IMAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Complete Breakdown and Insights

The IMAT 2025 exam was held on September 17th at 11:00 AM (Italian time), across Italy and 17 international locations. By September 9th, more than 13,000 students had registered to take the test. In this blog, we provide a detailed analysis of the IMAT 2025 exam, examining each section and comparing the results with trends from previous years. Please note that we will not be predicting thresholds or possible scores.

IMAT Thresholds

Predicting the IMAT threshold requires specific data, including:

• The exact number of candidates who actually sat the exam at each university, separated into EU and non-EUcategories.
• The individual performance of each candidate.

Since this information is not available before the official results are released, an accurate prediction of thresholds is impossible. However, based on the registration numbers (13,835 candidates-click to read more here), the increase in available seats for both EU and non-EU students, and the fact that the exam was slightly harder overall, identifying a clear pattern is challenging.

In general, thresholds for most universities are expected to decrease, though the exact margin is uncertain. For the competitive universities, thresholds may remain stable or shift only slightly.

Logical reasoning, problem solving and general knowledge

The first nine questions of the paper test candidates’ reading comprehension, general knowledge, logical reasoning, and basic problem-solving. Overall, this section of the 2025 IMAT is of easy to medium difficulty, with most questions being straightforward if approached calmly and without overthinking.

Q1, Q2, and Q4 are designed to assess reading comprehension and the ability to interpret written texts. Q3 is the only question that relies purely on prior knowledge rather than reasoning from the text. Students unfamiliar with this cultural or historical reference would likely find it unanswerable.

Q5 and Q6 test formal logic and deductive reasoning. Both are straightforward, but may become tricky if students overthink under exam stress, which is very common.

Q7 (seating arrangement) and Q8 (constraint-based placement of colored pills in boxes) are classical logic puzzles. They require clear visualization or elimination strategies but remain within the standard puzzle difficulty range.

Q9 requires a simple time calculation using an analog clock.

Compared to 2024, the 2025 paper’s logic and comprehension section is noticeably more accessible, with fewer traps and less ambiguity.

Biology

The IMAT 2025 exam featured 23 biology questions, distributed as follows:

• 7 questions on cellular respiration
• 2 questions on human tissues (one combined with lipid molecules)
• 3 questions on muscle tissue
• 1 question on the respiratory system
• 2 questions on enzymes
• 1 question on the digestive system
• 1 question on human metabolism
• 2 questions on cell organelles
• 1 question on the cell membrane
• 1 question on chemical reactions
• 1 question on bones
• 1 question on the endocrine system

Compared to previous years, the biology section in IMAT 2025 was more difficult than IMAT 2024, but slightly easier than IMAT 2023. This shift is likely due to the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) now being responsible for writing the exam questions.

Unlike earlier editions, the 2025 exam focused less on simple definitions and more on deeper conceptual understanding, with a greater emphasis on human physiology. One notable trend was the heavy weight given to cellular respiration, which made up about 30% of the biology section.

Overall, the questions were not overly difficult or unanswerable; however, success depended on a solid understanding of the concepts and wide syllabus coverage. For IMAT 2026 candidates, this underlines the need to prepare the entire syllabus thoroughly, since selective studying may result in critical gaps. Students with an average knowledge level could reasonably aim to answer 18–20 biology questions.

Chemistry

The IMAT 2025 exam included 15 chemistry questions, distributed as follows:

• 1 question on the ideal gas law
• 2 on oxidation
• 2 on chemical bonding
• 1 on the periodic table
• 1 on atomic structure
• 2 on acids and bases
• 1 on chemical equilibrium
• 1 on chemical reactions
• 2 on organic molecules
• 1 on organic chemistry

Compared to previous years, the difficulty of the chemistry section in IMAT 2025 was similar to IMAT 2024 and IMAT 2023. However, unlike 2024, this year’s exam contained fewer problem-solving questions and focused more on basic definitions. The questions were generally straightforward and less challenging than those in the biology section. Strong conceptual understanding was sufficient to handle most of them.

The section also showed greater topic variety, without heavy emphasis on a single area. This indicates that covering the entire syllabus remains important, but missing a few topics would not drastically reduce a candidate’s score.

A notable surprise was the inclusion of two questions on organic molecules, which could also fall under biology. These were categorized within the chemistry portion but aligned closely with the cell biology syllabus.

In summary, the chemistry section required only an average level of knowledge to answer most questions successfully, making it less demanding compared to biology in IMAT 2025. Students with an average knowledge level could reasonably aim to answer 11-13 chemistry questions.

