Medicine in Italy, taught in English

Most families who write to us about Medicine have heard of one exam, the IMAT. There are actually two ways in, with different tests and dates months apart. This page explains both, using the ministry's decree and circular, so you can see where you stand before the next decree comes out.

The short version

• The IMAT is one paper test: 60 questions, 100 minutes, in English, once a year. The ministry sets the date by decree each year. In 2026 it was 29 September.
• Private medical schools such as Humanitas, San Raffaele, Cattolica, Campus Bio-Medico and UniCamillus run their own tests, months earlier. For 2026/27 most fell between February and June, and UniCamillus has an EU sitting on 19 November 2026. Cattolica's online exam for 2027/28 is on 17 March 2027. Compare the private schools' tests.
• Not an EU citizen and living outside Italy? You pre-enrol at one university only, and you compete only for that university's places.
• An IMAT score counts only for the year you sit it.
• Nobody can promise you a place. Universities decide on admission and embassies decide on visas.

Two kinds of medical school, two kinds of test

State universities select through the IMAT. The ministry's table of places also lists private universities, but Humanitas, San Raffaele, Cattolica, Campus Bio-Medico and UniCamillus select their students through their own tests, with their own calls and deadlines. A family that waits for the September IMAT has already missed most of them.

You may have read about Italy's 2025 reform of medical admissions, the open first semester called the semestre filtro. It applies to courses taught in Italian. English-taught courses keep the IMAT.

Format, scoring and rankings in full: our IMAT guide. How the IMAT compares with the other entrance tests: which admission test for which degree.

Where you live changes the ranking

Everyone sits the same paper, scored the same way: 1.5 points for a right answer, minus 0.4 for a wrong one, nothing for a blank, out of 90. What happens after the test depends on your citizenship and where you live.

Two citizenships, one of them from an EU country? The EU citizenship counts, so you follow the EU route and need no student visa.

Choices that lock. When you register you pick one of two tracks, Medicine and Dentistry together or Veterinary Medicine, and you can't change it later. Your test venue and, on the EU route, your list of universities lock when registration closes.

For a non-EU applicant abroad, choosing the university is the biggest decision of the whole process. You compete only for that university's places, and each one can validate pre-enrolments only up to its foreign-student places plus 20%, so validation can close before the official deadline. The number of places alone won't tell you enough, because demand and deadlines differ a lot too. This is where we start with every family.

How the last two sittings ran

Dates for the next sitting aren't published. These are the last two, from the decrees. They show the rhythm, but they aren't a forecast.

Registration was open for two weeks both years. The private schools test much earlier, so a student aiming at both routes should plan from the start of the final school year.

How the paper has changed

The IMAT began in 2011, and the test students sit now is quite different from the early ones. Cambridge Assessment ran it up to and including 2022. The Italian ministry then took it over from 2023, and its 2026 decree has CINECA, the ministry's consortium, writing and running the test.

Question counts come from our own sorting of each year's IMAT questions by topic.

Logic and reading used to be half the test and are now 9 questions of 60, while science has grown to 51. A student who practises mainly on older papers is training for a different mix. They still help, but we wouldn't plan around them.

How the cut-off scores have moved

The cut-off is the score of the last student to get a place. It differs by university, and EU and non-EU students are ranked separately, so each route has its own numbers. These cover Medicine in English at state universities. Move the line to a score to see which first-list cut-offs it would have cleared.

Cut-offs out of 90 at state universities; the trend is rounded. First lists can still fall as places are re-offered. Scores come from university lists and published compilations, so treat them as a guide, not official figures. Bari is left out for non-EU applicants abroad, and Florence has no non-EU places.

The jump in 2024/25 stands out. The test became much easier that year, so a 45 in 2023/24 was a stronger result than a 45 in 2025/26. Compare scores only within the same period. Non-EU cut-offs have also run higher than EU ones.

One university can move several points in a year, so clearing last year's number is not a plan. What a realistic target looks like for you this year is what we go through on the first call.

Places for 2026/27

The decree's table of places for 2026/27 (DM 1005/2026, Table B). "EU and Italy" means EU citizens and non-EU citizens living in Italy. "Non-EU abroad" is the separate quota for non-EU citizens living outside Italy. Where a non-EU figure at a single program reads like 30 + 2, the decree prints one total and the university's call keeps the second number for Chinese students on the Marco Polo program, so other applicants compete for the first. Places for the next intake are set by the next decree.

