Checked 29 September 2026. Past candidate counts and scores are reported by testbusters, not published by the ministry in a document we could obtain. 2026 seats are official (Tabella B); which rows admit through IMAT is our labelling from the universities' own calls. The 2026 cut-offs will only be known from the rankings on and after 26 October 2026.
Two numbers move every IMAT cycle: how many people sit it and how many seats there are. Both rose sharply in the last few years. This guide collects what can be checked — and labels plainly what cannot. The ministry does not publish candidate counts or cut-off scores in a document we could obtain, so every past figure here comes from testbusters, an Italian test-prep company that analyses each year's rankings. The 2026 seat numbers, by contrast, are official.
Reported figures: testbusters. 1,207: our arithmetic on Tabella B, DM 1005/2026 (state courses only).
More reported candidates, 2024–2025
Testbusters reports 10,931 candidates in 2024 and 13,495 in 2025, an increase of 23.5%. The number who reached the 20-point minimum for the national ranking rose faster: 3,467 in 2023, 5,609 in 2024 and 7,202 in 2025. We could not find a 2023 candidate count from the same source.
Source: testbusters (reported). No 2023 candidate figure from the same source.
| Year | Candidates (reported) | Reached 20 points (reported) | Share reaching 20 (ours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | — | 3467 | — |
| 2024 | 10931 | 5609 | 51.3% |
| 2025 | 13495 | 7202 | 53.4% |
| Change 2024 to 2025 (ours) | +23.5% | +28.4% | — |
Two cautions on these figures. First, the candidate totals include non-EU applicants abroad, who are ranked separately, and the qualifier totals apply the 20-point rule, which does not apply to them — so neither number is a clean measure of the competition for any one seat. Second, they are one company's analysis; we could not check them against an official release.
Where the 2025 first ranking closed
Testbusters reports the position and score of the last candidate given a place — the last "prenotato" — in the first national ranking of 2025, for each course. These are figures for EU and EU-equivalent candidates and apply only to the first ranking: later updates move further down the list as candidates enrol elsewhere or drop out, so a closing score can only stay the same or fall after the first ranking.
| Course, 2025 first national ranking | Last prenotato position (reported) | Last prenotato score (reported) |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Surgery | 1149 | 54.8 |
| Dentistry | 1172 | 54.6 |
| Veterinary Medicine | 1282 | 53.8 |
| Highest score, all candidates | — | 87 |
| Mean score | — | 42.09 |
Source: testbusters. National ranking (EU and EU-equivalent candidates) only.
Where other pages get this wrong
No official IMAT cut-off exists for non-EU applicants abroad.
Commonly published instead: Many sites quote a single "IMAT cut-off" for everyone, or list per-university non-EU cut-offs.
There is no single national non-EU cut-off: non-EU applicants resident abroad are ranked separately by each university, so a figure for one university can only come from that university's own ranking. We found none published in an official document; figures quoted elsewhere are unverified.
2025 places against 2026 IMAT seats
Testbusters reports that the 2025 national ranking filled 1,049 places: 952 in Medicine, 52 in Dentistry and 45 in Veterinary Medicine. For 2026/27, Tabella B lists 2,430 EU-pool Medicine seats — but that total includes the non-state universities, which admit through their own tests, not IMAT. The like-for-like comparison is with the state courses: 1,207 EU-pool Medicine seats, and 1,319 across all three courses (our arithmetic and labels). The non-state quotas are shown separately below as own-test seats.
| Course | 2025 national-ranking places (reported) | 2026/27 EU-pool seats | 2026/27 non-EU abroad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine — IMAT (state) courses | 952 | 1,207 (ours, on Tabella B) | 845 (ours, on Tabella B) |
| Dentistry | 52 | 49 (Tabella B) | 11 (Tabella B) |
| Veterinary Medicine | 45 | 63 (Tabella B) | 7 (Tabella B) |
| All three IMAT courses | 1049 | 1,319 (ours) | 863 (ours) |
| Medicine — non-state universities (own tests, not IMAT) | — | 1,223 (ours, on Tabella B) | 517 (ours, on Tabella B) |
The 2025 seat decree (DM 599 of 7 Aug 2025) exists, but we could not open its seat table, so we cannot confirm the 2025 figure covers the same universities. Compare with care.
What does more seats mean for the 2026 closing score? We will not guess a number. More seats push the closing position further down the list; more candidates push scores up at any given position. The two effects pull in opposite directions, and there is no official data to weigh them. The honest statement is that 54.8 was one year's first-ranking figure, and it is a reference point, not a target.
What score should you aim for?
Because the marking has a penalty, a target score translates into different numbers of right answers depending on how many questions you attempt. Use the tool to set your own; the table shows the answer for 50 attempts at several reference scores. The formula is ours: right answers ≥ (target + 0.4 × attempted) ÷ 1.9.
How many right answers does a score need?
Pick a target score and how many of the 60 questions you expect to attempt. The rest are left blank.
