Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education: Closed

Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education (KazMUCE, also called KazMUNO) in Almaty is closed. A court removed its general licence, and the ruling took effect in April 2021. By July 2021 its roughly 3,500 students had moved to other Kazakh medical universities. An Indian student cannot enrol there in 2026.

Updated on 30 September 2026.

Key Takeaways

• The university no longer operates. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Education and Science announced on 3 July 2021 that KazMUCE had stopped its activity (Ministry of Education announcement, 3 July 2021).

• It lost its general licence in court. The licence was suspended in July 2020. An Almaty administrative court then fined the university and removed its general licence (Ministry of Education announcement, 15 February 2021).

• Students were moved to other universities. About 3,500 students transferred, mostly to medical universities in Almaty, and some to Astana, Karaganda, Semey, Aktobe, Shymkent and Turkestan.

• Few of its graduates pass FMGE. NBEMS figures show 4 passes out of 42 KazMUCE graduates who sat FMGE from 2023 to 2025 (NBEMS FMGE Performance Report 2025).

• Other Kazakh universities are still open. Our MBBS in Kazakhstan country guide covers the universities that admit Indian students today.

What was Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education?

Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education was a medical university in Almaty, at 34 Manas Street. It began as a centre for training doctors who had already qualified. Its focus was postgraduate courses and refresher training, not first degrees (KazMUCE About us page).

The university only opened bachelor's and internship programmes in 2018. It then taught five degree programmes: General Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health, Nursing and Pharmacy. It also ran residency, master's and doctoral programmes (KazMUCE About us page).

History of Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education

The dates below come from the university's own history page (KazMUCE history page) and from two statements by the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.

Is Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education still open in 2026?

No. Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education closed in 2021 and does not admit students. The general licence is the permit a Kazakh university needs to teach. Without it, the university cannot enrol anyone or award degrees.

Why KazMUCE lost its licence

The Ministry's quality committee inspected KazMUCE in 2020 and found serious breaches. The bachelor's, master's, doctoral and residency programmes did not have the required teaching staff or facilities. Several other indicators were below the legal minimum (Ministry of Education announcement, 15 February 2021).

The licence was suspended in July 2020 and the university was given time to fix the problems. A repeat inspection found it had not done so. The Ministry then went to court. The Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty fined the university and removed its general licence. More than 3,000 people were studying there at the time.

The old university website

The KazMUCE website is still online. Some of its pages still show admission rules and invite school leavers to apply. These pages are old. The Ministry of Education announced in July 2021 that the university had stopped its activity (Ministry of Education announcement, 3 July 2021).

What happened to Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education students?

About 3,500 students were moved to other medical universities over May and June 2021. Most went to medical universities in Almaty. Others continued in Astana, Karaganda, Semey, Aktobe, Shymkent and Turkestan (Ministry of Education announcement, 3 July 2021). Students who complete the programme at the new university receive their degree from that university.

The receiving universities found gaps in the KazMUCE student files. The Ministry listed these problems:

• Missing school records. The files of 111 transferred students had no school leaving certificate or transcript.

• Missing entrance tests. Some students had no UNT certificate, the national entrance test result in Kazakhstan, and some skipped parts of the required testing.

• Incomplete courses. Final-year students had not fully studied the compulsory subjects in the state standard. Some basic subjects were not taught at all.

• Short programmes. Pharmacy students on a shortened programme had studied 78 credits instead of the required 120.

Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education FMGE pass rate, 2023 to 2025

FMGE, the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, is the test an Indian who studied medicine abroad must pass to work in India. NBEMS, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, runs it and publishes results for every foreign university (NBEMS FMGE page). Our guide on what the FMGE exam is explains the exam in full.

NBEMS lists these graduates as "Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education Medical College". Graduates still appear in the results because FMGE can be taken years after graduation.

Put simply, 4 of 42 KazMUCE graduates passed across these four results, fewer than one in ten.

How KazMUCE compares with Kazakhstan and India

For every country side by side, see our FMGE pass rates for MBBS abroad or the short web story on country-wise FMGE pass rates.

Which Kazakh universities admit Indian students instead?

Several Kazakh medical universities are open and teach Indian students. The table shows their December 2025 FMGE results from NBEMS (NBEMS FMGE Performance Report 2025). A higher pass rate means more of that university's graduates cleared the exam.

Our Kazakh National Medical University guide covers the oldest medical university in Kazakhstan, also in Almaty. Our list of disadvantages of studying MBBS in Kazakhstan sets out the wider constraints.

NMC rules for studying medicine in Kazakhstan

The NMC, India's National Medical Commission, sets the rules for Indian students abroad in the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 (NMC FMGL Regulations 2021, PDF). The rules apply to each student's own course, at whichever university they join.

NMC keeps all its regulations on its NMC rules and regulations page. Our explainer on which NMC rules apply to you sets out which version applies by year of admission. Our web story on what to do before leaving for MBBS abroad lists the steps before travel.

What the KazMUCE closure means for families choosing a Kazakh university

The KazMUCE case shows what families can look at before paying any foreign university. Each point below is something a parent can see on an official page.

1. The university's licence. A Kazakh university needs a valid general licence from the Ministry to teach. KazMUCE lost its licence while more than 3,000 students were enrolled.

2. The year the programme opened. KazMUCE started General Medicine only in 2018, after decades of postgraduate teaching. A new programme has no track record yet.

3. The FMGE row for that university. NBEMS publishes appeared, passed and pass rate for each university every year. KazMUCE graduates passed at 0% in 2023.

4. English in every year. NMC requires the whole course in English. A programme that moves to Kazakh or Russian in clinical years does not meet the rule.

5. Internship at the same university. NMC requires the 12-month internship at the institution that awards the degree.

Does futureMBBS place students in Kazakhstan?

No. futureMBBS works with 23 partner universities in 9 European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Latvia, Romania, Cyprus and Lithuania. Kazakhstan is not one of them (futureMBBS partner universities). This guide is here because families still search for Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education.

Conclusion

Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education is closed. A court removed its general licence in 2021, and the Ministry of Education moved its roughly 3,500 students to other universities. No Indian student can join it in 2026. Its graduates passed FMGE at 0% in 2023 and 14.29% in both 2025 sittings. For MBBS in Kazakhstan today, compare the universities that are still open, starting with their NBEMS FMGE results.

Frequently asked questions about Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education

Sources

• Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, "Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education lost its general licence", 15 February 2021 (Russian)

• Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, "KazMUNO has stopped its activity", 3 July 2021 (Russian)

• Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education, history page (Russian)

• Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education, About us page (Russian)

• NBEMS, FMGE Performance Report 2025 (June and December 2025)

• NBEMS, country and institute-wise performance in FMGE 2024

• NBEMS, country and institute-wise performance in FMGE 2023

• NBEMS, FMGE exam page

• NMC, Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 (PDF)

• NMC, rules and regulations page