Study MBBS at Karaganda Medical University
Karaganda, Kazakhstan · 1950 · English-Medium General Medicine
Quick Overview
Karaganda Medical University is a public university in central Kazakhstan, teaching since 1950, and the largest sender of FMGE candidates among the Kazakh universities we track: 8,129 of its graduates have sat the exam and 1,405 have passed — 17.28% lifetime, and 277 of 1,142 (24.26%) in the 2024 report. It publishes USD 4,675 for year one (2026–27) and admits by its own entrance test plus an interview in English, with no certificate required. Listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools; NMC approves no foreign university.
About Karaganda Medical University
Karaganda Medical University was founded in 1950 as Karaganda State Medical Institute and has carried three names since; its WDOMS record lists Karaganda State Medical University for 2009–2019, which is why the abbreviation "KGMU" still circulates on agent sites for a name the university retired years ago. It is public, legally a non-commercial joint-stock company since 2018, and its own homepage counts 9,095 students across 78 educational programmes.
The FMGE record here is the largest of the Kazakh universities we track and needs reading honestly. Karaganda has sent 8,129 candidates to the exam across the NBEMS reports — about twice Semey's 4,056 — and 1,405 have passed, a lifetime rate of 17.28%. Individual years swing widely: 86 of 989 (8.70%) in 2020, 277 of 1,142 (24.26%) in 2024, 209 of 1,128 (18.53%) in 2025. A large sample makes that rate reliable rather than noisy, so treat it as the real base rate for this university, not a bad patch.
What Karaganda does well is publish. Its price list for non-residents from far abroad is a signed, board-approved document, its hostel tariff names a price for each of seven buildings, and its international admissions page sets out the entrance test subjects and interview dates. What it does not publish is a course total — and the descending ladder in its price table is a snapshot of what seven different cohorts pay now, not a forecast for you, so nobody should be adding those seven rows together and calling it your six-year cost.
Karaganda Medical University is one of the four universities on our Kazakhstan roster — see the full MBBS in Kazakhstan guide for the country-level picture, including why the two best-known names are not on this roster.
Location
Karaganda, Kazakhstan
WDOMS / FAIMER ID
F0001013
Founded
1950
Total Enrolment
9,095 students (the university's own homepage figure)
Programme
General Medicine (7-year standard course; 6-year accelerated track)
Medium
English
Annual Tuition (published)
USD 4,675 for year one
Intake
Autumn — entrance testing and interview in late August
Clinical Training & Teaching Hospitals
MBBS Fee Structure - As Published by the University
The university's own published figure, in the currency it prints. We do not convert at a rate we picked, and we do not add up multi-year totals the university itself does not publish.
Tuition: USD 4,675 for year one
Karaganda publishes a signed price list for non-residents from far abroad, in US dollars, for 2026–27: USD 4,675 for the first course year. Read the rest of that table carefully, because it is easy to misread. It prints seven descending course-year rates, but those are what seven different cohorts are paying today, not one student's future schedule — tracking intakes across three years of the university's published price lists shows each cohort is held near the rate it entered on. So do not add the column up: the university publishes no course total, and we will not invent one. One more limit worth knowing: the table names no programme, only the 6B101 Healthcare group, so this rate covers Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy alike.
Accommodation: Published per bed-space per month, in tenge, in the university's own 2026–27 price list: hostels 1 to 7 run 30,000 to 45,000 KZT a month depending on the building. Enhanced-comfort rooms in Hostel No. 1 are priced separately and much higher. The list is signed by the managing director and the finance department head.
English requirement: Karaganda asks for no IELTS or TOEFL band. It tests English itself: entrance testing covers mathematics, chemistry, biology and English grammar, followed by an online interview conducted in English. Note the tension on its own page — it states that documents must be submitted personally and that agents are not permitted, while directing Indian applicants to a named representative in Jaipur. If anyone tells you a certificate is mandatory here, ask them to show you where the university says so.
Note: Fees can change by academic year and are set by the university, not by us. Always confirm the current figures with A.J Trust before making any payment.
