International Medical Admissions Test

The International Medical Admissions Test (IMAT) is a 100 minute subject-specific admissions test, designed by Cambridge Assessment, for applicants to medicine and surgery courses at universities whose applicants are from a range of educational backgrounds.

These courses are taught in English, with places open to both home and international students. In Italy, the Admissions Testing Service works in conjunction with the Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MIUR), to develop and deliver the English language version of the Italian admissions test already used for entry to courses taught in Italian.

The test does not require a lot of extra study as it is a test of skills and knowledge that learners are expected to have already.

The admission test consists of sixty (60) multiple choice questions with five options (of which only one is correct) on the following topics:

• general knowledge and logical reasoning;
• biology;
• chemistry;
• physics and mathematics. 

The test is divided in four sections: Section 1 (22 multiple choice question) covers general knowledge (12 questions) and logical reasoning (10 questions about critical thinking and problem solving).  Sections 2, 3 and 4 cover science-based sections: biology (18 multiple choice questions), chemistry (12 multiple choice questions), physics and mathematics (8 multiple choice questions).

The detailed program of the 2020 test is available in the Annexes (page 18) of the Decreto Ministeriale (texts in Italian), and in the call for application of the University (text in English)

A candidate’s total score is calculated using the following formula:

• 1.5 points for each correct answer
• - 0.4 points for each wrong answer
• 0 points for each question not answered.

An overall total score is reported (MAX=90 points), together with a score on each section.