EXAMINATION POLICY

MBBS / BDS PROGRAM

1. Professional Examinations
a. The University professional examinations shall be held only twice in each
academic year (i.e. Annual and Supplementary) for each class of the
Colleges/Institutes.
b. There shall be five professional examinations for MBBS and four for BDS
students.
c. All professional examinations shall be held in the constituent/affiliated colleges/
institutes.
2. Conduct of Examinations.
The Controller of Examinations shall be responsible for the preparation of the
examination calendar and the conduct of all examinations during an academic year.
3. Examination Schedule/Date Sheet
a. Date sheet of all examinations shall be prepared by Controller of Examinations in
consultation with the colleges/ Institutes at least three months prior to the
commencement of annual examination.
b. The University shall publish the examination schedule of written and practical
examinations on NUMS website with a copy to concerned institution.
c. In case of unforeseen circumstances, Controller of Examinations may change the
date sheet.
4. Eligibility for a Professional Examination.
A student shall be eligible to appear in a professional examination subject to fulfilling the
following conditions, namely:
a. Registered in NUMS and has studied the prescribed courses in the academic year.
b. Attended 75 % of the lectures, demonstrations, tutorials and practical or clinical
work, both in-patients and out-patients. For clinical subjects, cumulative
attendance of all clinical years shall be considered
c. Paid the prescribed examination fee.
d. Paid all college / institute dues for the current academic year
e. Has no major disciplinary case during the current academic year
5. Submission of Examination form
a. Meeting the pre-requisite to be eligible to sit in an examination, every candidate’s
examination application form and prescribed fee shall be forwarded as per
 University registration number through Head of Institution (HoI) to the Controller
of Examinations at least 6 weeks before the commencement of the annual
examination.
b. Whenever completed Admission Form or the fee is received after the due date,
the candidate shall pay double the normal fee provided that such application and
fee is received at least three weeks before the commencement of the
examination.
c. Controller of Examinations shall ensure that the candidates’ documents are
correct and shall forward admit cards to the institutions, at least two weeks
before the commencement of examination for issue to individual students.
d. The Examination Directorate shall process the examination fee submitted by an
institution to Finance Directorate.
6. Internal Assessment.
a. Weightage of internal assessment shall be 10 %, each for theory and practical, in
MBBS and BDS Professional Examination.
b. The Internal Assessment shall comprise of monthly test / PBL / assignments /
stages / sub-stages / ward tests / OSCE etc
c. The Internal Assessment record shall be kept in the respective department of the
College / Institute and after approval of Principal, a summary as per University
registration number shall be furnished to the Controller of Examinations, at least
two weeks before the commencement of final examination.
d. The result of all the class tests / tools which contribute towards IA will be
displayed to the students during an academic year.
e. The same internal assessment shall be counted both for annual and
supplementary examinations. The students who are relegated, however, can
improve the internal assessment during subsequent year
f. Internal assessment tools of any subject may be changed after the approval of
respective FBS
 7. Annual Examination
a. The weightage of Annual Examination shall be 90%, each for theory and
practical, in MBBS and BDS.
b. The examination comprises of a theory paper and practical/clinical examinations
as per PM&DC regulations and the Table of Specifications(TOS) of the
University.
c. The gap between two consecutive theory papers shall not be more than two
days.
d. The Theory Paper shall be of 3-hours duration, held under the arrangements of
the university. It shall have two parts; MCQs (30%) and SAQs/SEQs (70 %) for
the year 2018. It may be changed after the approval of Academic Council.
e. Allocated time for MCQs for 2018 shall be as under:
25 MCQs - 30 Minutes
30 MCQs - 40 Minutes
40 MCQs - 50 Minutes
45 MCQs - 60 Minutes
f. Each MCQs shall have four distractors
g. The distribution of SAQs/SEQs as well as MCQ difficulty levels for MBBS and
BDS annual examinations is as under: -
MBBS
Class Subjects MCQs (%) SAQs/SEQs (%)
C1 C2 C3 Total (%) C1&C2 C3 Total
1st& 2nd Anatomy
Years Physiology 10 (40%) 10 (40%) 05(20%) 25 (28%) 07 (78%) 02 (22%) 09 (72%)
MBBS Biochemistry
Pharmacology 16 (40%) 16 (40%) 08 (20%) 40 (30 %) 06 (65%) 03 (35%) 09 (70%)
3rd Year Gen Pathology 15 (37.5%) 15 (37.5%) 10 (25%) 40 (30 %) 06 (65%) 03 (35%) 09 (70%)
MBBS
Forensic Medicine 06 (25%) 13 (50%) 06 (25%) 25 (28 %) 07 (78%) 02 (22%) 09 (72%)
Community
10 (25%) 20 (50%) 10 (25%) 40 (30 %) 07 (78%) 02 (22%) 09 (70%)
th
Medicine
4 Year Special Pathology 10 (25%) 20 (50%) 10 (25%) 40 (30 %) 05 (55%) 04 (45%) 09 (70%)
MBBS EYE
ENT 06 (20%) 12 (40%) 12 (40%) 30 (33 %) 04 (45%) 05 (55%) 09 (67%)

