How to Get Into U of T From Pakistan: Grades, OUAC 105, Videos
The University of Toronto reads a Pakistani applicant on the Intermediate or Higher Secondary School Certificate, or on five O Levels and three A Levels, an English test unless your Cambridge English grade clears the exemption, and, for Rotman Commerce and Engineering, a timed video supplemental that Arts and Science does not have. You apply through OUAC 105 or U of T’s own international application by January 15, 2027 for Fall 2027 entry, and the study permit that follows now runs through a provincial attestation letter and a national cap.
What U of T asks for from Pakistan
U of T’s high school requirements by country list has a Pakistan entry, and it is one line: “Intermediate/Higher Secondary School Certificate.” No percentage, no division, no subject list. U of T publishes no cut-off for the HSSC, and everything that decides your file is on the program page, not the country page.
Cambridge students are read under the British-patterned entry on the international high school requirements page: “Five different IGCSE/GCSE/Ordinary Level academic subjects and three different A Level/International A Level academic subjects,” with four AS subjects considered for most programs. English at IGCSE, GCSE, O, AS or A Level “is required for all programs,” Mathematics at AS or A Level is required for any program with a calculus prerequisite, and other prerequisites should be at AS or A Level. General Paper, General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Key Skills and AS Global Perspectives do not count. U of T makes conditional offers “based on your previous year’s grades and your in-term/mid-term results, if available”: Part I plus a college-certified interim for a board student, O Levels, AS and predicted grades for an A Level student.
Nothing on either page asks for IBCC equivalence or attestation. Do not delay the application for them.
The grades that get offers
Because U of T publishes no HSSC threshold, the honest picture is by program and prerequisite. Confirm the row for your program on its own admissions page before you apply.
| Program | Which board group fits | A Level route | Extra component |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arts and Science, humanities and social sciences | FA, I.Com, any FSc. | Three A Levels plus five O Levels including English. | None. |
| Arts and Science, life or physical sciences, Computer Science | FSc Pre-Engineering, ICS; Pre-Medical for life sciences if Mathematics is present. | A Level Mathematics required; sciences at AS or A Level. | None. |
| Rotman Commerce | Any group with Mathematics: ICS, Pre-Engineering, I.Com with Math. | A Level Mathematics required. | Supplemental: timed video and written responses. |
| Engineering, including Engineering Science | FSc Pre-Engineering (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics). | A Level Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry expected. | Online Student Profile with three timed video responses. |
| UTSC Management | Any group with Mathematics. | A Level Mathematics required. | Supplementary application. |
The pattern is the same one that bites at UBC and McGill: FSc Pre-Medical has no Mathematics, and Mathematics is the gate to Commerce, Computer Science, Engineering and the physical sciences. Add it as a subject now; U of T will not infer it from Biology.
English: which Cambridge grades waive the test
U of T’s English language requirements page waives the test for four or more years of full-time English-medium study in Canada or in a country where English is the dominant language; an English-medium college in Pakistan does not qualify on its own. Two exemptions do work for Cambridge students: GCSE or IGCSE English at grade B, or 6 in the reformed grading, and GCE A Level English at grade C or higher. Board students need a test: IELTS Academic 6.5 with no band below 6.0; TOEFL iBT taken from January 21, 2026 on the new scale, 4.5 overall with 4.5 in Writing and 4.0 in Speaking; Duolingo 120 with 120 in Production; PTE Academic 65 with no part below 60; Cambridge C1 or C2 at 180 with 170 in each component; CAEL 70 with no part below 60. Scores must arrive by your supporting-document deadline, which for Engineering is January 15, 2027.
How and when to apply for Fall 2027 entry
Every application starts at OUAC. U of T’s applications page gives international students two forms: the OUAC 105, which you must use if you are also applying to any other Ontario university, and the U of T International Application, C$196 non-refundable, only for applicants who live outside Canada, have never studied in Canada, and are applying to U of T alone. Most Pakistani applicants have Waterloo on the list, so it is the 105; the OUAC 105 guide is written for BC students but the form is the same. About a week after applying you get the Join U of T portal, where documents and supplementals live.
From the dates and deadlines page for Fall 2027 entry: apply by November 7, 2026 for the recommended early date, and by January 15, 2027 for Arts and Science, Engineering, Rotman, UTM and UTSC; supporting documents and most supplementals by February 1, 2027, except Engineering and Music at January 15; decisions from January through late May 2027. Rotman’s own page adds December 1, 2026 for early consideration and February 1, 2027 as the final supplemental date; Engineering’s adds December 1 for early consideration. Confirm all of it on the pages before you plan around it.
The part you control: the supplementals
Arts and Science at St. George, including Computer Science, has no supplemental. Your file there is the transcript and the English score. The programs that add something are the ones to prepare for:
- Rotman Commerce. Short written and video responses on Kira, some pre-shared and some random: about 30 seconds of prep and 45 seconds to answer the pre-shared video, roughly a minute each for the random one, written pieces of around 200 words. Format and practice questions in the Rotman Commerce supplemental application questions guide.
- Engineering, all programs. The mandatory Online Student Profile: an untimed activities section plus three timed video responses. The prep and answer clocks are shown inside the platform; earlier cycles used around two minutes of each. The Engineering Online Student Profile questions guide has the current format, and Engineering Science has its own page.
