IMAT Cut-Offs 2023–2025: The Full 3-Year Trend Analysis
Every university, three admission cycles, EU and non-EU pools tracked completely separately
In this guide
IMAT Cut-Off Trends 2023-2025: Why One Year Isn't Enough
These IMAT cut-off trends 2023-2025 tell a clear story once you line up all three years: cut-offs move, sometimes by a lot. A university that looked safe last year can flip into a reach this year, and vice versa. We pulled three full admission cycles — 2023, 2024, 2025 — for every Italian public medicine university, kept EU and non-EU seat pools completely separate, and tracked how each one actually moved.
⚠️ One thing before the data
The IMAT scoring scale changed between the 2023 and 2024 cycles — every university's cut-off jumped roughly 15–25 points, in both EU and non-EU pools, which is far too uniform to be a real jump in applicant strength. Because of this, we never compare raw 2023 scores to 2024/2025 scores directly. Instead, for the 3-year trend, we compare each university's rank — its competitive position relative to the others that year — which holds up even when the scoring scale underneath it changes.
18
Universities tracked
3
Admission cycles compared
2×
Non-EU volatility vs EU
Part 1 — The EU Pool, 2023–2025
Start here — this is the pool most applicants are actually competing in. These IMAT cut-off trends 2023-2025 are fairly stable on the EU side year to year: the universities that are hard stay hard, the ones that are easy stay easy, and most of the movement is gradual rather than dramatic.
At a glance
2025 EU Cut-offs — Hardest to Easiest
Red = hardest tier · Green = easiest tier · Teal = mid-pack
Final cut-offs, 2023–2025
| University | EU seats (2025) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Statale | 55 | 46.6 | 67.8 | 65.8 |
| La Sapienza | 45 | 45.4 | 65.1 | 65.8* |
| Bicocca | 30 | 43.3 | 64.8 | 64.8 |
| Bologna | 130 | 42.6 | 64.8 | 60.5 |
| Pavia | 103 | 38.4 | 59.1 | 60.1 |
| Turin | 70 | 37.4 | 59.5 | 59.1 |
| Padova | 75 | 38.7 | 63.2 | 58.6 |
| Federico II | 25 | 45.2 | 61.4 | 58.3 |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 19 | 38.7 | 61.8 | 56.7 |
| Parma | 75 | 35.3 | 57.6 | 56.1 |
| Tor Vergata | 60 | 38.5 | 59.5 | 56.0 |
| Bari | 69 | 34.1 | 55.8 | 53.1 |
| Marche (Ancona) | 20 | 35.3 | 56.6 | 52.8 |
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 60 | 35.0 | 57.3 | 52.0 |
| Messina | 55 | 32.8 | 54.6 | 51.3 |
| Cagliari | 80 | — | 54.7 | 50.9 |
| Catania | 0 | 32.4 | 54.8 | — |
| Siena (Dentistry) | 33 | 33.2 | 55.7 | — |
Source: MUR official IMAT EU rankings, final cut-offs, 2023–2025. * denotes an adjusted final figure noted in the source data.
EU rank stability, 2023 → 2025
Ranked 1 (hardest) to 15 (easiest) within each year, using the 15 universities with complete 3-year EU data.
| University | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Max swing | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Statale | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | Rock solid hardest EU school |
| La Sapienza | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | Rock solid always top 2 |
| Bicocca | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 1 | Stable, top tier |
| Bologna | 5 | 3.5 | 4 | 1.5 | Stable, top tier |
| Padova | 6.5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | Fairly stable, upper-mid |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 6.5 | 6 | 9 | 3 | Drifting easier |
| Federico II | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | Falling fast — was top 3 |
| Tor Vergata | 8 | 8.5 | 11 | 3 | Drifting easier |
| Pavia | 9 | 10 | 5 | 5 | Rising fast despite 103 seats |
| Turin | 10 | 8.5 | 6 | 4 | Climbing |
| Parma | 11 | 11 | 10 | 1 | Stable, mid-pack |
| Marche (Ancona) | 11.5 | 13 | 13 | 1.5 | Stable, lower-mid |
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 13 | 12 | 14 | 2 | Stable, lower-mid |
| Bari | 14 | 14 | 12 | 2 | Stable, lower tier |
| Messina | 15 | 15 | 15 | 0 | Perfectly consistent — always easiest |
Milano Statale, La Sapienza, Bicocca, and Bologna have not left the top 5 hardest EU schools in three straight cycles, on two different scoring scales — as close to a guarantee as this data gets. Messina has finished dead last (easiest) three years running, without exception.
