The IMAT EU Scrolling System Understanding the scrolling process
How the EU scrolling system works after the IMAT 2026 national ranking: what assigned, booked and waiting mean, the 4-day enrolment rule, when to confirm your interest, and how each university's non-EU ranking list works.
the 30-second version
- Assigned? Enrol within 4 days, counting the publication day and excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Booked or waiting? Confirm your interest by 12:00 noon (Italian time) on the fifth counted day of every round.
- Non-EU, living abroad? You are not in the national ranking: follow your university's own list and deadlines.
Results day: the national ranking and each university's non-EU ranking list
On 26 October 2026, the national merit rankings for EU candidates and non-EU candidates with EU-equivalent status (one for Medicine and Dentistry, one for Veterinary Medicine) are published in each candidate's reserved area on Universitaly. This marks the start of the scrolling process: in each round, the ranking changes as candidates enrol, give up their place or drop out of the process. Here, non-EU candidates with EU-equivalent status means candidates eligible under Article 39(5) of Legislative Decree No. 286/1998. Living in Italy alone does not establish eligibility for this category; check your classification in your university's admission notice.
Next to your name you will see your score, your position in the ranking and one of three statuses – assigned, booked or waiting – and, where applicable, the university where you are assigned or booked. You may also see other statuses, such as enrolled, renounced or places exhausted (POSTI ESAURITI). Because places are filled through scrolling, your status can change after every round as places free up.
Non-EU candidates living abroad are not part of the national ranking. Each of them competes only in the local ranking of the one university where they submitted their pre-enrolment application, and each university draws up and publishes its own non-EU ranking. Candidates are ranked by score, so the cut-off at each university depends on how many non-EU places it has, how many candidates applied there and how they scored. The 20-point minimum applies to EU candidates and non-EU candidates with EU-equivalent status. It does not apply to non-EU candidates living abroad: they are eligible with any score above zero, although they are not ranked if they answered no questions at all.
EU scrolling system vs non-EU ranking list at a glance
| EU scrolling system | Non-EU ranking list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | EU candidates and non-EU candidates with EU-equivalent status (Article 39(5), Legislative Decree No. 286/1998) | Non-EU candidates living abroad |
| Ranking | One national merit ranking on Universitaly (one for Medicine and Dentistry, one for Veterinary Medicine) | A local ranking at the one university where you pre-enrolled |
| Minimum score | 20 points | Any score above zero (not ranked if no questions were answered) |
| Where you can be placed | Any university on your preference list | Only the university you applied to |
| How places move | National scrolling rounds, roughly once a week | The university's own non-EU scrolling rounds, if it runs them |
| Where to check | Your Universitaly reserved area | Your university's notice, emails and published lists |
Summary of the rules explained in this article. Your university's admission notice always has the final word.
How non-EU admission works
Each university runs its own non-EU enrolment procedure, with its own steps and deadlines. Depending on the university, admitted candidates may receive an email from the admissions office, or the university may simply publish the list of admitted candidates with instructions. The procedure usually involves completing an online enrolment form and paying the required fees or first tuition instalment by a fixed deadline. Deadlines differ from one university to another and can be short, so read your university's notice carefully and follow it exactly. Missing the deadline generally means losing your place.
If an admitted candidate does not enrol within the deadline or gives up their place, vacant places may be offered to eligible candidates further down the university's ranking, following its published procedures and deadlines. Some universities run several of these non-EU scrolling rounds. Because non-EU candidates living abroad apply to a single university, the preference-list system explained below does not apply to them.
EU scrolling process (EU candidates and non-EU candidates with EU-equivalent status)
Places are assigned through a scrolling process that repeats in rounds, roughly once a week. The ranking moves as candidates enrol or drop out. The system always tries to move each candidate as high as possible on their own preference list. Scrolling follows the official timetable until the ranking procedure closes.
Your status in the EU scrolling system
- AssignedEnrol within 4 days
- BookedEnrol, or wait and confirm
- WaitingIN ATTESAConfirm interest every round
- EnrolledDone
- Places exhaustedPOSTI ESAURITINo confirmation needed
- RenouncedOut of the ranking
Assigned
Enrol within 4 daysThis status means you have been offered the best place you can get on your preference list – your first available preference. This may be your first choice, or a lower choice if higher preferences are no longer attainable. If you are assigned, you must enrol at that university within 4 days, counting the day the ranking or scrolling update is published and excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. You cannot turn down an assigned place to wait for a different university. Once you enrol, your status changes to enrolled. If you do not enrol within the deadline – whether by mistake or on purpose – you lose the place and are removed from the ranking, and the reason for the delay is not taken into account.
Booked
Enrol, or wait and confirmread this one twiceThis status means there is no place for you yet at the universities you ranked above this one, but this university has a place for you. While you are booked, you can only move up to one of your higher choices; you cannot move down to a lower choice on your list.
Booked candidates can either:
- AEnrol at that university within the same 4-day deadline, or
- BWait and see whether a place opens up at one of your higher choices.
