippines, Saint Lucia and Sudan, and that all candidates passed from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Those countries each had between one and three candidates, and the article itself notes that such figures are statistically insignificant.
How to read these numbers
- Only the large groups carry information. Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan each had at least 90 candidates. A rate calculated from 14 candidates can swing 20 percentage points with a single answer sheet.
- A country rate is not a school rate. Within Kyrgyzstan or China there are many universities with different curricula, language of instruction and clinical exposure. PM&DC data as reported do not split them.
- Pass rates are not difficulty ratings. A country with a high rate may send fewer first-time candidates or candidates who have prepared repeatedly. The reported figures do not separate first attempts from repeat attempts.
- One sitting is one sitting. The December 2025 pass rate for Chinese graduates was 15.5%. We have no matching country breakdown for June 2025 in the documents we reviewed, so we do not claim a trend.
Two countries are the exam
A little arithmetic on the reported totals shows how concentrated the field is. These are our calculations from the figures above, rounded.
| Group | Appeared | Share of candidates | Passed | Share of passes | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyrgyzstan | 4,256 | 60% | 951 | 65% | 22% |
| China | 2,154 | 30% | 333 | 23% | 15.5% |
| All other countries combined | 666 | 9% | 189 | 13% | 28% |
| All candidates | 7,076 | 100% | 1,473 | 100% | 20.8% |
Kyrgyzstan and China together account for about nine candidates in ten. This has two consequences. First, the national average of about 21% is essentially a Kyrgyz and Chinese number, so it says little about, for example, a graduate of Kazakhstan or Iran. Second, because the other countries are a small and mixed group, their combined 28% hides large differences: the same pool contains Iran at about 51% and Afghanistan at just over 11%.
For a Kyrgyz or Chinese graduate, the useful reading is that you are competing with a very large number of peers from the same curricula, so the pass rate is a stable estimate for your group, not a statistical fluke. For a graduate of a small country, the useful reading is that the published figure for your country probably rests on a handful of candidates and tells you almost nothing.
What the spread suggests, and what it does not
The gap between about 15% (China) and about 31% (Kazakhstan) among large groups is real, but its cause is not published. Possible explanations, which are our inference and not PM&DC findings, include the following.
| Possible factor | How it might affect results | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Language of instruction | Programmes taught in a language other than English may leave candidates less used to English clinical vignettes | Practise timed English vignettes weekly; learn English terms for the conditions you studied in another language |
| Curriculum mismatch | A curriculum built on other national guidelines may not teach Pakistani first-line management or programmes | Study the local guidelines |
| Clinical exposure | Clinical years with few patients or limited hospital time weaken the 140 clinical items | Prioritise medicine and surgery questions with explanations |
| Time since graduation | Knowledge decays; basic sciences fade fastest | Use a baseline test and relearn gaps |
| Preparation style | Recall of questions teaches recognition rather than reasoning | Use original questions and an error log |
| Candidate mix | Large groups include many repeat candidates and part-time preparers | Do not compare yourself with the average |
Eligibility and recognition, not just curriculum
A country's pass rate also reflects which of its graduates are allowed to sit. PM&DC's September 2025 press release states that only graduates of institutions on the ECFMG-accredited lists may appear, and that recognised and not-yet-recognised institutions follow different provisional registration routes. Those rules change who ends up in the room, which means the numbers in the table are not a clean measure of how well a curriculum prepares students. For the registration side, see what PM&DC needs from a foreign graduate.
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Compared with earlier sittings
| Sitting | Medical pass rate |
|---|---|
| June 2025 | 25.26% |
| December 2025 | 21.17% (1,467 medical candidates passed) |
Dental candidates did worse in December 2025, at 7.23%. The overall figure of 20.8% and the medical figure of 21.17% differ because of the dental candidates and because different reports count different totals. We use the medical figure when we mean the MBBS track.
What to do with this information
- Do not choose your plan from the country table. Use a timed baseline test by domain instead. The study plan explains how.
- Look for your specific gaps. If you studied in a country with a lower reported rate, check the Pakistan-specific domains first: community medicine, forensic medicine, pharmacology and the infection topics in medicine and allied.
