Overview

The University of Pavia opens one English-taught, single-cycle Master's degree programme — Italy's equivalent of an integrated MD — to candidates who sit the Pavia IMAT 2026 admission test, governed by Ministerial Decree No. 1005 of 6 August 2026. The bando di ammissione for A.Y. 2026/2027, digitally signed by the Rettore, Prof. Alessandro Reali, covers:

• Medicine and Surgery (Classe LM-41), Pavia seat, in lingua inglese — a 6-year, 360-CFU single-cycle Master's

This guide walks through what the bando actually says about the Pavia IMAT 2026 process: who can apply, exactly what's due and when, how the test and rankings work, and what happens after a candidate wins a seat. It's a summary of a long, dense legal document — read the official bando PDF in full, or cross-check anything decision-critical against Pavia's own Medicine and Surgery admissions page before you act on it. For how this fits the national picture, see the IMAT 2026 hub.

Seats available

The Pavia IMAT 2026 admission call runs under Italy's numero programmato (capped-place) system, taught entirely in English. 143 places are available for 2026/2027, split across three candidate categories:

*If there are no suitable candidates, unused Marco Polo places roll into the non-EU-abroad pool, and any places still unused there roll into the EU/non-EU-resident-in-Italy pool. Citizens of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and San Marino are treated as EU citizens for this purpose.

Choosing Pavia as a first preference locks in the test location for candidates sitting the test in Italy — candidates must sit the test wherever their first choice is, with no exceptions. The test can also be sat at one of a set of foreign venues, including Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the UAE (Dubai), the UK and the USA, among others. For how Pavia's seat count compares elsewhere, see Locomotive's full list of IMAT universities in Italy.

Who's eligible

Admission requires an upper-secondary school diploma, or a foreign qualification recognised as equivalent (subject to a mandatory eligibility check before enrolment — without a positive outcome, an admitted candidate cannot be enrolled), plus passing the admission test.

EU and non-EU candidates residing in Italy

Ranked on a single national merit list, ordered by score and taking into account each university's available places and the preferences expressed at registration.

Non-EU candidates residing abroad

Ranked on a separate, university-specific merit list for Pavia, ordered purely by score. Unlike some other Italian universities, Pavia does not require a separate local-portal application for this ranking — candidates compete through the same Universitaly registration, choosing Pavia among their preferences. Non-EU candidates who additionally need an Italian entry visa follow the extra steps in the "How to apply" section below.

The full Pavia IMAT 2026 deadline calendar

This is the single most important table on this page. Missing the registration window or the enrolment window after a ranking round permanently forfeits a place — the bando allows no exceptions for delay.

All deadlines run on Italian time (GMT+2). The 4-day enrolment window and the 5-day confirmation-of-interest window for the EU/Italy-resident contingent both exclude Saturdays and public holidays, per the bando.

How to apply, by candidate category

Registration runs entirely through Universitaly, the Ministry's national platform — the same mechanics used for every Italian university offering the IMAT (see the IMAT 2026 hub for the general process). Pavia's bando adds the following category-specific steps.

All candidates, at registration

1. Register and pay the test contribution on Universitaly by 9 September 2026, 15:00 (GMT+2).
2. Indicate, in order of preference, the university sites you're competing for — irrevocable after that same deadline.
3. If testing in Italy, your first preference automatically becomes your mandatory test site — no exceptions.
4. Optionally declare any recognised language certification held (relevant for tie-breaks).

Non-EU candidates residing abroad who need a visa

1. Submit the study-visa application via Universitaly by 31 August 2026, and obtain validation from the university.
2. After validation, attend the Italian Diplomatic-Consular Representation in your country of residence to complete the visa process.
3. Only if sitting the test in Pavia: also apply for pre-evaluation of your qualification via apply.unipv.eu between 26 August (00:00) and 9 September 2026 (23:59), attaching the original diploma, a Dichiarazione di Valore / CIMEA Attestato / ARDI Attestato, and any required academic aptitude certificate, plus a non-refundable €35 application fee.
4. Candidates sitting the IMAT at a foreign venue skip that apply.unipv.eu step and go straight to standard Universitaly registration.
5. Register for the test as described above.

After being assigned or booked a place (EU / non-EU resident in Italy)

1. Not yet enrolled at Pavia: register on the Pavia student portal for login credentials, complete the "Abilitazione candidati ammessi" step in the reserved area (Segreteria > Test di Ammissione), then finalise enrolment and pay fees per the official enrolment instructions.
2. Already enrolled in another Pavia programme: submit a "passaggio di corso" (course-transfer) application instead.
3. Transferring from another university: enrol selecting "incoming transfer" mode and pay the standard fee plus a €16 virtual stamp duty.
4. Foreign qualification holders: in addition to the above, upload the diploma and Dichiarazione di Valore/CIMEA/ARDI documents in the reserved area, and pay a separate €35 evaluation fee for foreign qualifications before enrolment can be finalised. Missing that payment by the enrolment deadline means the place is treated as renounced.

Test day & format

A single test of identical content at every location: 60 multiple-choice questions (five options each, one correct answer), completed in a maximum of 100 minutes:

• Reading skills and knowledge acquired during studies — 4 questions
• Logical reasoning and problems — 5 questions
• Biology — 23 questions
• Chemistry — 15 questions
• Physics and mathematics — 13 questions

At Pavia, the test starts at 13:30. Candidates must bring the registration receipt from universitaly.it and a valid ID; non-EU candidates residing abroad must present their passport with entry visa or residence permit (or the police receipt confirming a permit request). Late arrivals may be admitted only if the commission judges there's time left for identification, seat assignment and instructions before the test starts — no admission once the test has begun.

