How to use the free 2026 MDCAT past papers

A past paper is the closest thing you can get to the real test without sitting it. It mixes subjects, hides the easy questions among the hard ones, and puts a clock on every decision.

The 2026 papers are free on mymdcat. The 2026 test was held on Sunday, 20 September 2026. This guide explains which papers are complete, how to sit one properly, and how to review it so the next paper is better.

Which 2026 papers are free

Six 2026 papers are in the bank:

• DUHS: 180 questions
• Federal: 180 questions
• Federal partial duplicate: 143 questions
• KMU: 180 questions
• NUMS: 151 questions
• UHS: 37 questions

Every one is free. You can sit a paper in timed mode or in tutor mode. Answers and worked explanations are included, and a free paper does not use your 500 practice attempts.

The Federal paper appears twice. Use the 180-question version for a timed sitting. The 143-question version is a partial duplicate, useful for extra practice but not for a score out of 180.

Some papers are partial because not every question could be recovered. The paper row shows the number of questions recovered, so you know what you are sitting before you start. Papers before 2026 are included in the MDCAT Pass.

Sit a full paper before you sit a partial one. The full paper shows you the fatigue curve, and a 37-question paper cannot.

Why a real paper is different from a practice set

A chapter quiz asks whether you remember a chapter. A paper asks whether you can choose the right chapter, in the right order, at the right speed, while tired.

That difference is the point. A student who answers chapter quizzes well can still lose marks on a paper through sequencing and time alone. The paper exposes the loss. A practice set sorted by topic hides it.

Papers also show you the wording style of each board. DUHS, KMU, NUMS and Federal do not write stems in the same way. Reading those styles before the exam reduces surprise on the day.

Before you start: set the paper up properly

A paper sat in three sittings with a phone nearby is not a measurement. Set it up like the real thing.

1. Choose a start time close to the real exam start.
2. Put the phone in another room.
3. Use 180 minutes on one clock.
4. Use the same answer sheet method you will use on the day.
5. Do not pause for tea, calls or explanations.

Tutor mode is for learning. Timed mode is for measuring. Do not mix them in the same sitting.

The three-pass method for the clock

The paper is one 180-minute block. A three-pass method gives you a way to spend it.

Pass one, about 95 minutes. Answer every question you can solve without a long pause. Mark, do not solve, the ones that need a calculation or a second read. Do not leave a question blank in this pass if you can eliminate two options.

Pass two, about 55 minutes. Return to the marked questions. Spend the time on the ones where you have a method, not on the ones where you have only a feeling.

Pass three, about 30 minutes. Check that every answer is transferred. Check the questions you rushed. Change an answer only when you can name the reason.

These are drill numbers, not exam law. Adjust them after two papers. The point is to decide the order before the clock decides it for you.

How to review a paper so the marks move

The review is where the improvement happens. A paper plus a score is entertainment. A paper plus a review is training.

Use this sequence:

1. Mark the paper without changing your answers.
2. Classify every wrong answer by error type: knowledge, misread, calculation, elimination or time.
3. Re-solve each wrong question without looking at the explanation.
4. Read the explanation and compare it with your re-solve.
5. Write one line: the rule that would have prevented the error.
6. Add the question to a review list and try it again in a week.

Also review the questions you got right by guessing. A lucky guess is an error that has not been charged yet.

In the first month, budget twice the paper time for the review. A three-hour paper can take six hours to review properly. That sounds expensive until you compare it with sitting five papers and learning the same lesson five times.

Write the review in two passes if that helps: one pass for the error class, one pass for the chapter. The format is not the point. The point is that a wrong answer becomes a task with a name.

Keep a paper log

Keep one table, not a folder of screenshots.

The score column is the least useful. The avoidable error count tells you whether the method is working. The top chapter tells you what to do on Monday.

What a partial paper can tell you

The UHS 37-question paper and the 143-question Federal duplicate cannot give you a score out of 180. They can still teach you something.

Use a partial paper as a style sample or a section drill. Sit the 37 questions in 37 minutes to practise pace. Read the wording of each stem. Do not compare the percentage with a full paper, because the mix of subjects is different.

A partial paper is also useful in the last month, when a full paper would take too much energy. Twenty minutes of real board questions beats twenty minutes of scrolling.

A four-week plan using the free papers

This plan assumes one full paper a week and about 12 study hours a week.

• Week one: DUHS 180, timed, then a full review.
• Week two: Federal 180, timed, then repair the top two chapters.
• Week three: KMU 180, timed, then a shorter review focused on repeated errors.
• Week four: NUMS 151, timed, plus the UHS 37 as a pace drill.

Between papers, use practice for the chapters the log names. Do not start a new paper until the last one has been reviewed. The order matters more than the board.

Keep one rest day. Four papers in four weeks is a workload, and a paper sat while exhausted teaches you about exhaustion, not about the exam.

Mistakes that waste a free paper

The most common mistake is pausing the clock. The second is reading explanations during the sitting. The third is reviewing only the wrong answers and ignoring lucky guesses.

A fourth is sitting a paper in a noisy room with a phone on the table. The conditions do not need to be perfect, but they should be the same each week, so the comparison means something.

Two more: chasing the score instead of the error class, and sitting a new paper before reviewing the last one. A paper you did not review is a paper you paid for with three hours and did not collect.

How we checked this

The paper counts and question numbers come from our paper database on 25 October 2026. Some papers are partial, and the count shown is the number recovered. The 180-question format comes from PMDC notices. We do not claim that any paper predicts the next exam. A paper is a practice tool, not a forecast.

Browse all past papers or read the exam-strategy guides for timing and revision.