Final Medicine/Surgery 09 (20%) 18 (40%) 18 (40%) 45 (33 %) 03 (33%) 06 (67%) 09 (67%)

Year
MBBS Paeds/Gynae/Obs 03 (10%) 09 (30%) 18 (60%) 30 (33 %) 03 (33%) 06 (67%) 09 (67%)
 BDS
Class Subjects MCQs (%) SAQs/SEQs (%)
C1 C2 C3 Total C1&C2 C3 Total
Anatomy
1st Year
Physiology
BDS 15(60%) 10(40%) - 25(28%) 09(100%) - 09 (72%)
Biochemistry
Oral Biology
Pharmacology
Gen Pathology
Science of Dental
2nd Material
Year Preclinical 13 (60%) 09(30%) 03(10%) 25 (28%) 08 (89%) 01 (11%) 09 (72%)
BDS Prosthodontics
/Preclinical operative
dentistry
Community & Preventive
Dentistry
Medicine
Surgery
3rd 10 (40%) 07(28%) 08(32%) 25 (28%) 05 (56%) 04 (44%) 09 (72%)
Oral Pathology
Year
Periodontology
BDS
Oral Medicine
02 (20%) 05 (30%) 06(50%) 13 (28%) 03 (50%) 03 (50%) 06 (72%)

Final Clinical subjects

Year 09 (30%) 09 (30%) 12(40%) 30 (33%) 05(56%) 04 (44%) 09 (67%)
BDS
Table of Specifications (TOS) – MBBS Theory Examination
(If the maximum marks are 100)
Questions/Marks
Topic Total Questions
MCQs SAQs/SEQs(C1&C2) SAQs/SEQs(C3)
25 x 1 mark each 7 x 7 marks each 2 x 8 marks each
Total 25 49 16
Table of Specifications (TOS) – BDS Theory Examination
(If the maximum marks are 100)
Questions/Marks
Topic Total Questions
MCQs SAQs/SEQs(C1&C2) SAQs/SEQs(C1&C2)
25 x 1 mark each 7 x 7 marks each 2 x 8 marks each
Total 25 49 16
Table of Specifications (TOS) – Practical Examination
(Practical’s marks distribution shall be decided by the faculty of
respective discipline)
Viva (Theory)
Practical Total

Internal External
 OSPE /OSCE/Long case/short case etc
Examiner Examiner
 Log book/Practical Notebook

25 25 40 90
8. Internal Examiner
He/she shall be Professor and Head of Department who has been involved in teaching
of the class being examined for at least six months and has delivered 50% of the total
lectures. Second preference shall be Associate/Assistant Professor who is involved in
teaching of the class and posted there for one year. Third preference shall be a
recognized Professor of the subject.

9. External Examiner
He/she shall be a Professor/Associate Professor of a recognized Medical/Dental
College or at least an Assistant Professor with three years teaching experience in the
relevant subject.

10. Conflict of Interest

No person shall serve as an examiner whose close relative (wife, husband, son,
daughter, adopted son, adopted daughter, grand-son, grand-daughter, brother, sister,
niece /nephew, son and daughter- in-law brother and sister- in-law, parental and
maternal uncle and aunt etc) is appearing in the examination. All examiners likely to
serve as an examiner shall render a certificate in compliance to this para.

