The 2025 IMAT exam will be held 17 September 2025 according to the Italian Ministry of Research and Education (MUR).
On 08 August 2025, MUR finally released its “Decreto ministeriale n. 599 del 07-08-2025,” which specified the 2025 IMAT syllabus, countries with test centers, number of seats per university, and other information. The specific test centers and their corresponding cities have not yet been announced. Here you can find the original MUR decreto for the 2025 IMAT.
For more information on the 2025 IMAT, please visit our “2025 IMAT Everything You to Know” article.
Please note that the actual 2025 IMAT syllabus is identical to the 2024 IMAT syllabus.
2025 IMAT Sections, Number of Questions and Scoring
The International Medical Admissions Test (IMAT) exam consists of 60 questions over the course of 100 minutes. Each question has five answer choices from A through E, each of which has only 1 correct option. The IMAT is divided into 5 sections with the following number of questions:
- 4 questions of reading skills and general knowledge questions
- 5 logical reasoning questions and problems
- 23 biology questions
- 15 chemistry questions
- 13 physics and mathematics questions
Candidates can achieve maximum of 90 points, taking into account the following scoring scheme:
- 1.5 points for each correct answer
- – 0.4 points (minus 0.4) for each incorrect answer
- 0 points for each omitted or skipped answer
Minimum IMAT Score and Tiebreaker
EU and EU-equivalent students must only those who have a score of 20 or more will appear in the EU scrolling ranking. On the other hand, non-EU students must score a minimum a score of 0 to enter the ranking. For more detail, please read our article on how the IMAT ranking and scrolling works.
In the case of a tie between IMAT scores, the following will be used as tiebreakers:
- The scores in each section, in this order: biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, logical reasoning and problem-solving, reading skills and knowledge gained in studies.
- English language Certification
- Disability Certification
- Age (the younger candidate will be given preference)
Detailed 2025 IMAT Syllabus
The following is a translation into English of the official MUR specification in its attachment (Allegato A) on the decreto.
Please note that the below is identical to the 2024 IMAT syllabus.
Reading Skills and General Knowledge
The ability to understand written English texts of various kinds and for different communication purposes is an essential skill for this test. This is because all the questions, including those that use symbolic language, will be presented in English. In other words, no matter the nature or intent of the questions, they will all require a good understanding of English to answer.
The following skills will also be specifically tested:
- Understanding abstract, uncommon or specialized vocabulary in real contexts
- Identifying the phenomena of textual cohesion and coherence
- Extracting and inferring informative specificities from the text.
These skills will be tested from short texts of scientific nonfiction or classic and contemporary fiction, or short texts of current events published in newspapers and general or specialized magazines.
It will include questions based on short texts covering a wide range of types and themes. These questions will assess skills and knowledge gained from previous studies and general cultural awareness, including topics of international importance or subjects currently debated in public. Specifically, the questions will be designed to determine the following:
- The ability to orient oneself in represented space and time, that is, to place relevant historical and cultural phenomena in space and time
- Knowledge of major national and international institutions
- The understanding of phenomena pertaining to the fields of law, economics and citizenship.
Logical Reasoning
These questions are made to check how well you can finish a logical argument based on given statements. These statements might be expressed in symbols or words, and they might present abstract problems or scenarios. To solve them, you’ll need to use various types of logical thinking.
Biology
- The chemistry of the living.
- The biological importance of weak interactions.
- Organic molecules found in organisms and their respective functions. The role of enzymes.
- The cell as the basis of life. Cell theory. Cellular dimensions. The prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell, animal and plant. Viruses.
- The cell membrane: structure and functions; transport across the membrane. Cellular structures and their specific functions.
- Cell cycle and cell reproduction: mitosis and meiosis-chromosome kit and chromosome maps.
- Reproduction and heredity. Life cycles. Sexual and asexual reproduction.
- Genetics:
- Mendelian genetics: Mendel’s laws and their applications.
- Classical genetics: chromosomal theory of inheritance – patterns of inheritance.
- Molecular genetics: structure and duplication of DNA, the genetic code, protein synthesis. DNA of prokaryotes. The structure of the eukaryotic chromosome. Genes and the regulation of gene expression.
- Human genetics: mono- and polyfactorial character transmission; autosomal and X-chromosome-related inherited diseases.
- Mutations. Natural and artificial selection. Evolutionary theories. The genetic basis of evolution. Heredity and environment.
- Biotechnology: recombinant DNA technology and its applications.
- Anatomy and Physiology of animals and humans. Animal tissues. Anatomy and physiology of systems and apparatuses in humans and their interactions. Homeostasis.
- Bioenergetics. The energy currency of cells: ATP. Oxidation-reduction reactions in living things. Energy processes: photosynthesis, glycolysis, aerobic respiration and fermentation.
Chemistry
- The constitution of matter: the states of aggregation of matter; heterogeneous systems and homogeneous systems; compounds and elements.
- Ideal gas laws.
- The structure of the atom: elementary particles; atomic number and mass number, isotopes, electronic structure of atoms of various elements.
- The periodic system of elements: groups and periods; transition elements. Periodic properties of the elements: atomic radius, ionization potential, electronic affinity, metallic character. Relationships between electronic structure, position in the periodic system and properties of the elements.
