ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has revealed a new national standardised test which will be compulsory for admission to all PhD programmes in Pakistan.
Higher Education Aptitude and Achievement Test (HAAT) is an objective test designed to provide a common, fair and transparent evaluation process for admission to doctoral programmes.
The test will be developed by HEC’s Education Testing Council (ETC), which has completed the design of the assessments for 48 PhD disciplines in the initial stage of the project.
Over 250 academics, subject experts, and university representatives from 81 public and private universities were engaged in the development process.
Prof. Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, the chairman of the subject committee meeting, noted that having a merit-based and standardised system to evaluate graduate admissions was imperative.
ETC Chief Executive Officer Dr Muhammad Imtiaz Haider also announced that the HAAT will become mandatory for admission of Ph.D. students all over the country.
The development process started in May 2026, and HEC had established committees on 89 subjects.
The first phase included 48 disciplines, and test designs were approved with regard to their academic relevance and the requirements for doctoral research. Tables of Specifications were developed for these 48 disciplines.
For the 48 disciplines, a set of Tables of Specifications was developed, and test designs were approved based on their academic relevance and the requirements for doctoral research.
The remaining disciplines will be covered as HEC continues developing the national assessment framework.