11. Paper Setting

a. Each College / Institute shall forward a set of two question papers as per TOS
along with the key for each subject to the Controller of Examinations, at least
three months in advance of the annual examination. The question paper as a
whole / a question without a comprehensive key shall not be considered towards
final paper setting.
b. The set of question papers shall be prepared by the respective Head of
Department (HoD) and furnished to Controller of Examinations through Head of
Institution (HoI)
c. The Controller of Examinations shall approve the faculty for the final paper
setting having fair representation of each college / institute
12. Paper Assessment
a. The Controller of Examinations shall approve the faculty for the theory paper
marking, to be undertaken in the manner as deemed appropriate.
b. The Examination Directorate shall coordinate directly with the faculty, earmarked
for the paper marking
c. A student who scores 85% and above marks in any subject shall qualify for
distinction in that particular subject.
d. A fraction in aggregate marks of a subject shall be rounded off to whole number.
If it is less than 0.5 then it will be rounded off to the previous whole number while
0.5 or more will be rounded off to the next whole number.

13. Practical / Clinical Examinations

a. The Controller of Examiners shall approve the faculty to serve as the internal &
external examiners.
b. The number of external and internal examiners shall be equal.
c. One external & internal examiner each shall be marked for a group of 100
students.
d. Candidates may be divided into groups in the clinical and practical examinations
and be standardized by incorporating OSCE/OSPE stations.
e. Practical/clinical examination shall be held after the theory examination of the
subject but in special cases, it may be held before the theory examination with
the approval of the Controller of Examinations. For the purpose of
practical/clinical examination, the candidates may be divided into sub groups by
the examiners.
f. The assessment of the practical / clinical examination duly signed by internal &
external examiner shall be furnished to the Controller of Examinations within one
week of the conclusion of examination
14. Pass Marks
a. Pass marks for all subjects less Islamic / Pakistan Studies, shall be 50 % in
theory and practical, separately.
b. Pass marks for Islamic / Pakistan Studies shall be 33 % which, however shall not
be counted towards final scoring of the professional examination.
c. No grace marks shall be allowed to any student in any examination.
15. Declaration of Result. Every effort shall be made to declare the result of
each examination within one month of the last practical examination or earlier.
16. Promotion. No student shall be promoted to the higher classes unless he/she
passes all the subjects of the previous class
17. Re-Totaling. Any student may apply to the Controller of Examinations on a
prescribed form along with the specified fee.
18. Supplementary Examination. The interval between a supplementary
examination and the previous professional examination shall not be more than two
months. There shall be no special supplementary examination.
19. Academic Audit. The Vice Chancellor may get any academic matter
deliberated in the manner as deemed appropriate.
20 Issue of Academic Transcript / Detailed Marks Sheet. A student desirous
of obtaining Academic Transcript / Detailed Mark Sheet may apply to Controller of
Examinations along with the prescribed fee for each original copy.
21. Withdrawal/ Failure. Any student who fails to clear the first Professional in
BDS or first and second Professional in MBBS in four chances, availed or un-availed,
shall be expelled as per PM& DC policy and shall not be eligible for fresh admission as
a fresh candidate in either MBBS /BDS.
22. Study Gap Policy. Where any student has qualified a professional
examination and discontinues his/her studies and desires to rejoin his/her studies of the
MBBS or, as the case may be, BDS, within five years of his/her discontinuation, he/she
may a one-time dispersion be allowed to continue his/her studies from the stage he/she
discontinued. For a study gap of three years or more the student shall re-take the last
professional examination.
23. Academic Standard for Award of MBBS/BDS. A candidate who has
passed the final professional MBBS examination from a NUMS constituent/affiliated
institution shall be entitled to the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery
and in case of BDS, for Bachelor of Dental Surgery
24. House job policy The college / institute shall provide house job to their own
MBBS/BDS qualified students as per PM&DC policy.
 Examinations Under Semester System

1. General. NUMS examination policy for undergraduate academic programs on

semester system is based on current HEC policy guidelines. The Controller of
Examinations is responsible to prepare a calendar/schedule of all examinations to
be conducted during the academic year.