If you decide to wait, you must confirm your interest in staying in the ranking after every round. If your higher preferences are no longer attainable, your booked place becomes assigned, and you must then enrol there. If a place becomes available at a higher preference and your ranking position allows it, you may become booked or assigned there. Follow the status shown on Universitaly: assigned candidates must enrol; booked candidates may enrol or continue waiting.
If you do not confirm your interest in time, you are excluded from all later rounds and lose any right to enrol – including your booked place. The reason for missing the confirmation is not taken into account, although someone you trust can do the confirmation on your behalf. Provided you confirm your interest on time and remain eligible, you retain a place while booked. If you move to a higher preference, that new placement replaces your previous booking; you do not keep the earlier place as a backup.
Waiting
IN ATTESAConfirm interest every roundThere is currently no place for you at any of the universities on your preference list. If Universitaly shows IN ATTESA, you have not been offered a place in that round. You may still obtain one through later scrolling, provided you remain eligible and confirm your interest by each deadline. (Candidates below the 20-point eligibility threshold are not included in the national ranking at all, so they are not waiting candidates.) If you do not confirm your interest in time, you are excluded from all later rounds.
Enrolled
DoneYou are now enrolled and are officially registered in the specified degree course.
Places exhausted
POSTI ESAURITINo confirmation neededNo places are left at any of the universities you chose, because candidates ranked above you have taken them. Candidates with this status are not required to confirm their interest.
Renounced
Out of the rankingThe candidate gave up the place offered – for example, by not enrolling within the deadline after being assigned. They will no longer be considered for any further assignment. Withdrawals by enrolled students only free a place for scrolling while places on that course at that university are still available; withdrawals reported after all places have been filled do not trigger new national scrolling rounds.
How each round of the EU scrolling system works
Check Universitaly for your national ranking status and confirmation of interest. Complete enrolment through the university's own procedure: complete all required enrolment steps, documents and payments by your university's stated deadline, including its closing time. Do not assume the deadline is midnight.
After each round, by 12:00 noon (Italian time) on the fifth day (counting the day the round is published and excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays), each university reports its newly enrolled students to CINECA. By the same deadline, every candidate still in the ranking – everyone except those who have enrolled, have given up their place, or have the status “places exhausted” – must confirm their interest in staying in the ranking. CINECA then publishes the next round. The initial ranking is published on 26 October 2026 and the first scrolling update on 3 November 2026; later updates follow the same rules and timetable.
EU scrolling system deadlines
- Assigned candidates – and booked candidates who choose to enrol – must enrol within 4 days, counting the publication day and excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- All other candidates still in the ranking (booked and waiting) must confirm their interest by 12:00 noon (Italian time) on the fifth counted day of each round, including publication day and excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Initial ranking
Published Monday 26 October 2026
Enrol byThursday 29 Octoberat your university's stated closing timeConfirm interest byFriday 30 October12:00 noon Italian timeInitial ranking (published Monday 26 October 2026): enrol by Thursday 29 October, at your university's stated closing time; confirm interest by Friday 30 October, 12:00 noon Italian time.
- First scrolling update
Published Tuesday 3 November 2026
Enrol byFriday 6 Novemberat your university's stated closing timeConfirm interest byMonday 9 November12:00 noon Italian timeFirst scrolling update (published Tuesday 3 November 2026): enrol by Friday 6 November, at your university's stated closing time; confirm interest by Monday 9 November, 12:00 noon Italian time.
Always double-check the exact deadlines shown in your Universitaly reserved area.
Case scenario
The scrolling process can be confusing, so here is how it works in practice.
Imagine you listed your universities in this order: A, B, C, D, E.
Suppose Universitaly shows you as PRENOTATO (booked) at C, while A and B remain higher preferences that you may still reach through scrolling. While you remain booked at C and confirm your interest, you retain that booking and may move to A or B. You cannot move down to D or E.
Now you have two options:
- 1Enrol at C – this cancels A and B permanently, or
- 2Wait and see if places open later at A or B in the next rounds.
If you wait and a place becomes available at B (or A) that your ranking position allows, you may become booked or assigned there. Follow the status shown on Universitaly: if you are assigned, you must enrol; if you are booked, you may enrol or continue waiting.
If Universitaly subsequently changes your status at C to ASSEGNATO (assigned), you must enrol there by the deadline to retain the place.
If you wait but forget to confirm your interest in any round, you are excluded from the ranking and lose your place at C as well.
Your preference list
- 1University A
- 2University B
- 3University C
- 4University D
- 5University E
This is why your ranking order should reflect your real preferences, not what you think the cut-offs might be. The system always pushes you as high as possible in your list, so be honest with yourself about where you'd actually want to study.
For example, imagine you actually prefer University B, but you list University A first just because its usual cut-off is higher. After the IMAT, you score well enough to be assigned to University A. At that point, you can't change your choices – you must enrol at A to accept that assigned place, even though you liked B more.
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