Only the black pen supplied by the commission may be used to fill in the answer form — personal pens, pencils, stationery or other writing implements are not allowed in the room. Strictly forbidden during the test (grounds for exam annulment): phones, smartwatches, tablets, palmtops, earphones, webcams and similar devices; textbooks, manuals, printed or handwritten notes, or any consultation material; bags or backpacks; and any communication, copying or exchange of material between candidates.

Full conduct rules, answer-sheet marking instructions and grounds for exam annulment are set out in Section 7 of the official bando — see also Locomotive's IMAT 2026 hub for the general national format.

Scoring, minimum eligibility & OFA

Out of a maximum 90 points:

• +1.5 points per correct answer
• −0.4 points per incorrect answer
• 0 points for a question left unanswered

EU candidates and non-EU candidates resident in Italy need a minimum of 20 points to appear on the national ranking list; candidates below that threshold are not ranked at all. Non-EU candidates resident abroad only need a score above 0 — they're excluded only if they answer no questions at all.

In the event of a tie, subject scores decide first, in this order: biology, then chemistry, then physics and mathematics, then logical reasoning and problems, then reading skills and general knowledge. If still tied, preference goes to candidates holding a recognised language certification, then to candidates with a certified invalidity of 66% or more (or a Law 104/1992 art. 3, comma 3 disability certification, submitted within 15 days of assignment), and finally to the younger candidate.

"Assigned" vs "Booked": securing your place

This is the part of the process that catches people out. Once the national ranking is published — and rescrolled as places free up — every eligible EU/Italy-resident candidate holds one of two live statuses:

Every candidate who hasn't enrolled and hasn't renounced must actively confirm interest in staying on the ranking list within 5 working days after each round, or be automatically excluded from further scrolling with no right to enrolment — no individual notifications are sent, so candidates are responsible for checking their own status on Universitaly throughout the process. Non-EU candidates residing abroad instead follow the separate, fixed-date schedule in the deadline calendar above.

Support for candidates with disabilities or DSA

Candidates with disabilities (Law 104/1992) or Specific Learning Disorders / DSA (Law 170/2010) must declare the aids or compensatory measures they need during registration, then send supporting certification via the Filo Diretto service (filodiretto.unipv.it) by 15 September 2026. The bando is explicit that the university does not guarantee the requested accommodations for certification received after that date.

• Law 104/1992 (disability): original or authenticated certification from the competent territorial medical commission, stating the type of invalidity and/or degree of handicap recognised — entitles the candidate to a 150-minute test (vs. the standard 100 minutes).
• Law 170/2010 (DSA): original or authenticated certification from National Health Service (SSN) structures or accredited specialists/facilities, issued no more than 3 years earlier if the candidate was under 18 at the time — entitles the candidate to a 130-minute test.
• Certification issued in a foreign country must be legalised and accompanied by a sworn translation, or certified as conforming to the original by an Italian diplomatic representation in the country of residence, in Italian or English.
• Candidates with outdated medical certification due to SSN service limitations are still admitted to sit the test; the university reserves the right to request updated documentation afterward.

Full requirements are set out in Section 3.2 of the official bando.

Recognised language certificates (tie-break advantage)

Possessing one of the certificates below, self-declared at registration and held by 9 September 2026, gives priority in a tie. These are set nationally in Allegato 3 of D.M. 1005/2026, so the same list applies at every Italian university sitting the IMAT, Pavia included.

Full list, including City & Guilds, Edexcel/Pearson and EDI, is in Allegato 3 of D.M. 1005/2026. Language certification is self-certified per Art. 46 of Presidential Decree No. 445/2000 — false declarations lead to annulment of enrolment and possible criminal and civil consequences.

Foreign qualification holders

Candidates holding a foreign secondary-school qualification must, before enrolment can be finalised, upload the original diploma (or certified copy) — translated into Italian and legalised, or bearing an Apostille stamp, or accompanied by a CIMEA Attestato di Verifica — along with a Dichiarazione di Valore, CIMEA Attestato di Comparabilità, or ARDI Attestato di Corrispondenza, and a certificate of any required academic aptitude test from the country of qualification. No translation is required for diplomas issued in English, Spanish or French.

A separate €35 evaluation fee for foreign qualifications is generated in the candidate's reserved area once the documents are uploaded, and must be paid for the enrolment request to be considered valid; candidates who don't pay by the enrolment deadline are treated as having renounced the place and are excluded from the ranking.

Pavia's bando notes that if full legalisation isn't available at the time of applying, it can be submitted later, "within the deadlines set" — in practice, the standard enrolment window (4 working days after ranking assignment) is the relevant cutoff, since the bando does not publish a separate, later hard date for this documentation.

Being eligible ("idoneo") for admission in this selection round carries no right to enrolment in this course in future academic years — each edition of the call is a self-contained procedure.

Contacts & who's in charge

All official communications go to the email address given at registration — it's the candidate's responsibility to keep it updated and check their status on Universitaly, since no individual notifications are sent. The administrative procedure is led by Dott. Matteo Bonabello, who is also the contact for document-access requests under Italian Law No. 241/1990. The university's admissions offices are closed from 10 to 14 August 2026.

Frequently asked questions