2. Taxonomy of semesters and course load. –

a. There shall be two regular semesters in an academic year, Fall and Spring of
16-18 weeks (inclusive of 1 – 2 weeks for exams) and an optional summer
semester of 9 weeks. The spring semester shall normally start in January with
its examinations in May. The fall semester shall start in August with its
examinations in December. The summer semester shall be offered as an
optional semester of 9 weeks duration between 1st week of June and 2nd
week of August to make up for academic deficiencies depending on the
availability of staff. A student will be allowed to register only in 1-2 courses of
up to 08 credit hours for remedial work. The contact hours will be doubled in
the summer semester.

b. Undergraduate student normally enrolls for 16-18 credit hours in a regular

semester. Extension may be granted in the light of policies of the regulatory
authorities.

3. Course Information. The academic program shall include theory courses,

community work/thesis/research project and internship. In the beginning of a
semester, the teacher of each course will guide the students motivating for the
successful completion of the course requirements.
4. Attendance. A minimum attendance of 75% (85% for nursing students) is
mandatory for a course work. The instructor shall report a student’s absence, if any,
to the HoD.
5. Semester examination. –
a. Institutional Examination Cell. Evaluation is an essential component of the
educational process. The assessment of students‟ competence requires careful
planning. The concerned college and institute will establish institutional
 examination cell headed by the Institution’s Deputy Controller of Examination
(IDCE), who will be responsible for the maintenance of papers’ secrecy, student
records and onward submission of the results to the NUMS’ Controller of
Examinations.
b. Departmental Examination Committee. A Departmental Examination Committee
headed by the HoD / senior faculty members will be constituted by Head of the
Institution to conduct examination based on semester system.
c. Sessional tests/ mid-semester examination. The performance of each student
will be assessed periodically throughout the semester under sessional tests/ mid-
semester examination of each course and evaluated by the respective faculty
member(s) who have taught the related course and results of such assessments
will be sent to IDCE of the respective colleges/institute. Quizzes shall be of 15
minutes and sessional exams shall be of 30 minutes’ duration. Mid Semester
examination of each course shall be one-hour duration and evaluated by the
respective faculty member(s) who have taught the course. Whenever a student
has missed mid-semester examination/sessional test due to reasons acceptable to
the head of the department (HoD), an opportunity for a makeup test may be
arranged within the 04 weeks provided his attendance is not less than 75%.

1. End-semester examination. The end semester theory examination of each

course shall be of one and half hour duration. The theory paper shall have two
parts; part I shall have one best type MCQs while part II shall have short answer
questions (SAQs/SEQs). Oral, practical / clinical course examination shall be of
one-hour duration. The final paper will be set as per TOS in the Examination
Directorate of NUMS by the paper setters approved by the Controller of
Examinations. The Controller of Examinations shall get the papers assessed
through a panel of assessors approved by him. Each student shall be examined /
evaluated by the internal and external examiners appointed by the Controller of
Examinations. Format of examination result of semester is given as (ANNEX-UG-
04).
6. Assessment weightage. The semester based programs assessment weightage
may vary in different academic programs. However, general guidelines for final
assessment are given below:

Assessments Weightage Marks Tools Duration of

paper
(minutes)
Quizzes 5% 5 MCQs/SAQs/SEQs 15
Sessional examination 10% 10 MCQs/SAQs/SEQs 30

Mid semester examination 25% 25 MCQs/SAQs/SEQs 60

Assignments/presentations/ 20% 20 60
practical/OSCE/OSPE
40% 40 20 x MCQs 90
Final end semester 04 x SAQs/SEQs
examination (5 marks each)
Total 100% 100

7. OSCE/OSPE-station. The concerned college and institute shall be responsible for

preparing OSCE/OSPE station(s).

