IMAT preparation for medicine in Italy, live online
The IMAT is the entrance test for English-taught medicine and dentistry at Italian public universities, and wrong answers carry a penalty — which turns the decision to leave a question blank into something you have to plan rather than improvise. The science sits closer to an Italian secondary syllabus than to an international one, so the gaps are usually specific chemistry and physics topics rather than a general weakness.
Exam format
What the IMAT actually looks like
The structure, the timing and the scoring, stated plainly — before anything about a course.
- Length
- Set by the Italian ministry for each year's sitting
- Questions
- Reading skills and general knowledge, logical reasoning, biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics
- Scored
- Positive marks for correct answers, a penalty for wrong ones, zero for blank
Reading skills and general knowledge
Comprehension of a passage plus general cultural knowledge. The general knowledge element is the hardest to prepare for efficiently and the least worth over-investing in relative to the sciences.
Logical reasoning and problem solving
Pattern-based and quantitative reasoning. This is the section that responds fastest to preparation, because it is technique rather than knowledge, and it is where a candidate with good science can most easily gain.
Biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics
At the depth an Italian secondary syllabus assumes, which is not the same depth an international curriculum assumes. The gaps are usually specific topics in chemistry and physics rather than a general weakness.
- The exact structure, question counts and marking are set for each year's sitting by the Italian ministry, so the year you are sitting matters. We prepare to that year's published rules rather than to a remembered format.
- Because wrong answers cost marks and blanks do not, skipping is a legitimate move rather than a surrender. Filling in every box is a choice, and usually a losing one.
- Application runs through Universitaly on its own timetable, separate from the exam itself — missing that deadline is a way to lose a place without ever sitting the test.
Before you start
Is IMAT preparation right for you?
Who it suits. Applicants preparing specifically for the IMAT who need to organise science knowledge and timed question practice.
When to check another option. Assuming every medicine course in Italy uses the same admissions route. Check the university's current notice and your eligibility separately.
Why it matters
What a IMAT score is for
The IMAT is the route into English-taught medicine and dentistry at Italian public universities — degrees taught in English, at public-university fees, in the EU. That combination is rare enough that competition is severe and the entrance test is the whole of the selection for most candidates. Unlike a school qualification it can be prepared for in a defined window, and unlike an interview it is entirely within your control.
Coverage
What the preparation covers
The ground a course goes over. A group course takes it in its published order; for one-to-one lessons, how much of it you need and in what order is what the diagnostic decides.
- Reading skills and general knowledge
- Logical reasoning and problem solving
- Biology, at the depth the Italian syllabus expects
- Chemistry and Physics, including the topics most international curricula skip
- Mathematics, and how negative marking should change your answering
Where marks go
Where candidates lose marks on the IMAT
Not a list of study tips. These are the specific ways this particular test takes marks off people who know the material.
Answering every question
Wrong answers are penalised and blanks are not. Filling in the paper is the instinct every school exam trains, and on this test it actively lowers the score. Knowing your own threshold for guessing is worth real marks.
Assuming your syllabus covered the science
The chemistry and physics sit at the depth an Italian secondary curriculum assumes. International curricula cover most of it and reliably miss specific topics — which is a targeted problem, not a reason to relearn the subject.
Over-preparing general knowledge
It is the section with the widest possible scope and the smallest return per hour. Candidates who try to cover it exhaustively are taking time from logical reasoning, which is the section that actually moves with practice.
Preparing from a previous year's format
The structure is set annually. Question counts and section balance have changed between sittings, and preparing to last year's shape is preparing for a paper that is not the one you will sit.
Treating logical reasoning as unteachable
It is the most trainable section on the paper. Candidates who write it off as innate leave the cheapest marks on the table.
Missing the Universitaly deadline
Registration runs on its own timetable, separate from the test. Every year candidates prepare well and lose the place to an administrative date.
Lesson format
Group course, or one-to-one
Group · 79.5 hours
An intensive summer course: 42 ninety-minute lessons, two each weekday morning, across Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, and Reading Skills and Knowledge Acquired in Studies, then ten full mock exams with review lessons — 79.5 hours of live teaching in classes of at most six. The negative-marking arithmetic is taught as strategy rather than mentioned once and moved past.
One-to-one
One-to-one lessons for the science topics the Italian syllabus assumes and yours may not have covered, and for the logical reasoning section, which responds quickly to pattern work.
Group course
How the IMAT group course runs
A fixed timetable, in Türkiye time (UTC+3). The dates and lessons below are the ones the classes are actually taught to.
- Lessons
- 90 minutes each
- Days and times
- Weekday mornings, 10:00–13:30
- Length
- About 8 weeks · 79.5 hours
- Class size
- Up to 24 students per group, taught by level in classes of at most 6
Week by week
- Monday to Friday, two 90-minute lessons a morning: 10:00–11:30, then 12:00–13:30 after a half-hour break.
- 42 topic lessons over the first four weeks or so, then ten full IMAT mocks, each starting at 10:00, with eleven review lessons between and after them.
Start dates open for enrolment
The next start dates are not published yet. You can reserve a place now and choose your start date once they are out.