- The chemical bond: ionic bond, covalent bond and metallic bond. Bond energy. Polarity of the bonds. Electronegativity. Intermolecular bonds.
- Fundamentals of inorganic chemistry: nomenclature and main properties of inorganic compounds: oxides, hydroxides, acids, salts.
- Chemical reactions and stoichiometry: atomic and molecular mass, Avogadro’s number, mole concept and its application, elementary stoichiometric calculations, balancing simple reactions, the different types of chemical reactions.
- Solutions: solvent properties of water, solubility, the main ways of expressing the concentration of solutions.
- Equilibria in aqueous solution.
- Elements of chemical kinetics and catalysis.
- Oxidation and reduction: oxidation number, concept of oxidant and reductant. Balancing of simple reactions.
- Acids and bases: the concept of acid and base. Acidity, neutrality and basicity of aqueous solutions. pH. Hydrolysis. Buffer solutions.
- Fundamentals of organic chemistry: bonds between carbon atoms, crude and structure formulas, concept of isomeria. Aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Functional groups: alcohols, ethers, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, amides. Elements of nomenclature.
Mathematics
- Number sets and algebra: natural, integer, rational, real numbers. Sorting and comparison; order of magnitude and scientific notation. Operations and their properties. Proportions and percentages. Powers with integer, rational exponent) and their properties. Radicals and their properties. Logarithms (in base 10 and base e) and their properties. Hints of combinatorial calculus. Algebraic expressions, polynomials. Notable products, n-th power of a binomial, factor decomposition of polynomials. Algebraic fractions. Algebraic equations and inequalities of first and second degree. Systems of equations.
- Functions: fundamentals of functions and their graphical representations (domain, codomain, sign study, continuity, maxima and minima, increasing and decreasing, etc.). Elementary functions: whole and integer algebraic, exponential, logarithmic, goniometric. Compound functions and inverse functions. Goniometric equations and inequalities.
- Geometry: polygons and their properties. Circumference and circle. Measurements of lengths, surfaces and volumes. Isometries, similarities and equivalences in the plane. Geometric places. Measurement of angles in degrees and radians. Sine, cosine, tangent of an angle and their notable values. Goniometric formulas. Resolution of triangles. Cartesian reference system in the plane. Distance of two points and midpoint of a segment. Equation of the line. Conditions of parallelism and perpendicularity. Distance of a point from a line. Equation of the circumference, parabola, hyperbola, ellipse and their representation in the Cartesian plane. Pythagorean theorem. Euclid’s theorems (first and second).
- Probability and statistics: frequency distributions according to character type and main graphical representations. Notion of random experiment and event. Probability and frequency.
Physics
- Physical quantities and their measurement: Fundamental and derived physical quantities. Systems of units of measurement: International and Technical. Multiples and submultiples. Scientific notation. Main conversions between units of measurement of different systems. Scalar quantities and vector quantities. Vectors and operations on vectors.
- Kinematics: Description of motion. Velocity and angular velocity, acceleration and centripetal acceleration. Uniform rectilinear motion, uniformly accelerated motion, uniform circular motion, harmonic motion.
- Dynamics: Concept of force as interaction between bodies. Forces as applied vectors. The principle of inertia. Mass and the 2nd principle of dynamics. Examples of forces: weight force, elastic force, static and dynamic friction. Action and reaction: the 3rd principle of dynamics. Impulse and momentum. Principle of conservation of momentum. Momentum of a force and angular momentum. Work and kinetic energy. Conservative forces and potential energy. Principle of conservation of mechanical energy. Power.
- Fluid mechanics: Density and compressibility of fluids. Gases and liquids. Hydrostatics: pressure and principles of Pascal, Stevin and Archimedes. Fluid dynamics: one-dimensional motion, flow and flow rate, continuity equation. Ideal fluids and Bernoulli’s equation. Viscous forces in real fluids.
- Thermodynamics: Equilibrium, concept of temperature, thermometers. Concept of heat and calorimetry. Modes of heat propagation. Heat capacity and specific heat. Changes of state and latent heats. Laws of perfect gases. First and second principles of thermodynamics.
- Electricity and electromagnetism: Electric charges. Forces between charges and Coulomb’s law. Electric field and potential, equipotential surfaces. Dielectric constant, capacitance, capacitors. Electrostatic energy. Series and parallel of capacitors. Generators. Electric voltage. Electric current. Resistivity, resistance, resistors. Ohm’s law. Series and parallel of resistors. Kirchhoff’s principles. Work, Power, Joule effect. Direct and alternating current. Period and frequency. Magnetic field of an electric current. Forces on electric currents in a magnetic field. Electromagnetic induction.
Looking for More IMAT Practice?
Boost your IMAT preparation with 10 fully translated TOLC-MED past papers. Created by MUR (who also prepare the IMAT), these exams are the closest alternative available for the IMAT which is ideal for the most realistic practice and preparation you can get.
📚 Unlock 10 Mock IMAT ExamsFurther Preparation for Exam day
We recommend reading our other articles on the IMAT exam to understand other details such as scrolling, how to apply, and access to past exams. There is also a playlist on our youtube channel about medicine in Italy that has information about the IMAT timeline, as well as other preparation tips.
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