8. Noncredit courses. Pakistan studies & Islamiyat shall be mandatory for

undergraduate programs. Other courses may be taught as non-credit courses as
well. The assessment marks of these courses shall not contribute towards CGPA.
9. Bar on supplementary/special examinations. There will be no
supplementary/special examination in a semester system. If a student fails in a
course, he is required to repeat it. An incomplete grade will be awarded by the
faculty only in exceptional cases beyond the control of a student such as serious
accidents, family tragedy, serious health ailments, etc.
10. Grading policy. The student’s final assessment shall be done by Grade Point
Average (GPA). NUMS shall use absolute grading on the scale of 4.00 points for
calculation of GPA. The minimum qualifying CGPA for Undergraduate programs
shall be 2.00. For the purpose of convenience of reference, the following detail
percentage and letter grade for calculation of GPA have been formulated in the light
of policies of the relevant regulatory authorities.

Fractionalized Tabulation of Grading Policy

Percentage GPA Grade

85 & above 4.00 A

84 3.93

83 3.86

82 3.80 A-

81 3.73

80 3.66

79 3.60 B+

78 3.52

77 3.46

76 3.40

75 3.33

74 3.24 B

73 3.16

72 3.08

71 3.00
70 2.88 B-

69 2.77

68 2.66
 67 2.58 C+

66 2.50

65 2.42

64 2.33

63 2.22 C

62 2.11

61 2.00

60 1.88 C-

59 1.77

58 1.66

57 1.57 D+

56 1.48

55 1.39

54 1.30

53 1.23 D

52 1.15

51 1.08

50 1.00

Below 50 0.00 F
11. Computation of semester GPA/CGPA. –

a) GPA is a figure ranging from 0.00 to 4.00 and to be used to indicate the
performance of a student in the semester.

b) Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) is a sum over all courses in a

semester (course credit hours x grade point earned)/total semester credit hours

c) Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA) is a sum over of all courses in all
semesters (courses credit hours x grade point earned)/total credit hours of all
semesters.

12. Promotion conditionality. A student must obtain a minimum cumulative grade

point average (CGPA) of 2.00 at the end of each semester for promotion to the next
semester.

13. Academic Deficiencies. A student who obtains one or more of the following
grades in the semester result shall be considered academically deficient:
a) CGPA less than 2.00 for UGs or/and
b) 'F' grade in any course or/and
c) 'I' (incomplete) grade in any course.

14. Award of Grade “F”. “F” grade is awarded on the basis of:
a) Academic failure i.e, below 50% marks in the course.
b) Attendance less than 75% (85% for nursing students) in the subject.
c) The “F” grade so obtained can only be cleared by repetition of the course
whenever offered.
15. Award of Grade “I”. An incomplete “I” grade will be awarded by the faculty only in
exceptional cases only when where beyond the control of a student such as serious
accident, family tragedy, serious health ailment, etc. The grade will be approved by
the concerned Dean provided the attendance of a student is not less than 75%. The
student will be given a proper grade after examination as per NUMS grading policy
without prejudice to the previous grade “I”. In case a student fails to make up the
required score, he will be awarded an “F” grade.
 16. Recommendations for academic deficiencies. The Dean/HoD will review the
semester results of deficient students and recommend any one of the following
actions namely: -

a. Probation. A student shall be placed on academic probation under the following

conditions:
i. The students acquiring GPA of 1.70 or more but less than 2.00 but passing in all
papers will be promoted to the next semester on probation (1st probation) on a
condition to achieve more than 2.0 GPA in the next semester. If the student does
not achieve the desired CGPA of 2.0 but obtains CGPA greater than or equal to
1.7, he will go to 2nd (last) probation.
ii. The students acquiring GPA 1.7 and above but failing in any paper(s) will be
placed on probation and promoted to the next semester conditionally. They will
have to be registered for summer semester to improve the grade.
iii. Students acquiring GPA less than 1.7 in two consecutive semesters and failing in
any paper(s) will be dropped from the university roll. However, he will be eligible to
seek re-admission if applied for in the next available admission season. Re-
admission will be allowed only once after payment of full admission fee.
iv. There will be maximum two academic probations in all NUMS programs. Two
probations in first four semesters in 4 years degree program will result in
withdrawal from the program. A student on probation in two consecutive semesters
can take readmission in that particular academic year once only.

