Survey shows critical skill gap in IT graduate pool with 4% qualifying as good, 61.4% failing to meet baseline

Pakistan's growing digital economy continues to generate demand for skilled technology professionals, however a recent assessment has shown disconnect between qualifications and skills in the IT graduate pool

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jun, 2026) Pakistan's growing digital economy continues to generate demand for skilled technology professionals, however a recent assessment has shown disconnect between qualifications and skills in the IT graduate pool.

In a survey conducted by the Higher education Commission (HEC), the overall distribution of 33,038 candidates showed a critical skill gap with only four percent of the national IT graduate pool qualifying for 'good' or 'excellent' industry readiness level, whereas 61.4 percent failed to meet the baseline.

At least 125 candidates of 4 percent made nearly perfect scores all cognitive tiers in a excellent category, while 1,192 candidates of 2.6 percent showed highly capable individuals with strong knowledge in a good category.

As many as 4,375 candidates of 13.2 percent were suitable for entry-level integration & training in a acceptable category, 7, 052 candidates of 21.3 percent required extensive foundational upskilling in an average category while 20, 284 candidates of 61. 4 percent majority failed to secure the minimum 50 marks in a fail category.

The assessment result revealed a critical shortfall in baseline competency with an average 45 percent of the typical IT graduate failing to meet the minimum 50 percent benchmark.

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This massive dataset provided unprecedented visibility into the structural weakness and strengths across 190 universities and 122 cities nationwide, highlighting and urgent need for academic alignment with industry standards.

The elite tiers of top performing institutions included FAST (NUCES) Islamabad, Habib University Karachi, FAST (NUCES) Lahore, University of Engineering & Tech (UET) Lahore, Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore and FAST (NUCES) Chiniot-Faisalabad.

The survey recommended standardized curriculum across all tiers, re-evaluate high-volume distance/regional programs and urgent faculty intervention for peripheral institutions.

In the tiered institutional performance trend, the survey showed that a “Sharp Cliff” effect was observed with only the top 15 percent of universities maintaining the pass rates above 80 percent while the vast majority of regional institutions failed into the 20-40 percent success bracket.