Our arithmetic: right × 1.5 − wrong × 0.4 ≥ target, with wrong = attempted − right. 54.8 is the reported score of the last candidate given a place (last prenotato) in Medicine in the 2025 first national ranking (testbusters); it is not a 2026 cut-off.
| Reference | Target score | Right answers needed out of 50 attempted (ours) | Wrong (ours) | Resulting score (ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported 2025 mean | 42.09 | 33 | 17 | 42.7 |
| Round benchmark | 50 | 37 | 13 | 50.3 |
| Reported 2025 last Vet score | 53.8 | 39 | 11 | 54.1 |
| Reported 2025 last Medicine score | 54.8 | 40 | 10 | 56.0 |
| Round benchmark | 60 | 43 | 7 | 61.7 |
| Round benchmark | 70 | 48 | 2 | 71.2 |
Read this alongside the section weights. Biology and chemistry are 57 of the 90 marks, so most of any target has to come from them. A student who scores well in the sciences and leaves the unfamiliar general-knowledge questions blank loses at most six marks, with no penalty.
| Planning fact | Marks | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum from biology and chemistry | 57 | Ours: 38 questions × 1.5 |
| Maximum from the reading and knowledge section | 6 | Ours: 4 questions × 1.5 |
| Maximum score | 90 | DM 1005/2026, art. 3 |
Why the first ranking is not the final word
A closing score from the first national ranking can overstate what it took to get in by the end of the cycle. When the ranking is published, candidates are shown as ASSEGNATO or PRENOTATO, each holding one assignment or one reserved place at a time, not several. Some will not enrol at all: they may take a seat in their home country, choose another course, or simply miss the 12:00 confirmation deadline. Each update releases those seats to the next candidates in line. That is why the position of the last candidate given a place moves down the list across updates, and why a score a little below the first-ranking figure can still end in a seat.
The same logic explains why the three courses closed so close together in 2025. Medicine and Dentistry share one national ranking, and Veterinary Medicine has its own; a candidate who narrowly misses one preference is often picked up by the next. In our reading, small differences in the closing score between courses may reflect the order in which candidates listed their preferences as much as how hard each course is to enter.
What these numbers mean if you are applying from India
Almost none of the reported figures above describe your competition directly. As a non-EU applicant resident abroad, you are ranked at one university against the other non-EU applicants who chose it, and the only minimum is a score above zero. What decides your result is the size of that university's non-EU quota and how many strong applicants pre-enrolled there. The national trend is still useful as a sense of scale: the paper is the same, and a score near the EU-pool closing figure is well above the reported 2025 mean of 42.09 — though how it would place in any one university's local ranking depends on who pre-enrolled there. But treat any "non-EU cut-off" you see quoted as unverified unless it links to the university's own published ranking.
The most useful thing a 2027 applicant can do with this data is to set a personal target from it and then measure progress against that target on timed practice, section by section, rather than chasing a single cut-off figure that nobody publishes officially.
What we could not find
Gaps in the public record
- An official ministry release of candidate numbers or closing scores for any year.
- Any official per-university cut-off for non-EU applicants resident abroad.
- The seat table of the 2025 decree (DM 599 of 7 August 2025): the decree page exists, but the ministry's site blocks automated access, so we could not open it for a row-by-row comparison.
- A 2023 candidate count from the same source as the later years.
If an official source appears, we will update this page and say what changed.
| Missing item | Status |
|---|---|
| Official candidate counts | Not found; reported figures only |
| Official closing scores | Not found; reported figures only |
| Non-EU per-university cut-offs | Not found in any official source |
| 2025 seat table (DM 599/2025) | Decree page linked; seat table not opened (access blocked) |
Practise it, don't just read it
A closing score is set by the whole field. The part you control is your own accuracy, topic by topic.
The ProSyllabus IMAT library has ten topic quizzes: Cell Biology, Genetics, Human Physiology and Biomolecules and Metabolism; Atomic Structure and Bonding and Stoichiometry and Solutions; Mechanics and Electricity and Thermodynamics; Mathematics; and Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving. They use four options per question, where the real paper has five, and there is no reading or general-knowledge quiz yet — treat them as topic drills, not a mock.
What was the IMAT 2025 cut-off?
Testbusters reports that the last candidate given a place (last prenotato) in the first national ranking of 2025 scored 54.8 in Medicine, 54.6 in Dentistry and 53.8 in Veterinary Medicine. These are first-ranking figures for EU and EU-equivalent candidates; a closing score can only stay the same or fall in later updates.
How many students took IMAT in 2025?
Testbusters reports 13,495 candidates in 2025, up from 10,931 in 2024. We found no official release of the figure.
What is the IMAT cut-off for non-EU students?
There is no single national figure. Non-EU applicants abroad are ranked separately at each university, so a figure has to come from that university's own ranking; we found none in an official document.
Will the IMAT 2026 cut-off be lower because there are more seats?
More seats push the closing position down, but more candidates push scores up. There is no official data to predict which effect wins; the 2026 rankings from 26 October will show it.
What was the average IMAT score in 2025?
Testbusters reports a mean of 42.09 and a highest score of 87.
How many seats are there in IMAT 2026?
On the state courses that admit through IMAT, by our arithmetic on Tabella B: 1,207 EU-pool and 845 non-EU Medicine seats, 49 and 11 in Dentistry, and 63 and 7 in Veterinary Medicine. Tabella B's full Medicine totals (2,430 and 1,362) also include non-state universities that use their own tests.
Sources
- reported — Testbusters — IMAT 2025 results, thresholds and first-ranking analysis (reported)
- official — MUR — DM 1005/2026, Tabella B (seats 2026/27; University of Parma copy)
- official — MUR — Decreto Ministeriale n. 1005 of 6 August 2026 (IMAT 2026 decree), with its annexes
- official — MUR — Decreto Ministeriale n. 599 of 7 August 2025 (IMAT 2025 decree and seats)
- official — UniCamillus — call for Medicine (English) 2026/27, EU and equivalent candidates (own test)
- official — Humanitas University — how to apply 2026/27 (HUMAT, own test) and MEDTEC School page
- official — UniNeuromed — call for Medicine and Surgery (LM-41) 2026/27 (own test, 30 Oct 2026)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
