University Admission

International Medical Admissions Test in Italy

International Medical Admissions Test (IMAT) is used by a number of Italian universities for entry to Medicine, Surgery and related degree courses taught in English language. The test was developed by the Italian Ministry of Education (MIUR) in cooperation with Cambridge Assessment’s Admissions Testing Service. This test was developed as English model of Italian admissions test already used for entry to courses taught in Italian and it is currently taken in April for admission in October.

The IMAT test is organized as multiple chose and is divided 2 sections:

1. Thinking Skills (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving),30 multiple-choice questions;
2. Scientific Knowledge covering Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, 30 multiple-choice questions;

Candidates are allowed a total of 90 minutes to complete the test. All questions have five options, of which one is correct. A correct answer awards 1.5 point, a blank answer 0 points and a wrong answer subtracts 0.4 points from the final score. A 20 points minimum threshold was set by MIUR in order to be positioned in the final ranking list. An overall total score is reported (MAX=90 points), together with a score on each section.

IMAT is one of the 3 admissions tests for medicine and healthcare studies (BMAT, IMAT, and OET). 

BMAT: Biomedical Admissions Test used by universities in the UK and overseas for entry to Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science courses and it actually take place in November for admission in in the following October.

OET: Occupational English Test is a language test for health practitioners (dentistry, dietetics, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, radiography, speech pathology and veterinary science) who wish to register to practice their profession in an English-speaking country and assesses English language proficiency, with an emphasis on communication in real-life medical and health settings.

The IMAT covers the same subjects as BMAT with exception of essay part which is part of BMAT.  To prepare for IMAT, student can used the same material like those used for BMAT. Additionally an Italian leading company in preparation for admissions has recently published two new exercise books for IMAT (Recommanded boolks  about Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics: theory and exercises).  For those who need to review their English level and or more information about IMAT they can also contact My School Italy (a Cambridge Certified Examination Centre for all SELT and ESOL exams undertaken by the English Department of the University of Cambridge and a British Council Partners for IELTS).  Example of IMATIMAt specimen 2014.pdf and guidelines are also helpful even if do not replace specialized centers.

Universities of medicine in english in Italy 

Universities offering medicine program in English and recruiting student by IMAT test:

• University of Bari
• University of Milan
• University of Pavia
• Sapienza University of Rome
• University of Rome Tor Vergata
• Second University of Naples