IMAT 2026: Complete Guide

Everything you need to understand, prepare for and pass the IMAT in 2026. Just the clearest guide to the test on the internet. We update it the moment the official decree (the “bando”) is released by the Italian Ministry (MUR)

If you want a single most useful free reseource for the section most students fail grab our Physics Formula Sheet below.

What is IMAT?

The IMAT (International Medical Admissions Test) is the official entrance exam for English-taught Medicine & Surgery – and now also Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine – at Italy's public universities. It's run by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).

Here's the part that makes it unusual: your score on this single 100-minute test is essentially the ONLY thing that decides whether you get a seat. No interviews. No personal statements. No grade requirements beyond a high-school diploma. Just the exam, and your ranking against everyone else who applied.

It's held once a year, in mid-September (17 September in both 2024 and 2025), simultaneously worldwide at 11:00 CEST. It is highly competitive: in 2025, around 13,500 candidates competed for roughly 1,750 seats across all programmes.

that’s ≈126 people per seat

🔹 60 multiple-choice questions, 100 minutes

🔹 5 options per question, exactly one correct

🔹 Scoring: +1.5 for a correct answer, -0.4 for a wrong answer, 0 for a blank. Maximum score: 90

🔹 No calculators or electronic devices allowed

IMAT 2026 format & scoring 📊

What the scoring means for your strategy: 🧠

because wrong answers cost you 0.4, blind guessing is mathematically a bad idea. If you can't eliminate any options, leaving it blank often beats guessing. But if you can rule out two or three options, an educated guess usually pays off. Knowing this cold is worth marks on its own.

Section breakdown (based on recent years — confirm with the 2026 decree): 📑

  • 🔬 Biology — 23 questions (the single biggest block)

  • 🧪 Chemistry — 15 questions

  • 📐 Physics & Maths — 13 questions

  • 🧩 Logical Reasoning & Problem Solving — 5 questions

  • 📚 Reading Skills & General Knowledge — 4 questions

Two takeaways most students miss:

💡 (1) Biology + Chemistry are ~38 of 60 questions — they decide your fate, so they must be rock-solid.

(2) Physics & Maths (~13 questions) are consistently UNDER-trained by students from a biology background — and those 13 questions are very often the margin between an offer and a rejection. That's exactly the gap our courses are built to close.

Is IMAT hard to study?

As every exam, IMAT itself is definitely demanding, btu to most people it seems impossible because of the amount of material you need to study for.

The truth is that the syllabus is huge, but actually not all of it gets equally tested. What is the key during IMAT preparaation is to STUDY SMART. You don’t need to be a biologist, chemist, mathematician and a physict simultaneously to get in.

It isn’t that the Math&Physics section is extremely hard. It’s that students struggle with finding the right plan, solid resources and end up giving up very quickly. However, it is all doable and for more please check out our course.

How long does it take to prepare for the IMAT?

First of all, it obviously depends on a person… However, if you start from zero you’d need approximately three months and a lot of hard work to pass it with a good score.

If your Biology and Chemistry are solid and you’re just worried about the other parts then an intense month of studying and a lot of effort can get you a great score.

Personally, I’d say everything is possible with A GOOD PLAN and DISCIPLINE. These two can take you anywhere

How many points do I need to have?

There's no single 'pass mark'. Admission is by ranking and each

university's effective cut-off depends on how many people applied

there and how many seats it has. As a rough guide from recent years

(these move every year, so treat them as orientation, not promises):

• ~50–60: realistic for several universities, especially for non-EU

  applicants at schools with more non-EU seats.

• ~65–70: competitive for mid-tier universities.

• ~70–75+: gives you a seat at the most popular universities.

Difficulty varies year to year — 2024 was unusually easy and

cut-offs spiked; 2025 was harder and they came back down. So don't anchor to one year's 'safe score.'

How to study (a realistic plan):

Most students prepare for 3-6 months depending on their science background. Here's a sensible shape (compress it if you have less time):

Months 1-2 – Build the foundation. Work through the syllabus subject by subject, Biology and Chemistry first (they're ~38 of 60 questions). Don't rush to past papers yet; make sure the underlying concepts are solid.

Month 3 – Add Physics & Maths properly. This is the section students from a bio background neglect – and it's where marks are won or lost. Start mixing in past-paper questions by topic.

Final 3-4 weeks – Full mocks under real timing, every few days. Mark every paper, find your repeating mistakes, and drill them. This is the phase where focused practice gains the most marks – and it's exactly what our 3-week intensive is built around.

Throughout: mix subjects! (don't study one for a whole week then forget it) and use spaced repetition – redo missed questions a week later. These two habits beat raw hours.

EU vs non-EU: the rules that decide your ranking

This is the part that confuses – and costs – the most students, so read it carefully.

EU and non-EU candidates compete in SEPARATE rankings, for separate pools of seats. Your category changes everything about your strategy.

If you're a non-EU applicant, the single most important rule is this: you compete only within the non-EU quota at ONE university – the one you choose. You don't get a ranked list of preferences the way EU students effectively do. So your choice of university is as important as your score.

The most expensive mistake non-EU students make: choosing only famous universities (Milan, Bologna, Pavia). Every year, students with strong scores (70+) miss out entirely because they aimed only at the top and didn't include a safer option. Universities with more non-EU seats and fewer applicants (e.g. Bari, Cagliari, Messina, Catania) can admit with notably lower scores.

The smart approach is to match your realistic target score to a university where that score can actually win a seat – balancing ambition with a sensible safety choice. This is exactly what we work through with students in the university-selection session: not just how to score higher, but where to point that score so it lands you a place.

Non-EU students also have extra steps: pre-enrolment via Universitaly and a study-visa application at the Italian embassy/consulate in your country. Start these early – by spring/early summer – to avoid a scramble.