What the course includes
- 10 IMAT practice tests
- Every lesson recorded, to rewatch for 14 days
- A study plan written for you by TestPrep
- Homework, with your progress tracked from lesson to lesson
- Questions answered within 24 hours
- Regular progress reports for parents
- All course materials, at no extra cost
The practice tests open on your account once they are published, and never before the first week of the course is over.
Our IMAT 2026 group filled up completely. The IMAT 2027 dates are published on 1 November, and you can reserve a place now; you choose your start date once they are out.
Paid by card on this site, in US dollars, through Stripe. The exact amount is shown before you pay. A group place is confirmed by e-mail once the payment goes through, and what the course includes opens on the account registered here with the student's e-mail address.
How it runs
How the teaching works
A diagnostic before one-to-one lessons are planned
One-to-one lessons start by finding out where the marks are actually going. That is not a formality: on most of these tests the gap a student describes and the gap the diagnostic shows are different, and hours spent on the described one are hours wasted. A group course starts on its published first lesson instead.
Teaching in the order your deadline allows
A group course works through the syllabus in a fixed order because a class has to. One-to-one starts with whatever is costing you most and works outwards, which is why it suits a retake or a short runway better.
Timed work from early, not saved for the end
Untimed accuracy is a poor predictor of a timed score, and finding that out three weeks before the test is too late. Timed sections start in the first fortnight, short at first.
Review and progress checks
Review looks beyond the mark: which errors recur, whether the reasoning is clearer and how accuracy holds under time pressure. Bring earlier attempts to the discussion so the next practice has a specific purpose.
All of it runs in the browser, live, with a teacher on the other end. There are no recordings sold as a course and no premises to travel to.
Timeline
How long IMAT preparation takes
A rough shape rather than a promise. People arrive at different starting points and the plan is built around yours, but this is what a full run usually looks like.
- 1
Six to nine months out — the year's rules, then a diagnostic
Confirm the current year's published structure and marking, then a timed paper against it. Preparing to a remembered format is the first mistake available.
- 2
Early months — the science gaps, specifically
Not the whole syllabus. The topics an Italian secondary curriculum assumes and yours did not cover, identified from the diagnostic and taught directly.
- 3
Middle months — logical reasoning and timed papers
The section that responds fastest, drilled deliberately, alongside timed past papers with the negative marking applied so the guessing decision is practised rather than theorised.
- 4
Final weeks — pacing, and the application
Full papers to time, and a check that the Universitaly registration is done. The second of those has cost more candidates a place than the first.
FAQ
IMAT questions we get asked
- Is the IMAT format the same every year?
- No. The Italian ministry sets the structure and marking for each sitting, and both have changed between years. We prepare to the year you are sitting, which is why the first question is which year that is.
- How does the negative marking work?
- Correct answers earn, wrong answers cost, blanks are neutral. That makes leaving a question a legitimate move rather than an admission of defeat, and finding your own threshold is part of the preparation.
- How much science do I need?
- Enough for an Italian secondary syllabus, which is usually more depth in specific chemistry and physics topics than an international curriculum gives. It is a targeted gap, not a general one, and the diagnostic finds it.
- Are the degrees really taught in English?
- Yes — that is what the IMAT exists to select for. The teaching is in English at public-university fee levels, which is why competition for places is what it is.
- When do I apply?
- Through Universitaly, on a timetable set separately from the exam. Check the current year's dates early; the deadline has cost well-prepared candidates their place more than once.
- Is there a group IMAT course?
- Yes, an intensive summer course of 79.5 hours: two lessons each weekday morning, then ten full mocks with reviews, in classes of at most six. The IMAT 2026 group filled up, and places for IMAT 2027 can be reserved now. One-to-one suits candidates whose gap is two specific science topics.
Pricing
What IMAT preparation costs
Shown in US dollars. Charged in US dollars — there is no conversion at checkout to be surprised by.
One-to-one lessons
One-to-one lessons for the science topics the Italian syllabus assumes and yours may not have covered, and for the logical reasoning section, which responds quickly to pattern work.
Single lesson
One 90-minute lesson, to see how it goes.
$70Book10 lessons
Prepaid, usable across subjects where the exam has them.
20 lessons
The usual choice for a full preparation run.
Group course · 79.5 hours
An intensive summer course: 42 ninety-minute lessons, two each weekday morning, across Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, and Reading Skills and Knowledge Acquired in Studies, then ten full mock exams with review lessons — 79.5 hours of live teaching in classes of at most six. The negative-marking arithmetic is taught as strategy rather than mentioned once and moved past.
Weekday mornings, 10:00–13:30, Türkiye time. Reserve a place now and choose your start date once dates are published. Timetable and start dates
Paid in full
The whole course, one payment.
$1,150Book a place
First private lesson, or first week of a group course: if it is not what you wanted, you get your money back.
Three or more of you preparing together? We can open a private group at the group course price, with the lesson days and times agreed with the group.
Paid by card on this site, in US dollars, through Stripe. The exact amount is shown before you pay. A group place is confirmed by e-mail once the payment goes through, and what the course includes opens on the account registered here with the student's e-mail address.
Where this comes from
Everything above about the format of the IMAT is taken from Universitaly, the body that sets it. Last checked against that source on . If you find something here that no longer matches it, tell us and we will correct it.