FMGE Exam Pattern 2026: 300 Questions, Two Parts, Sectional Locking
The complete FMGE exam pattern — 300 MCQs across two parts on the same day, time-bound sections you cannot re-enter, no negative marking, and a flat 150/300 pass mark.
Reviewed by Dr. Vivek, MBBS · Last updated
The FMGE is 300 multiple-choice questions, each with four options and a single best answer. The paper is in English only — there is no second language option (Bulletin §5).
It is delivered as a computer-based test at an allotted centre, and the whole exam happens on one day, in two parts.
The two parts
| | Questions | Time | Timing | |---|---|---|---| | Part I | 150 | 150 minutes | 09:00 – 11:30 | | Part II | 150 | 150 minutes | 14:00 – 16:30 |
There is a scheduled break between the two parts. That works out to 60 seconds per question, which is the number worth internalising: it is the budget every practice session should be measured against.
Sectional locking — the rule that costs marks
Each part is further divided into time-bound sections — for example, three sections of 50 questions with 50 minutes each.
This is standard on the NBEMS platform and it is the single biggest source of avoidable marks loss for candidates who have only practised on untimed question banks. Practising with the lock switched on is the only way to build the pacing reflex it demands.
Why palette navigation can cost marks
In the examination interface, clicking a radio option and clicking Save & Next are separate actions. A selected radio can still be only an unsaved draft. If you jump to another question through the numbered palette before saving, that draft is discarded and the question remains not answered.
crackFMGE reports how many correct drafts were lost this way. That number is behavioural coaching from an original simulation; it does not store, reproduce or solicit any real examination question.
No negative marking
There is no negative marking (Bulletin §5). A wrong answer and a blank answer both score zero.
The practical consequence: attempt all 300 questions. Many candidates carry over a habit of leaving blanks from NEET PG, where negative marking makes that rational. Here it is simply throwing away marks. If a section is about to close and you have unanswered questions, guess on every one of them.
Passing is a threshold, not a rank
You pass with 150 out of 300. That is a flat cut-off (Bulletin §5) — not a percentile, not a rank, and not adjusted against how the cohort performed.
Some consequences that follow directly from this:
- A candidate scoring 150 receives exactly the same licence as one scoring 250.
- Marks 151 to 300 are worth nothing. Every hour spent chasing them is an hour not spent shoring up the gap between you and 150.
- Part-wise marks are never published, and there is no re-totalling, re-evaluation or grace marks.
Where the marks actually are
The exam follows a published blueprint, and it is weighted very differently from how most candidates allocate their time (Bulletin §12.2).
| Subject | Marks |
|---|---|
| Anatomy | 17 |
| Physiology | 17 |
| Biochemistry | 17 |
| Pathology | 13 |
| Microbiology | 13 |
| Pharmacology | 13 |
| Forensic Medicine | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
| Subject | Marks |
|---|---|
| Medicine | 33 |
| General Surgery | 32 |
| Obstetrics & Gynaecology | 30 |
| Community Medicine | 30 |
| Paediatrics | 15 |
| Ophthalmology | 15 |
| ENT | 15 |
| Psychiatry | 5 |
| Dermatology & STD | 5 |
| Radiotherapy | 5 |
| Anaesthesiology | 5 |
| Orthopaedics | 5 |
| Radiodiagnosis | 5 |
| Total | 200 |
300 marks in total, across 20 subjects. Radiotherapy and Radiodiagnosis are listed separately by NBEMS, at 5 marks each — which is why this is 20 subjects and not the 19 most sites quote.
Two things in that table are worth staring at:
- Community Medicine (30) and Obstetrics & Gynaecology (30) together carry 60 marks — more than Medicine. Community Medicine in particular is heavily India-specific, which makes it the largest predictable gap for anyone who studied abroad.
- Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry together carry 51 marks. Most candidates finished those subjects four or five years ago and under-prepare them badly.
Medicine, Surgery, OBG, Community Medicine and Paediatrics alone account for 140 of the 300 marks — a little under half the paper in five subjects.
Attempts
There is no restriction on the number of attempts (Bulletin §5). Once you pass, you cannot sit the exam again.
Syllabus
The syllabus is the NMC Competency-Based Undergraduate Curriculum (CBME) — the same competencies Indian MBBS students are taught against. It is not a separate FMGE syllabus, which is why mapping your preparation to CBME competency codes is a more reliable guide to coverage than any topic list.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the NBEMS FMGE Information Bulletin — scheme of examination (§5) and subject-wise blueprint (§12.2). For anything procedural, always check the current bulletin on the NBEMS website: it is the only authoritative source, and it is updated each session.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there negative marking in FMGE?
- No. FMGE has no negative marking, so you should attempt all 300 questions. Leaving a question blank scores exactly the same as answering it wrongly — zero — but answering gives you a chance of a mark.
- What is the passing mark for FMGE?
- 150 out of 300. It is a flat threshold, not a percentile or a rank. Part-wise marks are never published, and there is no re-totalling, re-evaluation or grace marks.
- How many attempts do I get at FMGE?
- There is no restriction on the number of attempts. The three-attempt limit some sites quote comes from the 2002 Screening Test Regulations, reproduced in the bulletin only as a historical annexure. Once you pass, however, you cannot sit the exam again.
- Can I go back to a previous section during the exam?
- No. Each part is split into time-bound sections, and once a section's time expires it closes permanently. This is the single most common thing candidates discover for the first time in the exam hall.