Physics

A total of 6 questions were included in Physics (Q55–Q60). They covered the following topics:

• Kinematics & Dynamics – 2 Questions
  • Uniform rectilinear motion & relative velocity – 1 Question (Q55)
  • Newton’s laws of motion with friction & acceleration – 1 Question (Q59)
• Electricity & Magnetism – 2 Questions
  • Equivalent resistance in circuits – 1 Question (Q56)
  • Current direction and charge carriers in conductors – 1 Question (Q57)
• Gravitation – 1 Question
  • Variation of gravitational acceleration with distance – 1 Question (Q58)
• Fluid Mechanics – 1 Question
  • Hydrostatic pressure forces – 1 Question (Q60)

The physics section was moderate. Formula-based questions, such as Q56, Q58, and Q59, were present. Unlike in 2024, where formula questions were brief two-liners, in 2025, they were longer and required a solid understanding of the scenario rather than direct formula substitution.

Conceptual questions such as Q57 and Q60 required understanding of physical principles, but they were quite easy to solve, testing only basic concepts of physics without going very deep into theory.

Q55 (relative velocity problem with overtaking) tested both unit conversion and careful time-distance reasoning, making it slightly trickier.

Comparison with IMAT 2024

• Same number of Physics questions: 6 in both 2024 and 2025.
• Topic distribution shifted:
  • 2024 featured thermodynamics, SHM, and oscillations – none of which appeared in 2025.
  • 2025 emphasised gravitational fields and fluid mechanics, which were missing in 2024.
• Electromagnetism remains consistent across the years.

This shows IMAT’s tendency to rotate topics, keeping students alert.

Accessibility

• Direct formula questions (Q56, Q58, Q59): Solvable but required a solid grasp of the underlying concepts before applying the formulas.
• Conceptual reasoning (Q57, Q60): easily solvable in under 1 minute but challenging for students who rely only on memorised formulas.
• Relative velocity (Q55): manageable with proper unit conversion but time-consuming under exam pressure.

Scoring

• Students with strong foundations in Physics could comfortably secure 4–5 correct answers out of 6.
• Even weaker students could still attempt 2–3 questions.
• The diversity of questions ensured that both formula-memorisers and conceptual thinkers had opportunities to score.

Mathemathics

A total of 7 questions were included in Mathematics (Q48–Q54). They came from the following topics:

• Algebra & Inequalities – 4 Questions
  • Inequality with square root (Q48)
  • Trigonometric inequality (Q49)
  • Polynomial identities (Q51)
  • Linear equations (Q53, Q54)
• Set Theory – 1 Question
  • Cartesian product of sets (Q50)
• Geometry – 1 Question
  • Rectangle with perimeter & ratio of sides (Q52)
• Trigonometry is indirectly present in Q49.

Difficulty Level

• The maths section was moderate to difficult.
  • Some questions (Q50, Q51, Q53, Q54) were fairly direct and approachable, but they still required prior knowledge of the topics — without having studied them (like the new set theory question), they would not be solvable.
  • Inequalities (Q48, Q49) were much trickier, requiring multiple steps and deeper conceptual clarity.
  • Geometry (Q52) also demanded careful work with ratios and perimeter formulas, not a one-line calculation.

Comparison with IMAT 2024

• Both 2024 and 2025 had 7 Mathematics questions.
• Shift in topic distribution:
  • Probability, which appeared in both 2023 and 2024, was missing in 2025.
  • Set Theory (Q50) appeared for the first time. No question had ever been asked in this area previously.
  • Powers and Exponents, one of the most consistent IMAT topics (appearing almost every year in the exam’s history, from Cambridge’s time to MUR’s current format), was absent in 2025. This is a significant shift and quite shocking given how high-yielding this topic has always been.
  • Inequalities appeared in both years (Q51 in 2024 vs Q48, Q49 in 2025); however, the kind of inequality questions in 2025 were very different from the past.
  • Geometry remained a strong focus: circle theorem in 2024, rectangle ratios in 2025.

Accessibility

• Easy questions: Q50, Q51, Q53, Q54, solvable in 1 minute.
• Geometry (Q52): required systematic algebra but still approachable.
• Moderately challenging: Q48 and Q49 (inequalities), required a solid understanding of the topic.

Scoring

• Strong students: 5 – 6 correct out of 7.
• Average students: at least 2–3 correct.
• Trigonometric inequality (Q49) might have been the biggest trap for weaker students.