- UTSC Management and Trinity College each have a separate profile or supplementary.
The timed video is the piece Pakistani applicants under-prepare, because nothing in the board system resembles it. The question is unseen, the clock does not stop, and the reader scores reasoning and clarity, not accent. AcceptMe puts you on camera with a fresh question, 30 seconds to think, 90 seconds to answer, then a transcript with the coach’s notes on what you said and how you structured it; set the timers to Rotman’s or Engineering’s and run it until the prep window stops feeling short.
What it costs and what U of T gives back
The Registrar’s 2025-26 fee schedules put the international program fee for a first-year Arts and Science student at University College at C$63,570.00, plus C$2,040.90 in incidental fees and C$792.00 for UHIP health insurance, C$66,402.90 in total. Engineering is C$70,060.00 tuition, C$73,055.84 with fees. Residence and food are on top. For the permit, IRCC’s proof of financial support page sets C$23,448 a year for living expenses from September 1, 2026, on top of first-year tuition and travel, plus C$6,318 per accompanying family member.
The Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship covers tuition, books, incidental fees and full residence for four years for about 37 scholars a year. One nominee per school: nominations close October 9, 2026, the nominee’s U of T application is due October 16, 2026 and the Pearson application November 6, 2026, all for September 2027 entry. Beyond Pearson, international aid is limited; plan on the full fee.
The study permit from Pakistan
After you accept and pay the deposit, U of T requests your Ontario Provincial Attestation Letter; IRCC’s PAL page says you get it through the school and cannot reuse one from a previous cap year. IRCC told a parliamentary committee in December 2025 that the 2026 target for new study permits is 155,000 and that the refusal rate for new permits was 59 percent between January and September 2025, up from 49 percent; it publishes no Pakistan-only figure. The Student Direct Stream, which had covered Pakistan, ended on November 8, 2024; everyone now uses the regular stream, which still accepts a GIC as proof of funds.
Apply online, pay the C$85 biometrics fee with the application, and give fingerprints within 30 days at a VFS Global centre in Islamabad, Karachi or Lahore. Apply the week you accept; the PAL, the bank documents and the biometrics slot each take longer than the offer letter assumes.
A worked Engineering video answer
Zainab, A Levels in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in Karachi, predicted A*AA, applying to Mechanical Engineering. A practice question written to the Online Student Profile format, not a real U of T prompt: “Tell us about a time you had to explain a technical idea to someone who did not share your background.” Two minutes of prep, about two minutes to answer, roughly 280 spoken words.
Last year the generator at my grandmother’s house in Hyderabad kept tripping during load-shedding, and the electrician had been three times. I was there for Eid and my uncle asked me, half joking, what my Physics was for. So I sat with him and drew the house as a circuit on the back of a receipt: the generator as the source, each room as a branch, the two air conditioners as the big loads. I did not use the word impedance once. I asked him which rooms were on when it tripped, and every time the answer included both ACs and the water pump.
The explanation that worked was not the physics, it was the question. Once he saw the three loads written next to each other, he worked out himself that the generator was rated for two of them. We ran the pump on a timer at night and it has not tripped since. What I learned is that explaining something technical is mostly deciding what to leave out, and then letting the other person reach the conclusion, because he trusted the timer far more once it was his idea.
A situation in two sentences, a decision, a checkable result, and a reflection about her, not generators. It survives being read as a transcript.
Mistakes applicants from Pakistan make
- Using the U of T International Application while also applying to Waterloo. Any second Ontario university means the OUAC 105.
- Counting General Paper as an A Level. U of T excludes it, along with General Studies and Global Perspectives.
- Sending Part I only. Conditional offers are built on the previous year plus in-term results. Get a college-certified interim transcript for the second year.
- Assuming an English-medium college waives the test. Only an IGCSE English B or an A Level English C does, and board students always test.
- Missing the Engineering January 15 document date because the general February 1 date was the one written down.
- Preparing for Rotman’s pre-shared question and nothing else. The random video and the written pieces are the actual test.
Where to go next
The same transcript and the same English score go to the other two schools on most Pakistani lists: the UBC admission guide for Pakistani applicants covers the mandatory Personal Profile and UBC’s published 74 percent reference point for the HSSC, and the McGill admission guide for Pakistani applicants explains the grades-only file and the Quebec CAQ. The by-country guide to Canadian university admissions for international applicants compares how each curriculum is read across all three. The video interview practice guide covers the prep-window habit that separates a fluent answer from a rehearsed one, and the Ontario supplementary application deadlines guide keeps the Rotman and Engineering dates in one place. Then record a run on AcceptMe with an unseen question and read the transcript the way an admissions reader will.
Keep reading
- How to Get Into UBC From Pakistan: HSSC, A Levels, Profile What UBC asks of FSc, ICS, FA and A Level applicants for Fall 2027: the 74% reference point, English rules, the Personal Profile, tuition and the permit.
- How to Get Into McGill From Pakistan: Grades, IELTS, CAQ How McGill reads the HSSC and A Levels for Fall 2027: the B+ floor, A Level cut-offs, English exemptions, tuition, scholarships and the CAQ.
- Rotman Commerce Supplemental Application: Questions and Tips Rotman Commerce supplemental application format, a sample pre- shared video answer and fifteen practice questions for the random video and written parts.