Bachelors Students can now take direct admission in PhD Programs

Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has introduced a new policy 2021 for admission to the Doctoral or PhD Programs in Public and Private Universities. The new policy states that the bachelor students (16 years of education) can take direct admission in PhD Programs without doing MS / M.Phil degree. The new policy shall be effective from 1st January 2021.


According to the new policy, PhD students are required to complete a coursework of at least 30 credit hours. Currently, 18 credit hours are required.

New Proposed Criteria for Admission in PhD Programs

  1. The students shall have been awarded BS / MS / M.Phil or equivalent degree before taking admission in the PhD Program. 
  2. Consistent with the best practice, it shall generally not be a requirement that the applicant shall have completed a prior degree in the same discipline. If the applicant has a strong interest in doing a PhD in a different discipline and by the department's policy the admission committee is satisfied that the applicant's prior education has sufficiently prepared him or her to undertake the course of studies of the doctoral program then the applicant shall be considered for admission notwithstanding their prior qualification in a different discipline
  3. The minimum CGPA of 3.0 / 4.0 (Semester Based) or First Division (Annual System) in the most recent degree is required for admission to PhD Programs.
  4. Applicants shall have to fulfill any one of the testing requirement a) International GRE Test administered by ETS b) Graduate Admission Test conducted by ETC HEC c) Graduate Admission Test conducted by the University with the permission of HEC.
  5. Applicants shall be required to submit a Statement of Purpose (SoP), which should serve as an important part of the application.

According to the new policy, the minimum duration of the PhD Program should be 3 years, while the maximum duration should be 8 years. 

If the student completes the full set of requirements for the award of MS / M.Phil degree during the course of their PhD studies, the University may award the applicable degree to such students.

In the letter, it is also stated that the MS / M.Phil leading to PhD programs have been discontinued, and no further admissions are allowed in such programs.

It should be noted that the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association has rejected the new proposed policy of HEC.

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