Get Exact Fees →FMGE Record - Official NBEMS Data
Every figure reads passed of appeared, from the NBEMS institute-wise performance reports.
| Report year | Appeared | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–14 | 160 | 35 | 21.88% |
| 2015–18 | 825 | 111 | 13.45% |
| 2019 | 607 | 157 | 25.86% |
| 2020 | 989 | 86 | 8.70% |
| 2021 | 1,013 | 186 | 18.36% |
| 2022 | 1,159 | 226 | 19.50% |
| 2023 | 1,106 | 118 | 10.67% |
| 2024 | 1,142 | 277 | 24.26% |
| 2025 | 1,128 | 209 | 18.53% |
| Lifetime (all reports) | 8,129 | 1,405 | 17.28% |
Context: the 2024 national average across all countries was 25.80% - 20,382 of 79,000 candidates. A pass rate describes cohorts who enrolled six or more years before the report year, including repeat attempts - treat it as a record, not a promise.
Eligibility Criteria for Indian Students
NEET Qualified
Valid NEET UG score mandatory as per NMC norms. Min. 50th percentile (General), 40th percentile (SC/ST/OBC).
PCB Percentage
Minimum 50% aggregate in Physics, Chemistry & Biology in Class 12 (40% for SC/ST/OBC, 45% for General-PwD).
Age Requirement
Must be 17 years or above as on 31 December of the year of admission.
University Screening
Screening differs by university: Astana asks for an English certificate plus an interview, Karaganda and South Kazakhstan run their own entrance tests, Semey interviews in English.
Admission Procedure
Fill Application Form
Submit basic details and attach required documents through A.J Trust.
English Route Check
Kazakhstan's national rules accept IELTS Academic 5.0, TOEFL iBT 35, TOEFL ITP 417, TOEIC 550 or Duolingo 80 - but several universities run their own test or interview instead. We confirm which applies to your intake before you book anything.
Entrance Test or Interview
Most of these universities screen with their own test or an interview held in English. We prepare you for the one your university actually runs.
Receive Offer & Invitation
The university issues its admission letter and visa invitation. Pay only to the university's own account.
Student Visa & Travel
Apply for the Kazakh student visa with the invitation letter; our team arranges pickup and check-in on arrival.
Begin Your MBBS
Enrol, attend orientation, and start the General Medicine programme.
How it works at Karaganda Medical University, specifically
- On 1 October 2026 the Embassy of India in Astana advised that Kazakhstan's standard medical course is now seven years, with a six-year accelerated track for international students that it cannot yet confirm leads to a licence to practise. Get the course length and the licence it leads to confirmed in writing before you enrol.
- Admission is on entrance testing plus an online interview — no IELTS or TOEFL certificate is asked for.
- The test covers mathematics, chemistry, biology and English grammar; the interview is conducted in English.
- NEET is mandatory for Indian applicants under NMC's FMGL-2021 rules.
- The university states documents must be submitted personally and that agents are not permitted, while also naming a representative in India — ask us to clarify the current route before you hand documents to anyone.
- Enrolment runs to a published calendar: results in late August, 50% advance payment and originals in September.
Documents Required
Class 10 pass certificate and mark sheet
Class 12 pass certificate and mark sheet (PCB)
NEET UG score card (valid)
Valid Indian passport
Passport-size photographs (recent)
Medical certificate as per the university's current checklist
English certificate where your university asks for one (IELTS 5.0 / TOEFL iBT 35 / Duolingo 80 all qualify)
Filled university application form
Each university's checklist differs, and fees here are published in the university's own currency - tenge at Astana and South Kazakhstan, US dollars at Karaganda and Semey. Pay only to the university's own account; Astana publishes an explicit anti-fraud warning about this. A.J Trust sends you the current checklist and guides every document step at no cost.
Why Study MBBS at Karaganda Medical University?
The Largest Indian Cohort on Our Kazakhstan Roster
8,129 FMGE candidates across the NBEMS reports, about twice Semey's 4,056. Whatever you need to know, someone ahead of you has already been through it.
A Rate Measured on a Real Sample
1,405 of 8,129 passed lifetime (17.28%), 277 of 1,142 in 2024 (24.26%). It is below Astana's, and we would rather you saw that clearly than have it dressed up.
