Honhaar Scholarship 2026 Opens for Punjab Students, Last Date Reported as 9 November

This matters because the Punjab round was closed for weeks. On 25 September 2026 the same portal was only registering students from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which we noted on our Honhaar Scholarship application steps at the time. On 20 October 2026 its banner read: "New Registration is now open for Punjab students". The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) also posted a news item dated 16 October about the Chief Minister launching the laptop programme and the Honhaar Scholarship at the University of Sahiwal.

Honhaar registration reopened for Punjab students on 20 October 2026

The portal now registers Punjab domicile holders who started a selected degree in 2026. It covers 100 per cent of tuition fees, has no age limit and is open to men and women. Selection is on merit, using matric and intermediate marks.

We read the home page of the official portal on 20 October 2026. It lists four headline terms: 100 per cent tuition fee coverage, no age or gender limit, purely merit based selection, and 70 selected disciplines. The page did not show a last date anywhere on the home screen then. When we read it again on 6 November, its FAQ section gave 9 November 2026.

You need 70 per cent in FSc for most public universities

The minimum intermediate mark depends on where you study. Science students need 70 per cent at public and private universities, 80 per cent for public MBBS or BDS, and 65 per cent at HED colleges. Arts students need 65 or 60 per cent.

The portal sets these minimums for first-year applicants:

• Public sector universities and colleges: 70 per cent for sciences, 65 per cent for arts.
• MBBS and BDS at public medical and dental colleges: 80 per cent. There is no arts route.
• Federal and private universities: 70 per cent for sciences, 65 per cent for arts.
• Higher Education Department (HED) colleges: 65 per cent for sciences, 60 per cent for arts.

Merit is worked out with 30 per cent weight on matric and 70 per cent on intermediate. So a strong FSc counts for more than twice as much as matric. Meeting the minimum does not guarantee a seat. It only lets your application into the merit run.

Continuing students are part of this round, as announced

The portal now confirms that students already in their second semester or second year can apply too, but only at selected public universities, public medical and dental colleges and HED colleges.

The portal says continuing students need family income under Rs 350,000 a month and a GPA, CGPA or annual result of 70 per cent in sciences or 65 per cent in arts. For MBBS and BDS students the bar is 60 per cent. Students at federal and private institutions are not included in this continuing category.

We could not read these continuing-student rules on the portal on 20 October, when its FAQ and institutes pages timed out. On 6 November the portal showed them. Our team also read in the portal FAQ that the income affidavit goes on Rs 50 e-stamp paper, and that students already receiving other government fee support cannot apply. If the registration form does not offer a continuing-student option for your semester, the rule has not reached you yet.

How to apply for the Honhaar Scholarship before the deadline

Apply online only, on the PHEC portal. Check that your university and your discipline are both on the selected lists, prepare an income affidavit on e-stamp paper, then fill in personal, educational and family income details. There is no fee to apply.

1. Open honhaarscholarship.punjabhec.gov.pk. Type the address yourself rather than tapping a link from a message.
2. Check the Disciplines and Institutes lists. Your programme and your institution must both appear.
3. Download the sample affidavit from the eligibility section and get it made on e-stamp paper.
4. Register and fill in the three parts the portal asks for: personal details, educational details and socio-economic details.
5. Upload what the form asks for and submit. Note your application number.
6. Keep checking the portal for the merit list. Do not pay anyone to "speed up" an application.

Students who also qualify for federal help can compare this with the HEC need-based scholarship. Honhaar pays tuition only, so students who need a living allowance may want both on their list.

The portal lists 70 disciplines, not every degree

Only 70 named disciplines qualify. They include computer science and AI, engineering, MBBS, BDS, nursing, pharmacy, law, business, sciences and languages. A degree outside the list is not eligible, even at a selected university.

The list on the portal runs from Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Cyber Security and Data Sciences to Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences, Fine Arts, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian and Islamic Studies. Some technology diplomas also appear, such as civil, electrical, mechanical, textile and polymer technology.

The Chief Minister said at the launch that the programme has supported 160,000 students. That figure is from the announcement and we did not find it on a PHEC page. The portal does not say how many new scholarships this round will fund.

Fake Honhaar links ask for money, the real portal does not

The Honhaar application is free. Any message that asks for a fee, a bank transfer or your card details is not from PHEC. Apply only on the punjabhec.gov.pk portal and keep your CNIC and phone number private.

Scholarship rounds bring a wave of lookalike pages and WhatsApp forwards. Some copy the portal's look. The address bar is the quickest test: the official site ends in punjabhec.gov.pk. If a page asks you to pay to register, close it. The same advice applies to laptop scheme messages, and the CM Punjab laptop status is checked on its own government portal too.

Common questions

What is the last date for the Honhaar Scholarship 2026?

9 November 2026. The portal's FAQ says: "The last date for submission of online applications is November 09, 2026." Apply well before then.

Can students from Lahore private universities apply?

Yes, first-year students at selected federal and private institutions can apply if family income is under Rs 500,000 a month and they meet the 70 or 65 per cent mark.

Does Honhaar pay hostel or a monthly stipend?

No. The portal describes 100 per cent tuition fee coverage. When we read its FAQ in September it said hostel, food and transport are not covered.

Is MBBS covered by the Honhaar Scholarship?

Yes, at public medical and dental colleges, for students who started first year in 2026 with at least 80 per cent in FSc.

I am from another province. Can I apply?

Not in this round. The portal asks for a Punjab domicile. Students from other provinces have had separate rounds in the past.

Do I need an affidavit?

Yes. The portal asks for a family income affidavit on e-stamp paper and links a sample to download. Our team read in the portal FAQ that it goes on Rs 50 e-stamp paper.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the home page of the official Honhaar Scholarship portal on 20 October 2026 at about 12:50 PKT, including its eligibility block, minimum marks table, merit weighting and discipline list. We read the PHEC news item of 16 October 2026 on the launch. The portal's FAQ, register and institutes pages did not load on several attempts that afternoon. The 160,000 figure comes from the launch announcement and is reported, not confirmed on an official page. On 6 November 2026 we read the portal again: its FAQ gives the 9 November 2026 last date, and its eligibility section gives the second semester and second year rules.