- Raise your margin. A stable 65% on original mock papers leaves room for the exam being different from your mocks. The pass mark guide explains why.
- Plan for the clinical exam as well. Step I is only the first gate. See the Step II OSCE guide.
These pass rates describe groups, not individuals. A graduate from China who prepares well has a very different chance from the 15.5% average, and a graduate from a higher-rate country who prepares poorly has a very different chance from the 31% average.
Questions to ask before you trust any pass-rate table
Pass-rate tables circulate in group chats, often without a source or a date. Before you use one, run through these questions.
- Which sitting is it? June 2025 and December 2025 are different exams with different candidates.
- Is it medical only, or medical plus dental? December 2025 medical was 21.17% and dental 7.23%. Mixing them changes the headline.
- How many candidates are behind each figure? Anything under about 50 candidates is noise.
- Who published it? The numbers here are reported from PM&DC data by a newspaper. We have not seen a PM&DC table with the full country breakdown, so small differences may exist between reports.
- Does it separate first attempts from repeats? It does not, in anything we have seen.
If a table fails more than one of these tests, treat it as gossip. The same applies to claims about particular universities: no PM&DC source we reviewed publishes university-level results.
A note for graduates of small-volume countries
If you studied in Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Malaysia, Bangladesh or another country that sent fewer than about 50 candidates, your group will not be easy to compare with Kyrgyzstan or China. Three practical points follow.
- Do not copy the preparation advice of a very different group. A route that suits a graduate of a large Central Asian programme, with many peers sitting together and shared study groups, may not suit a lone graduate from a small programme.
- Build your own cohort. A study partner who is also preparing is worth more than a hundred strangers in a chat group. Share error logs, not recalled questions.
- Check your recognition status early. Small-volume countries are more likely to fall under the "not yet recognised" or "under process" categories in PM&DC's lists. See the requirements guide.
One last caution about trends. Two sittings in the same year are not a trend, and a country that looks stronger in one sitting may look weaker in the next because of who happened to register. Wait for several sittings with large numbers before drawing any conclusion about a university, a country or a year.
What would make this data more useful
PM&DC has not published first-attempt versus repeat-attempt rates, university-level results, or domain-level results. If it does, we will update this page. Until then, treat all breakdowns as context. The most reliable use of the December 2025 numbers is a reminder that roughly four in five candidates do not pass, and that everyone, from every country, benefits from structured preparation.
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Frequently asked questions
What was the overall NRE Step I pass rate in December 2025?
As reported from PM&DC data, 7,076 candidates appeared and 1,473 passed, about 20.8%. The medical pass rate was 21.17% (1,467 passed). Dental candidates had a pass rate of 7.23%.
What was the pass rate for Kyrgyzstan graduates?
About 22%: 951 of 4,256 candidates, according to the figures reported from PM&DC in January 2026.
What was the pass rate for graduates from China?
15.5%: 333 of 2,154 candidates, as reported from PM&DC data for the December 2025 sitting.
Which countries had the highest pass rates?
Among larger groups, Tajikistan (about 33%), Kazakhstan (about 31%) and Uzbekistan (30%). Several countries show 100% but with one to three candidates, which is statistically meaningless.
Do some countries have a 0% pass rate?
The report listed Barbados, Cuba, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, the Philippines, Saint Lucia and Sudan with no passes. Candidate numbers were small, so the result says little about the programmes.
Is the NRE harder for graduates of certain countries?
The exam is the same for everyone. Differences in pass rates may reflect curriculum, language, clinical exposure, time since graduation and preparation. PM&DC has not published an analysis of causes.
Does my university matter more than my country?
Probably, but PM&DC data as reported do not break results down by university. Within a country, universities differ in curriculum, language and clinical training.
What was the pass rate in June 2025?
The medical pass rate was 25.26% for the June 2025 sitting, as reported from PM&DC results.
Are first-attempt and repeat candidates reported separately?
Not in the reports we reviewed. The pass rates combine first-time and repeat candidates.
How should I use these figures when planning?
As context only. Use a timed baseline test by domain to find your own gaps, and aim for a stable 65% on original mock papers before sitting.