HEC to conduct university entrance tests

Issues arise in its online portal, many students deterred from applying

KARACHI: The decision of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to conduct entrance tests for different academic programmes all over the country through the Education Testing Council (ETC) has left the students community confused.

Most of the universities in the country had been conducting their entrance tests through the National Testing Services (NTS) for years, with a hefty fee, but now the HEC has taken over responsibility for the test, which will be free-of-cost.

"It is really confusing for us, as initially we were not aware whether the university we were planning to apply for would conduct the test through the NTS or HEC," said a student who is currently in the process of applying to medical college. They added that confusion prevailed for a while, until the schedule for inviting applications was announced.

The HEC announced the registrations on July 2 and the last date for the application to be submitted will be July 12. The HEC test will be valid for admissions in undergraduate programmes for two years. Candidates will be informed of the test venue and date via text messages and newspaper advertisements.



"So far, a total of 47 universities have been registered and are conducting their tests through the HEC testing services," said the spokesperson of the federal HEC, Ayesha Ikram. She added that they have invited all the universities to use the service, but for this year, tests will be conducted on behalf of 29 public sector universities and 18 private sector institutes. A list of universities that are conducting entrance tests through the HEC system is available on the commission's website.

This year, some engineering and medical universities have been allowed to conduct their test through their choice of testing services, as the HEC is currently not equipped to take care of technical tests, Ikram said. She added that from next year, it will be mandatory for universities across Pakistan to conduct their entrance tests through the ETC.

Online issues

"I have been preparing for the medical test since February but then we got to know that we have to give the HEC test and not NTS," said a worried student, Ayesha. She said she has been trying to create her candidate profile on the HEC website but has not been successful, despite several tries.



She also said that at times, the website does not send the code to her registered contact number and sometimes when candidates click on the save and close button, all their information vanishes.

Another student said that after several failed attempts at creating a profile, she and her friends have decided not to appear in the test.

NTS Spokesperson Dr Syed Khurram Mehdi said there were speculations that the HEC would conduct the tests for a number of universities but the list they have uploaded online is not extensive. It does, however, include almost all the medical universities in Sindh, as well as the University of Karachi. "We have been conducting the entrance test for universities' undergraduate programmes for years," he said. Dr Mehdi said that for Dow University of Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi Medical and Dental College and the University of Karachi, they have been conducting for the last five years.

"We do not have any permanent agreement with the universities and instead sign Memorandums of Understanding each year, which vary from university to university," Dr Mehdi explained. He also said that each year universities approach them to conduct their tests and share their testing requirements, on which the MoU is prepared. No university has contacted them so far for the upcoming admissions for the undergraduate programmes.



Around 200,000 students appear in the Intermediate annual examinations every year, of which the pass percentage is around 50% in all faculties and almost the same number apply for university admissions.

Regarding the complaints, the HEC spokesperson said that students can submit their queries and complaints via email given in the application advertisement and can also visit HEC offices in main cities. Helplines have also been established to help students, she said, adding that they will resolve the issue as soon as possible.