Places at a university whose accreditation is still pending depend on the accreditation going through. "Own test" means the school selected its 2026/27 students through its own admission test, not the IMAT. University by university, with fees and documents: our university guides.

Quick check: the national rules

Five questions. You'll see which national rules apply to you and what to check next. It can't tell you whether you'll get in, because each university reads your documents and decides. Nothing you tick here is sent or saved.

The check uses the MUR circular for international students 2026/27 and 2027/28 with its Annex 1 on foreign qualifications, and DM 1005/2026. Recognition of a qualification is always the university's decision.

Sitting the IMAT again

If you're trying again, a few things change.

• Your old score doesn't carry over. You register and sit the test again when the next decree opens registration.
• Start from your last paper. In 2026 candidates could see their own paper and score on Universitaly. The ministry also publishes every past IMAT from 2011 to 2026. In the published version the correct answer is always option A.
• Look at both routes this time. The private schools test months before the IMAT, so a second attempt can include their calls too.
• Non-EU applicants abroad: look again at the one university you choose. Last year's choice may not be the right one this year.
• Already enrolled at an Italian university and want to switch? A student who withdraws can't reuse the earlier visa or residence permit. Talk to us before you withdraw from anything.

Want a structured plan for the next attempt? See IMAT tutoring.

For parents

Parents often write to us first, so here is what they usually ask.

What happens, in order

1. Choose the route: the IMAT, a private school's own test, or both. For non-EU applicants abroad, choose the one university.
2. Prepare for the test and sit it.
3. Results and ranking.
4. Pre-enrolment on Universitaly, validated by the university.
5. Recognition of the school qualification: CIMEA statements or a Declaration of Value.
6. The visa, at the Italian mission for the country where the student lives.
7. Arrival, enrolment, and the residence permit application within eight working days of arriving.

Who you pay, and for what

• The university: tuition and fees, which differ a lot between state and private schools and from one university to the next. For each university on your shortlist we give you its fee and the page it comes from.
• The test: the IMAT fee, as Universitaly sets out when registration opens, or a private school's own test fee.
• Recognition and the visa: CIMEA or the Italian mission, and the mission or its visa centre.
• Also separate: translations and apostille, health insurance, housing and travel.
• Learnium: a written quote after the first call, and a written contract before any payment.

The money the visa asks to see

At least EUR 10,179.85 a year, from lawful and traceable sources, preferably the student's own or the family's. The consulate also checks that the money fits the family's income and assets, so we go through it well before the appointment. A DSU application doesn't count as funds until there is an award letter.

What we can promise, and what we cannot

We don't guarantee admission or a visa, and nobody honest can. What we do is make each application complete, file it on time and aim it at places that fit the student. You sign a written contract before paying anything.

Knowing where things stand

You'll know which stage the application is at, what happens next and who is handling it. Parents are welcome on every call. Before the student flies, we go through the first weeks with the family: enrolment, the residence permit application and how to look for a place to live.

How we can help

This page gives you the rules. Applying means keeping track of them for one student, across several offices, while that student is also studying for a test. Our mentors went through this process themselves, and this is the part we take on:

• Choose the route and, for non-EU applicants abroad, the one university, with places, demand and deadlines side by side.
• Follow every call and decree, and tell you each date as it is published.
• Check your qualification against each university's call before you commit to it.
• Handle the Universitaly pre-enrolment and document recognition, and check the visa application line by line.
• Prepare you for the first weeks in Italy.

One-to-one IMAT classes

Our classes are taught one to one by medical students who scored highly on the IMAT. They have sat this paper and been through the same admissions themselves, and they have years of teaching experience, so they know the test and how to explain it. See IMAT tutoring.

The systems behind the work

We built our own tools for this, because a spreadsheet and memory aren't good enough when one date can cost a year.

• A checked record of programs and requirements. Each fact we keep is tied to the official source it came from, and it is dated by intake.
• A practice platform for the IMAT with the full syllabus, practice questions and mocks, so a student and teacher can see what still needs work.
• A portal for each family, showing the stage of the application, the documents we have and are waiting for, and every deadline on one calendar.

A wrong date can cost a student a year. So every date and rule we give you comes from the official document, and we can show you where it is written. If something hasn't been published, we tell you that instead of guessing.