IMAT

Overview

The IMAT (International Medical Admissions Test) is the national entrance test for the English-taught Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine degree courses at Italian public universities. It is held once a year, on the same day and at the same time at every participating university, under coordination from Italy's Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and the national testing consortium CISIA. A single IMAT sitting and a single national ranking are used to allocate the limited, government-capped number of seats on these English-taught programmes.

Who can apply

IMAT is open to both Italian and international candidates, with no nationality restriction. Applicants must have, or be on track to complete, an upper-secondary-school qualification equivalent to the Italian diploma (12 years of schooling) by the time they enrol; students in their final year of secondary school can sit the test before their own school-leaving result is confirmed, but must hold the completed qualification before taking up a university place. There is no stated upper age limit. Because the test questions assume a general science background, most successful applicants have studied biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics at secondary level, though this is not a formal admission requirement.

Exam pattern

For 2026, the IMAT is a single paper of 60 multiple-choice questions, each with five answer options and only one correct answer, to be completed in 100 minutes.

Biology and chemistry together make up well over half the paper, so most candidates weight their preparation toward those two sections.

Marking and results

Each question is marked as follows, for a maximum possible score of 90:

Because wrong answers lose marks while blanks do not, guessing at random on a question with no partial knowledge can lower a candidate's score. After the test, anonymised scores are published first, individual scores are added to each candidate's own Universitaly account a short time later, and a single national merit ranking (graduatoria nazionale) is then published. Seats on each participating university's English-taught Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry or Veterinary Medicine course are offered strictly in order of this national ranking and the course preferences the candidate listed at registration.

Important dates

For the 2026/2027 academic year: registration on the Universitaly portal opened 26 August 2026 and closed 9 September 2026 (3:00 pm Italian time); the test itself was held on 29 September 2026; anonymised scores were due to be published around 8 October 2026, with individual scores added to candidates' Universitaly accounts by 19 October 2026 and the national ranking published around 26 October 2026. The IMAT runs on a yearly cycle timed to Italy's autumn university intake, so exact dates shift slightly each year and should be checked on Universitaly for the current cycle.

Fees

The one-time IMAT registration fee for the 2026 cycle is approximately 130 euros, paid online through the Universitaly portal when registering. This fee is non-refundable and does not include any university tuition, which is charged separately on successful enrolment.

How to apply

Candidates register for the IMAT entirely through the Universitaly portal. Registration involves creating or logging into a Universitaly account, selecting the IMAT test, choosing a preferred test centre (available in Italy and at a number of centres abroad), listing the participating universities and courses the candidate wants to be considered for in order of preference, and paying the registration fee online before the registration window closes. A photo ID valid for international travel is required to sit the test at the chosen centre on exam day.

After the exam

Results feed into one national ranking per course type (Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry, or Veterinary Medicine), covering all participating universities together. Seats are then offered university by university, following each candidate's position in the national ranking and the course preferences submitted at registration; a candidate ranked high enough is offered their highest remaining preference, and unfilled places are offered in further rounds as higher-ranked candidates confirm or decline seats elsewhere. Candidates who accept a seat enrol directly at that university; those who do not rank high enough for any of their chosen preferences in a given year may retake the IMAT in a later cycle.

Preparation tips

• Prioritise biology and chemistry, since together they make up well over half the paper; a strong general-science foundation in these two subjects has the largest effect on the overall score.

• Practise under real timing conditions: 100 minutes for 60 questions leaves under two minutes per question on average, so speed on familiar material matters as much as accuracy.

• Because wrong answers carry a penalty, decide in advance how to handle questions with no idea of the answer; leaving a genuinely unknown question blank is safer than guessing at random.

• Work through official past papers where available, since the question style and difficulty tend to repeat from year to year.

FAQs