b. Withdrawal; A student is recommended for withdrawal under following

circumstances/conditions;
i. On disciplinary grounds when recommended by the respective Discipline
Committee of the college/institution.
ii. A student has obtained GPA less than 1.7 in two consecutive semesters and
failing in any paper(s).
iii. A student who is on probation for 2nd time in first four semesters.
iv. A student can seek withdrawal from any program at any stage of his degree on
his own request duly recommended by the supervisor.
v. If a student has not completed his degree requirements within the maximum
stipulated time
 vi. A student who remains absent for more than 45 days in a semester without valid
reasons but does not qualify for suspension of registration.

c. Repeating Courses / Improvement of CGPA (ANNEX-UG-05). –

If a student gets 'F' grade, he will be required to repeat the course or its
recommended alternate, if any. However, “F” grade obtained earlier will also be
recorded on the transcript. Undergraduate students may be allowed to repeat a
course in which he has obtained grade below “C”. In such a case, both the
previous and new grade obtained will be recorded on the transcript. However, only
the better grade shall be used in the calculation of CGPA. Maximum number of
courses that student may be allowed to repeat in an eight semester’s degree
program is less than and equal to six (≤6). Course may be repeated/improved in
summer semester or when the course is offered.

17. Results disclosure. Result management of sessional/mid semester examinations

is the responsibility of institution. Final result shall be prepared by controller
examination and displayed on NUMS website.

18. Medical Certificate. Medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner duly
endorsed by the University Medical Officer is acceptable for the examination
purposes in the University. There shall be no re-sit of the missed examination for
the student.
19. Permission of writer for special students. A visually impaired student may be
allowed to attempt the mid/final examinations of the University on braille/
computer/any other means of facilitation. In case a student is physically
handicapped/visually impaired, he may apply to the head of the respective
department (with medical certificate as proof of his disability) for permission to
engage a writer in tests/ examinations of the University two weeks before the start
thereof. He will be allowed 45 minutes (maximum) extra time to solve the question
paper. The qualification of the person who acts as writer of a handicapped student
must be at least one step lower than that of the student. (e.g. for level 6 student, the
writer should be at the most of level 5)
20. Damaged/lost answer script. In an exceptional case where an answer script is
damaged, lost or destroyed due to unavoidable circumstances, then the student
may be given the following options:
i. Average marks shall be awarded to the student in that subject/course.
ii. If the student so desires, he shall be given another chance as a special
case to take the examination in the relevant subject/course in the next
examination.
21. Preparation and issuance of academic transcript / detailed mark sheet. –The
Examination Department may issue two types of Transcripts i.e. Interim and Final.
i.Interim transcript: Interim transcript shall be issued to the students who have not
completed their program. It will show the grades of all semesters which a student
has completed along with GPA/CGPA. It will also show program status.
ii.Final transcript: Final transcript shall be issued to the students who have
completed their degree requirements. It will show complete academic record of the
students along with GPA/CGPA and program status with academic honor, if any.
iii.Duplicate Transcripts: The University shall issue one original copy of the interim
and final transcripts. Students may request for additional copies on payment of
prescribed fee. Each type of transcript shall depict transcripts definition and legend
on its reverse side. Payment of the prescribed fee will apply for the issuance of
original or duplicate transcripts.
22. Format of Final Transcript. The final transcript for the award of degree includes
following information on its front side:

i.Name of student, father's name, date of birth, registration no. /Roll No.
ii.Name of the program
iii.Date of admission into degree program
iv.Semester wise break-up with dates
v.Subjects detail along with credit hours
vi.Type of enrollment – full time or part time
vii.Picture of the applicant be printed on transcript date of completion of degree
requirements
viii.Mode of study – regular or private or distance learning
ix.Online result verification key/id (front side at the end of the transcript)
x.GPA/CGPA and overall percentage against earned CGPA (at the end of the front
side of transcript) for semester based programs
23. Award of degree/duplicate degree. Degrees shall be issued against payment of
prescribed fee. NUMS will generally distribute degrees through formal convocation.
Urgent degree can be issued upon the request of student on payment of special
fee, if any. Duplicate degree may be issued (with completion of all requirements) to
a student in case the original degree is lost/damaged or in case of change in the
name of candidate. The duplicate degree shall be signed by the Controller of
Examinations only.