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HEC HAT Test Explained (2026): Categories, Pattern, Passing Score & 10 Practice Questions

Audio from the Open Exam Hub video of the same name; the video shows the numbers and practice questions on screen.

Pakistan's HEC Higher Education Aptitude Test (HAT), explained from HEC and Education Testing Council (ETC) pages as of October 2026. The regular HAT for MS/MPhil and PhD admission and HEC scholarships is 100 MCQs in 120 minutes on an OMR sheet, in five categories by your 16-year degree: HAT-I (Engineering & Technology, CS, Math, Statistics, Physics) 30% verbal / 30% analytical / 40% quantitative; HAT-II (Management Sciences, Business) 30/40/30; HAT-III (Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology, Law) 40/35/25; HAT-IV (Agriculture & Veterinary, Biological & Medical, Physical Sciences, Education, Media) 40/30/30; HAT-General (Religious Studies, madrasa graduates) 40/30/30. ETC's qualifying score is 50 out of 100 and results are valid for two years; HEC's Graduate Education Policy 2023 asks for 50% for MS/MPhil and 60% for PhD, and the Commonwealth scholarship needs at least 60%. Register on the ETC portal with your own CNIC and pay through 1Link/1Bill; the fee is non-refundable, and HEC's public pages don't list the amount in PKR (it's shown on the portal). HEC's 2026 calendar: tests on Sunday 25 October (result 16 November) and Sunday 13 December (register by 22 November, result 31 December). Big change: from Fall 2027 admissions, HEC says MS/MPhil admission is to be based on GRE/HAT-General and PhD admission on GRE/HAT-Subject, run through ETC (notified 13 May 2026, deferred from Fall 2026 on 25 May 2026); no HAT Subject format has been published yet. Then 10 original practice questions with answers: analogy, sentence completion, antonym, a logic game, critical reasoning, a syllogism, a number series, a discount-and-tax problem in rupees, simultaneous equations and a work-rate problem. Study tips are our own suggestions. Independent guide, not affiliated with HEC or ETC.

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Chapters
0:00 The Short Answer
1:11 What the HAT Is For
1:51 The Five HAT Categories
2:38 Section Weights by Category
3:29 Format and Test Day
4:13 Passing Score and Validity
5:02 Registration, Fees and Test Dates
5:54 The Fall 2027 Change
6:43 How to Study
7:21 Practice Questions, Part One
9:13 Practice Questions, Part Two
11:13 Recap

Exam facts are from the official Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan, Education Testing Council (ETC) pages as of 2026-10-23. Fees and rules can change, so confirm on the official site before you enroll. Open Exam Hub is an independent study resource, not affiliated with HEC or ETC. Practice questions are not from a real exam. Narration is an AI-generated voice.

Music
"Friday Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Fresh Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Reminiscing" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Sound effects: Kenney (kenney.nl), CC0.

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