Its Own Clinics
A university clinic, a dental clinic and a student polyclinic, rather than only rented rotation slots.
Everything Priced in Writing
A board-approved dollar price list for non-residents and a per-building hostel tariff, signed by the managing director and the finance department head.
No Certificate Needed
Entrance testing in maths, chemistry, biology and English grammar, then an interview in English. No IELTS band to chase.
We Will Not Add Up That Ladder
The seven descending rates are seven cohorts, not your schedule. The university publishes no course total and neither do we.
Karaganda - City at a Glance
City
Karaganda
Region
Central Kazakhstan
Country
Kazakhstan
Karaganda is an industrial city in central Kazakhstan, and its university has the largest Indian medical cohort of the five Kazakh universities we track — 8,129 of its graduates have sat the FMGE across the NBEMS reports, about twice Semey's 4,056. That means an established community, and it also means the pass rate below is measured on a very large sample rather than a handful of students.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about MBBS at Karaganda Medical University
The university publishes USD 4,675 for the first course year in its 2026–27 price list for non-residents from far abroad. It prints six further descending rates, but those are what senior cohorts are paying now, not your future schedule — the university holds each intake near its entry rate, and it publishes no course total. So budget from the year-one figure and ask A.J Trust to get the full commitment confirmed in writing. Hostel is separate: 30,000 to 45,000 tenge a month depending on the building.
Lifetime, 1,405 of 8,129 Karaganda candidates have passed — 17.28%. In the 2024 report it was 277 of 1,142 (24.26%) and in 2025, 209 of 1,128 (18.53%). This is the largest cohort of any Kazakh university we track, which makes the rate reliable rather than noisy. It is below Astana Medical University's 448 of 1,476 (30.35%) lifetime, and if FMGE odds are your first filter you should weigh that honestly against Karaganda's size and community.
No. Karaganda asks for no IELTS or TOEFL band anywhere on its international admissions pages. It runs its own entrance test — mathematics, chemistry, biology and English grammar — followed by an online interview held in English. Kazakhstan does have a national certificate rule for English-medium healthcare programmes, and some universities apply it, so we confirm the route your intake is actually running before you spend money on any test.
"NMC approved" is not a status that exists - NMC publishes no approved list of foreign universities and says so on its own study-abroad page. What decides your registration in India is whether your degree meets the FMGL-2021 criteria: at least 54 months of study, a 12-month internship at the same institution, English medium, and a qualification licensing you to practise in Kazakhstan. Karaganda Medical University is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (FAIMER SCHOOL ID F0001013). Run the full FMGL-2021 checklist at nmc.org.in before paying anything - A.J Trust verifies these criteria for every university it recommends.
No. NMC's public advisories naming foreign institutions have concerned Uzbekistan (Tashkent State Medical University, Bukhara and Samarkand, April 2026) - no Kazakh university is named in them. That is not a clearance, because NMC issues no clearances; it only means there is no live notice against this university to read. Check nmc.org.in for notices yourself before you pay anyone.
Kazakh universities award the qualification as "Physician (General Medicine)" after the 6-year General Practitioner programme - that is the title on Karaganda Medical University's World Directory record. It is the same primary medical degree India calls MBBS. One thing to check on your offer letter: several Kazakh universities also run a separate 5-year "Bachelor of General Medicine" track, which the World Directory records as not including clinical training and requiring an internship afterwards for licensure. Make sure your admission letter names the 6-year programme, because FMGL-2021 needs 54 months of study plus a 12-month internship at the same institution.
There is no university-specific minimum NEET score. However, India's NMC mandates a valid qualifying NEET score for all foreign MBBS admissions - minimum 50th percentile for General/EWS, 45th percentile for PwD, and 40th percentile for SC/ST/OBC categories. A.J Trust can assess your eligibility based on your actual NEET score.
Karaganda is an industrial city in central Kazakhstan, and its university has the largest Indian medical cohort of the five Kazakh universities we track — 8,129 of its graduates have sat the FMGE across the NBEMS reports, about twice Semey's 4,056. That means an established community, and it also means the pass rate below is measured on a very large sample rather than a handful of students.
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