Where the outdated advice is hiding
Getting harderPavia
103 EU seats — the second-largest pool in the country — makes it look like a numbers-driven safety choice. It isn't anymore: rank climbed from 9th hardest (2023) to 5th hardest (2025). Don't pick it purely because of the seat count.
Getting easierFederico II
Was a top-3 hardest EU school in 2023. By 2025 it had slipped to 8th — likely because its EU seat allocation nearly doubled (15 → 25) between 2023 and 2024. Its "ultra-competitive" reputation is out of date.
Two more are worth watching: Turin is quietly climbing (10th → 6th hardest), while Tor Vergata and La Sapienza (Dentistry) are quietly loosening (8th → 11th, and 6.5th → 9th) — moving opposite to what their older reputations suggest.
The Latest Shift: EU 2024 → 2025
Zooming into just the most recent cycle: 2025 was an easier EU year almost everywhere. 13 of 15 comparable universities saw their cut-off drop, some by 3–5 points, while only La Sapienza and Pavia ticked up.
At a glance
Who Got Easier, Who Got Harder — EU, 2024 → 2025
Green bars = cut-off dropped (easier) · Red bars = cut-off rose (harder)
| University | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 57.3 | 52.0 | −5.3 |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 61.8 | 56.7 | −5.1 |
| Padova | 63.2 | 58.6 | −4.6 |
| Bologna | 64.8 | 60.5 | −4.3 |
| Cagliari | 54.7 | 50.9 | −3.8 |
| Marche (Ancona) | 56.6 | 52.8 | −3.8 |
| Tor Vergata | 59.5 | 56.0 | −3.5 |
| Messina | 54.6 | 51.3 | −3.3 |
| Federico II | 61.4 | 58.3 | −3.1 |
| Bari | 55.8 | 53.1 | −2.7 |
| Milano Statale | 67.8 | 65.8 | −2.0 |
| Turin | 59.5 | 59.1 | −0.4 |
| Bicocca | 64.8 | 64.8 | 0.0 |
| La Sapienza | 65.1 | 65.8 | +0.7 |
| Pavia | 59.1 | 60.1 | +1.0 |
Bologna's drop lines up with a large EU seat expansion (97 → 130). Most of the others eased with no change in seat count at all — pointing to a softer applicant field overall in 2025, not just more room.
Part 2 — The Non-EU Pool, 2023–2025
This is the part that catches people off guard. Non-EU seat pools are much smaller than EU pools — often 10 to 50 seats instead of 40 to 130 — so a handful of unusually strong or weak applicants in a single cycle can swing a cut-off by ten points or more. Looking at the IMAT cut-off trends 2023-2025 for non-EU seats, the pattern is clear: the EU pool moves like a market, while the non-EU pool moves like individual weather systems.
