Underlining that the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) exam is a screening test for foreign-trained medical students to practice in India and not an entrance examination, officials of the National Board of Education in Medical Sciences that conducts the biannual test have said that qualifying standards for the test cannot be diluted.

NBEMS’s statement comes amid doctors protesting against the high-difficulty level of the test, lack of transparency, and test centre infrastructure, among others. Responding to the doctors, who have been protesting for seven days now, NBEMS officials said, no grace marks will be given to students who gave the test in June, with those who actually prepared passing the examination.

“The minimum qualifying standard exists because doctors must be competent to handle potentially life-threatening situations such as myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, sepsis, complicated pregnancies, and paediatric emergencies,” said the official.

Story continues below this ad

Even though the overall pass percentage is low, the official said, the pass percentage among first timers — those who are more likely to have thoroughly prepared for the test — was higher. The attempt-wise data shows that the pass percentage among first-time candidates was 35.74% as compared to 21.45% among second-time candidates, and 3.29% among those who have appeared over five times.

The official added that the pass rate among first-timers was higher at 47.53% in the December 2025 test, against 5.58% among candidates with more than five attempts. “These figures underline why the overall pass percentage alone cannot be used to argue that an entire examination cohort was subjected to an unfair paper,” the official said.

They added that the three-member expert panel, headed by Air Marshal (Dr.) Pawan Kapoor (Retd.), examining the matter did not recommend any grace marks, “finding no material evidence that the video-based questions or overall difficulty had affected the outcome”.

The expert panel has proposed to conduct three tests in a year instead of two at present. This will give Indian students who have completed their medical graduation abroad more attempts.