Rapidly improving infrastructure but newly merged districts and remote areas remain severely underserved
KPK has made significant investments in education since the 18th Amendment, and literacy rates have improved steadily. However, the province is deeply uneven: students in Peshawar, Abbottabad, and Mardan have access to universities and coaching centres; students in Chitral, Kohistan, Shangla, Bajaur, Orakzai, and the newly merged tribal districts face conditions closer to Balochistan's than to Lahore's.
The newly merged districts — formerly FATA — are among Pakistan's most underserved areas for higher education. Decades of conflict and limited government presence left educational infrastructure sparse. Many students from these districts are the first in their families and villages to pursue higher education, navigating systems — ECAT, NET, SAT, financial aid applications — with no family precedent to draw on.
The KPK government's scholarship programme is one of the more generous provincial schemes and specifically covers students from the merged districts. Federal universities like NUST and QAU reserve provincial quota seats for KPK applicants with lower merit thresholds than open merit. For students from Chitral, Dir, Swat, and the tribal belt, these pathways exist — but they require active navigation.
Full scholarship — tuition, accommodation, and monthly stipend
Up to Rs 40,000 per semester (tuition support)
50% grant + 50% loan (effectively full support for those who cannot repay)
Full tuition at public universities; partial at private
Full tuition reimbursement at public-sector universities
Up to 100% tuition waiver based on financial need
KPK domicile opens a specific scholarship pathway: the KPK Government Scholarship covers university fees for provincial domicile holders, and federal universities like NUST, QAU, and COMSATS reserve seats with lower cutoffs for KPK applicants. If you are from a merged district (formerly FATA), you may qualify for additional quotas specifically for former tribal areas. Apply for the KPK scholarship and the HEC need-based scholarship simultaneously — they are not mutually exclusive.
Daakhla is a new organisation and has not yet guided a student from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — you could be the first. The provincial quota seats and the KPK Government Scholarship that fund students from here, including the merged districts, are open now, and we will help you reach them.
Free admissions counselling and SAT preparation for students from Pakistan’s underserved districts. Rs 10,000 for both programmes — full financial aid for those who need it.
Apply for free counselling →