HEC USAT Answer Key 25 October 2026: All 6 Categories and 5 Booklet Colours, Result Date
HEC's USAT answer key for 25 October 2026 is out for all six categories and five booklet colours. Find your file, count your score and see the result date.
HEC has published the USAT answer key for the test held on Sunday 25 October 2026, for all six categories and all five book colours. Open HEC's answer keys page, pick your category and the colour of your question booklet, and you get a one page PDF with the correct option for Questions 1 to 75.
The keys went up on 27 October 2026, two days after the test. HEC's Education Testing Council (ETC), which runs the Undergraduate Studies Admission Test, has the result on its calendar for 16 November. So the key is the only way to estimate your Part I score for the next three weeks.
We downloaded and read the keys on 28 October 2026. Below is which file is yours, how to count your score, what the key does not cover, and when the next USAT is.
The USAT answer key covers six categories in five colours
HEC's page lists 30 answer key files: six USAT categories, each printed in Blue, Green, Pink, White and Yellow booklets. The questions are the same in each category, but the order changes by colour. So the colour must match your own booklet.
| Category on the key | For students from | Booklet colours | Questions on the key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Engineering | FSc Pre-Engineering or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
| Pre-Medical | FSc Pre-Medical or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
| Computer Science | ICS or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
| General Science | General Science or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
| Arts and Humanities | FA or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
| Commerce | I.Com or equal | Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow | 75 |
Each PDF is headed "ANSWER KEY (Sunday, October 25, 2026)" and then a code such as F-26-1263-PRE-MEDICAL-251026-Blue. Check that the category and the colour in that code match your booklet before you mark anything. A Pre-Medical student who opens the Pre-Engineering key will score badly and panic for nothing.
How to download your USAT answer key
The keys sit on HEC's own announcements page, not on the ETC portal, so you do not need to log in. Choose the category from the list, then the booklet colour. The PDF opens in the browser and shows four columns of answers, each one a letter from A to D.
- Open HEC's page "Answer Keys for USAT (Six Categories) Test Held on October 25, 2026".
- Choose your category, for example Pre-Medical.
- Choose the colour printed on your question booklet.
- Check the code at the top of the PDF matches your category and colour.
- Write your own answers next to the key and count the matches.
If you did not keep a record of your answers, the key cannot help much. Most students note them on the question booklet. If you remember only some, count those and treat the score as a rough range.
Count your matches out of 75 for Part I
The key covers Part I only: 75 multiple choice questions. Count how many of your answers match. ETC's content weightage document says Part I has 20 verbal, 25 quantitative and 30 subject questions. Part II, two essays worth 25 marks, is marked separately and is not in the key.
| Part | What it has | In the answer key? |
|---|---|---|
| Part I, verbal reasoning | 20 MCQs | Yes |
| Part I, quantitative reasoning | 25 MCQs | Yes |
| Part I, subject questions | 30 MCQs, by category | Yes |
| Part II, argument essay | 1 of 3, 15 marks | No |
| Part II, narrative essay | 1 of 3, 10 marks | No |
The subject block differs by stream. For Pre-Engineering it is 10 Physics, 10 Chemistry and 10 Mathematics questions. For Pre-Medical it is 8 Physics, 8 Chemistry and 14 Biology. Part I takes 100 minutes and Part II takes 40.
Two cautions. The answer key page does not say whether wrong answers cost marks, so do not subtract anything on your own guess. And your final result will add the essay marks, which nobody can predict from a key. A count of 55 out of 75 is a good sign, not a final score.
The USAT result is due on 16 November 2026
ETC's revised test calendar for 2026 gives the result date for the 25 October sitting as 16 November 2026. The calendar calls it a Friday, but 16 November 2026 is a Monday. Treat the date as a target, not a promise, and check the ETC page from that week.
The result will be on etc.hec.gov.pk, where you registered. Check that your university actually uses the USAT before you rely on a score, and check the university itself: the two minute test is in our page on how to check if a university is HEC recognised.
The answer key page has no line on objections. If you think a key is wrong, raise it with ETC soon, quoting the file code, question number and booklet colour. We found no deadline for that on HEC's pages.
The next USAT is on 13 December 2026
If the key tells you the 25 October test went badly, there is one more sitting this year. ETC's calendar puts the fifth USAT on Sunday 13 December 2026. Registration is announced on 8 November and closes on Sunday 22 November.
Roll number slips for that sitting are due on Friday 4 December and the result on Thursday 31 December 2026. Students under 18 also need a NADRA juvenile card on test day, so read our note on the juvenile card for HEC tests before you register again. The paper pattern and the test day rules are in our HEC USAT 2026 guide.
Common questions
Where is the HEC USAT answer key for 25 October 2026?
On HEC's announcements page, under "Answer Keys for USAT (Six Categories) Test Held on October 25, 2026". Pick your category and booklet colour.
How many questions are in the USAT answer key?
75, numbered Q1 to Q75, each with an answer from A to D. The essays in Part II are not in the key.
Which colour key should I use?
The colour printed on your own question booklet: Blue, Green, Pink, White or Yellow. The questions are reordered for each colour.
When will the USAT result for 25 October come out?
ETC's calendar gives 16 November 2026. It labels that day a Friday, though it is a Monday, so allow a few days either side.
Is there negative marking in the USAT?
The answer key page does not say. Count your correct answers only and wait for the official result.
When is the next USAT?
Sunday 13 December 2026. Registration closes on 22 November, according to ETC's calendar.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
On 28 October 2026 we read HEC's USAT answer keys page and downloaded the Pre-Medical and Arts and Humanities keys in Blue. Their files are dated 27 October 2026 on HEC's server. We also read ETC's Test Calendar 2026, revised on 25 August, and ETC's USAT content weightage document. We did not open all 30 key files. We could not find any objection window or negative marking rule on HEC's pages. The stream labels in the second column of the first table are our plain description of each category.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
