FMGE Exam Guide 2026–27: Pattern, Eligibility, Dates and Pass Rates by Country

What is the FMGE?

The Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) is the screening test that Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India with a medical degree from outside India must pass before they can get provisional or permanent registration to practise in India. It was introduced through the Screening Test Regulations, 2002 and is conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS).

NBEMS's role is limited to conducting the test, publishing results and passing them to the National Medical Commission (NMC) and State Medical Councils. Eligibility rules come from NMC, including the FMGL Regulations, 2021 for students who joined a foreign course on or after 18 November 2021.

FMGE is a qualifying exam, not a ranking exam. You either pass or fail. It is also temporary in principle: the National Exit Test will replace it once implemented (see our NExT guide).

FMGE exam pattern

FMGE is a single computer-based paper of 300 multiple-choice questions, taken in one day in two parts. Each question has four options and you choose the single best answer. Questions are in English only.

FMGE subject-wise marks (blueprint)

NBEMS publishes a blueprint based on NMC's competency-based MBBS curriculum. One-third of the marks come from pre- and para-clinical subjects; two-thirds come from clinical subjects.

Medicine with its allied subjects carries 48 marks and surgery with its allied subjects 47. Obstetrics and gynaecology and community medicine carry 30 each, more than any single pre-clinical subject.

Who is eligible for FMGE?

You can apply for FMGE if you meet all of these conditions, taken from the October 2026 bulletin:

1. You are an Indian citizen or an Overseas Citizen of India.
2. You hold a primary medical qualification that the Indian embassy concerned confirms is recognised for enrolment as a medical practitioner in the country where it was awarded.
3. Your final-exam result was declared on or before the session's cut-off date (31 August 2026 for the October 2026 session), and you can prove you passed all required courses.
4. You hold an NMC Eligibility Certificate or, if you went abroad after NEET became mandatory, a qualifying NEET-UG result in lieu of it (see our Eligibility Certificate guide).
5. When you joined the course, you met the Indian MBBS admission criteria in the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997: age, plus minimum marks in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English.
6. If you were admitted on or after 18 November 2021, your course complies with FMGL 2021. Non-compliant candidates are declared ineligible.

Graduates whose primary qualification is from Pakistan need security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs, and a 2023 Health Ministry direction bars FMGE eligibility for most degrees earned there. Holders of both an undergraduate and a postgraduate medical qualification from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK or the USA, who are recognised to practise there, do not need to take FMGE (bulletin clause 4.8). The same bulletin (clause 4.14) says students admitted on or after 18 November 2021 are judged strictly under FMGL 2021, and NMC has not said how this exemption applies to them — confirm with NMC in writing before relying on it.

FMGE dates for 2026–27

NBEMS said in its October 2026 bulletin that it will now hold FMGE three times a year. The 2026 calendar so far:

For the October 2026 session, the cut-off for your final-exam result was 31 August 2026, the admit card came out on 27 October and the test-city slip on 20 October. The fee was ₹4,650 including GST (about US$50). Check natboard.edu.in for the next information bulletin, because dates and fees change each session.

FMGE pass rate history, 2019–2026

FMGE pass rates have stayed low for years and swing sharply between sessions. The table combines passed counts from a Lok Sabha answer (2019–2022) with appeared and passed figures reported from NBEMS results by Careers360, Medical Dialogues and Physics Wallah. Outlets differ by one or two points depending on how they treat absentees and withheld results, so read the percentages as approximate.

The 2025 figures come straight from the NBEMS FMGE Performance Report 2025. Across both 2025 sessions, 16,973 of 78,905 candidates passed, about 21.5%. Candidate numbers have roughly tripled since 2019 while pass rates have hovered around one in five.

FMGE pass rates by country (2025)

NBEMS publishes country-wise and institute-wise results every year. The table below uses the official FMGE Performance Report 2025 for countries with large numbers of Indian graduates. Both sessions are combined in the last column.

Two cautions. First, these are graduates who sat in 2025, mostly students who joined around 2018–2020, so they say little about a university's current teaching. Second, the spread between universities in the same country is huge; the institute-wise tables in the same report are the better tool when you shortlist. A good country average does not rescue a weak university, and a strong university can sit inside a weak country average.

Why do so many candidates fail FMGE?

Most candidates who fail are not far off the pass mark. In the December 2025 session, 11,066 of 42,868 candidates (about 26%) scored between 130 and 149, within 20 marks of passing. Only a handful scored above 240.

Several patterns explain the low pass rates:

• Curriculum mismatch. FMGE follows the Indian competency-based curriculum, with 60 marks for obstetrics and gynaecology plus community medicine alone. Many foreign programmes give those subjects far less time.
• Clinical exposure. Where clinical teaching happens in a language you do not speak, you see fewer patients. NMC's April 2026 Uzbekistan alert cited this directly.
• Repeat attempts. Many candidates sit several sessions. NBEMS data show that of those who passed in June 2025, more passed 1 to 1.5 years after their degree than in the first year.
• Time pressure. Each part is split into time-bound sections, and you cannot go back to a section once its time is up.

Attempts and the 10-year limit

There is no cap on the number of FMGE attempts. The bulletin says so explicitly, and adds that once you pass you cannot sit FMGE again.

There is, however, a time window. NMC's public notice of 22 November 2023 says the time limit for appearing in FMGE or NExT "will be 10 years from the completion of their training/course in Foreign Medical Institution". Before that notice there was no time limit at all. The older three-attempt rule in the original Screening Test Regulations, 2002 no longer appears in NBEMS bulletins.

What happens after you pass FMGE?

Passing FMGE starts the Indian part of your training. The steps are:

1. Collect the pass certificate in person. NBEMS verifies identity and documents before handing it over. The scorecard on the website cannot be used instead of the pass certificate for registration.
2. Apply for provisional registration to your State Medical Council.
3. Complete a 12-month internship (CRMI) in an NMC-recognised Indian medical college. Our internship guide explains seat allotment and stipends.
4. Apply for permanent registration after the internship.

Students who studied partly online during COVID-19 or the Ukraine war may face extra clinical clerkship requirements before the internship.

How to prepare for FMGE

You can prepare for FMGE while still studying abroad, and the earlier you align with the Indian syllabus, the better. A practical plan:

1. Download the blueprint from the current bulletin and plan study time in proportion to marks, so obstetrics and gynaecology plus community medicine get real attention.
2. Use Indian MBBS textbooks and question banks alongside your university's material, because FMGE questions follow the Indian curriculum and terminology.
3. Start in your clinical years, not after graduation. Each failed session costs you months and part of your 10-year window, so early preparation pays.
4. Practise full-length timed tests in the two-part, sectioned format to get used to the section locks.
5. Revise high-yield areas repeatedly: medicine, surgery, community medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, and pharmacology.
6. Track your score band. If mock tests put you at 130–149, focus on weak subjects rather than more of the same.
7. Check your paperwork early: an embassy-attested or apostilled degree, the result-declaration proof, passport records and your NEET scorecard. Missing documents make you ineligible regardless of preparation.

When you choose a university, look up its FMGE record in the NBEMS institute-wise report and read our guide on how to choose a medical university abroad.