At a glance
2025 Non-EU Cut-offs — Hardest to Easiest
Red = hardest tier · Green = easiest tier · Teal = mid-pack
Cut-offs, 2023–2025
| University | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Statale / Milan | 60.2 | 75.7 | 72.9 |
| Bologna | 59.1 | 74.5 | 71.1 |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 59.1 | 73.1 | 71.8 |
| La Sapienza (Medicine) | 50.8 | 73.4 | 65.8 |
| Bicocca | 54.2 | 72.6 | 65.1 |
| Pavia | 53.3 | 71.2 | 71.9 |
| Padova | 49.5 | 71.6 | 65.4 |
| Tor Vergata | 53.4 | 60.6 | 69.1 |
| Turin | 49.0 | 70.8 | 67.1 |
| Parma | 50.1 | 59.1 | 67.6 |
| Siena (Dentistry) | 51.3 | 69.3 | 52.0 |
| Federico II | 52.0 | 68.1 | 63.1 |
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 47.3 | 63.2 | 66.2 |
| Bari | 31.2 | 65.8 | 50.9 |
| Messina | 36.9 | 61.4 | 58.2 |
| Marche (Ancona) | 43.0 | 60.3 | 58.2 |
| Cagliari | — | 56.5 | 54.7 |
| Catania | N/A | 57.2 | — |
| Bologna (VetMed) | — | — | 40.6 |
Source: MUR official IMAT non-EU rankings, 2023–2025.
Non-EU rank stability, 2023 → 2025
Ranked 1 (hardest) to 16 (easiest) among the 16 universities with complete 3-year non-EU data.
| University | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Max swing | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milano Statale | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Perfectly consistent — hardest, every year |
| Bologna | 2.5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | Stable, top tier |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 2.5 | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | Stable, top tier |
| Marche (Ancona) | 14 | 15 | 13.5 | 1.5 | Stable, low tier |
| Messina | 15 | 13 | 13.5 | 2 | Stable, low tier |
| Pavia | 6 | 7 | 2 | 4 | Climbing |
| Turin | 12 | 8 | 7 | 5 | Climbing |
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 13 | 12 | 8 | 5 | Climbing |
| Padova | 11 | 6 | 10 | 5 | Volatile |
| Federico II | 7 | 10 | 12 | 5 | Drifting easier |
| Bari | 16 | 11 | 16 | 5 | Wildly volatile |
| La Sapienza (Medicine) | 9 | 3 | 9 | 6 | Volatile — spiked in 2024 |
| Bicocca | 4 | 5 | 11 | 7 | Sharp drop — was top 5 |
| Siena (Dentistry) | 8 | 9 | 15 | 7 | Sharp drop |
| Tor Vergata | 5 | 14 | 5 | 9 | Extremely volatile |
| Parma | 10 | 16 | 6 | 10 | Most volatile in the dataset |
Milano Statale is the only university that is completely predictable in both pools — rank 1 in non-EU, three years straight. Parma and Tor Vergata are essentially unforecastable in the non-EU pool: Parma swung 10 → 16 → 6, Tor Vergata swung 5 → 14 → 5. Neither should get a fixed difficulty label — plan for a wide range, not a single number.
The Latest Shift: Non-EU 2024 → 2025
Unlike the EU pool — which moved almost entirely in one direction — the non-EU pool moved both ways at once in the latest cycle.
At a glance
Who Got Easier, Who Got Harder — Non-EU, 2024 → 2025
Green bars = cut-off dropped (easier) · Red bars = cut-off rose (harder)
| University | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siena (Dentistry) | 69.3 | 52.0 | −17.3 |
| Bari | 65.8 | 50.9 | −14.9 |
| La Sapienza (Medicine) | 73.4 | 65.8 | −7.6 |
| Bicocca | 72.6 | 65.1 | −7.5 |
| Padova | 71.6 | 65.4 | −6.2 |
| Federico II | 68.1 | 63.1 | −5.0 |
| Turin | 70.8 | 67.1 | −3.7 |
| Bologna | 74.5 | 71.1 | −3.4 |
| Messina | 61.4 | 58.2 | −3.2 |
| Milano Statale | 75.7 | 72.9 | −2.8 |
| Marche (Ancona) | 60.3 | 58.2 | −2.1 |
| La Sapienza (Dentistry) | 73.1 | 71.8 | −1.3 |
| Pavia | 71.2 | 71.9 | +0.7 |
| Luigi Vanvitelli | 63.2 | 66.2 | +3.0 |
| Parma | 59.1 | 67.6 | +8.5 |
| Tor Vergata | 60.6 | 69.1 | +8.5 |
Most non-EU cut-offs eased, some sharply. But Parma and Tor Vergata both got noticeably harder, by the same +8.5 points. The non-EU pool doesn't move as one market the way the EU pool seems to — it moves school by school, driven by much smaller and far less correlated applicant pools.
Want the low-threshold-specific breakdown?
If your score sits in the 50–65 range, we have a dedicated guide to the most accessible universities and a score-to-strategy framework.
IMAT Cut-Off Trends 2023-2025: EU vs Non-EU, Which Pool Can You Trust
Comparing the two rank-volatility tables side by side gives a clear headline: non-EU cut-offs are structurally less predictable than EU cut-offs.
EU pool
~2.7
average max rank-swing over 3 years. Only Federico II and Pavia broke 4.
Non-EU pool
~5.4
average max rank-swing — roughly double. Six universities swung 5+ ranks.
This makes structural sense: non-EU seat counts are much smaller (often 10–50 vs 40–130 for EU), so a handful of unusually strong or weak applicants in a given cycle can swing the cut-off dramatically. EU cut-off predictions can reasonably be trusted a year out for most universities. Non-EU cut-off predictions cannot — and any non-EU guidance should say so explicitly rather than implying the same confidence level as EU guidance.
At a glance
Rank Swing, University by University (2023–2025)
How many rank positions each university moved across three years — bigger bar = less predictable
💡 The clearest single fact in the dataset
Milano Statale is the only university with zero rank movement across all three non-EU cycles — rank 1, every year — and it has stayed in the top 1.5 hardest EU spots the whole time too. If you make one absolute claim about IMAT difficulty, make it this one.
IMAT Cut-Off Trends 2023-2025: The Bottom Line, University by University
EU pool — claims you can trust
- • Hardest, consistently Milano Statale, La Sapienza, Bicocca, Bologna
- • Easiest, consistently Messina, Bari, Luigi Vanvitelli, Marche (Ancona)
- • Outdated framing to fix Federico II (no longer elite-tier), Pavia (no longer a high-probability seat-count play)
Non-EU pool — claims you can trust
- • Hardest, consistently Milano Statale — the only school with zero rank movement across all three years
- • Stable and lower tier Marche (Ancona), Messina
- • Do not assign a fixed label Parma, Tor Vergata, Bari — all three have shown 5+ rank swings in three years and should be presented with a range, not a point estimate
🎯 For your preference list
Anchor your EU planning on the stable tiers above — three years of data back both the reach group and the safety group. For non-EU, treat every cut-off as the middle of a range rather than a target: use the higher of the last two years as your benchmark and add a buffer, especially for Parma, Tor Vergata, and Bari.
Frequently Asked Questions
The IMAT scoring scale changed between the 2023 and 2024 cycles — every university's cut-off jumped 15 to 25 points, in both the EU and non-EU pools, which is too uniform to be a real shift in applicant strength. That's why, when you read the IMAT cut-off trends 2023-2025, we compare each university's rank instead of its raw score to get an accurate 3-year picture.
Milano Statale, La Sapienza, Bicocca, and Bologna have held the top four hardest EU spots for three straight cycles. Messina has been the easiest EU school for three straight cycles, with zero rank movement.
Yes. Across the three cycles tracked, non-EU cut-offs swung roughly twice as much as EU cut-offs on average, because non-EU seat pools are much smaller and more sensitive to a single cycle's applicant pool.
Not anymore. Despite having 103 EU seats, Pavia's competitive rank has climbed from 9th hardest in 2023 to 5th hardest in 2025. Seat count alone is no longer a reliable indicator of difficulty for this university.
Milano Statale. It is the only university in the entire dataset with zero rank movement across all three years in the non-EU pool, and it has stayed in the top 1.5 hardest spots in the EU pool every year as well.
Want the full breakdown for a single year?
Each cycle has its own dedicated page with the complete official results, university by university.