IMAT 2025 Paper with Answers and Analysis

The IMAT rankings are out on the 13th of October 2025. We will be posting regular updates here to keep you informed on everything. EU candidates have the benefit of participating in multiple rounds of enrolment. Non-EU, unfortunately, generally only participate in one round.  IMAT 2025 EU Cut-Offs We will update this webpage as the … Continue reading

How Many Students Took the IMAT 2025

A larger number of students than usual registered for the IMAT this year (over 13,000). We should, however, note that the final number can be impacted downwards by those who failed to make it on time, were denied entry or had their exams invalidated due to breaking the rules.

While it remains to be seen how many students actually managed to sit the test successfully, we can assume that the number of students has increased compared to 2025.

Does this mean that cut-offs will increase? Not necessarily.

 

How Many Seats are Available for Medicine in 2025

Overall, there were 1049 EU seats and 553 non-EU seats in medicine in Italy for 2025, which also includes seats for dentistry and veterinary medicine. Tor Vergata also announced an additional 150 non-EU seats for medicine in a new campus in Tirana Albania.

Overall, this is an increase in total seat numbers compared to last year.

 

Was the IMAT 2025 Hard?

In our opinion, the IMAT 2025 was, overall, more difficult than the 2024 IMAT, particularly in the biology section. This is important given that the 2024 paper saw a massive spike in cut-offs as compared to previous years.

It should be noted that the IMAT 2025 was still more straightforward than the Cambridge era tests.

 

IMAT 2025 Reading Skills and Knowledge Acquired During Studies Analysis (4 Questions)

This section comprised 4 questions, 3 of which went to reading skills and 1 went to general knowledge. This goes against the previous 2 years trend where general knowledge was the bulk of this section.

The reading skills questions (Q1, Q2 and Q4) were fairly straightforward, relying on text analysis as opposed to knowledge of grammar theory. There was a lot of focus on medical-related text topics, something we focused on in our reading skills practice questions.

The general knowledge question (Q3) was very specific and can be considered a difficult question.

 

IMAT 2025 Logical Reasoning Analysis (5 Questions)

Q5 and Q6 were both similar to typical logical deduction questions, while Q7 and Q8 were fairly straightforward logical reasoning questions. The last question of this section could be solved by applying a graphical understanding of an analogue clock.

Overall, these questions were far more basic than those of the Cambridge era. There were also no Critical Thinking questions, which follows the trend set by last year’s paper.

 

IMAT 2025 Biology Analysis (23 Questions)

The IMAT 2025 Biology section was the most interesting development as compared to 2024. Luckily, the section was more difficult. Why do we say that it is a good thing? Because in 2024, the questions were so basic that it made it impossible to distinguish materially between well-prepared students and underprepared students. This was the cause of the massive spike in cutoffs for 2024.

We previously warned students not to assume that 2025 was going to be as easy as 2024, nor to assume that the topics would be free from anatomy and physiology. The 2025 paper question types affirm this warning.

The question allocations were as follows:

• 7 questions on cellular respiration (Q10, Q11, Q12, Q13, Q14, Q22, Q23)
• 3 questions on muscles (Q16, Q17, Q24)
• 2 questions on enzymes (Q20, Q21)
• 2 questions on eukaryotic cells (Q27, Q28)
• 2 questions on biological reactions (Q19, Q30)
• 1 question on cell membranes (Q29)
• 1 question on histology (Q15)
• 1 question on gas transport in the blood (Q18)
• 1 question on bones (Q31)
• 1 question on hormones (Q32)
• 1 question on biological molecules (Q26)
• 1 question on the liver (Q25)

Overall, the IMAT featured mostly questions from the topics that our course emphasises as having a higher yield. This was clearly shown in their overwhelming focus on cellular respiration. Unlike the Cambridge era, the IMAT writers have now taken the liberty to focus heavily on one or two topics. This shows the importance of understanding the most important topics of biology, as they can be the bulk of the section.

Overall, the questions were written in a straightforward manner but were more difficult than those in 2024.

For 2026 candidates, this shows the importance of focusing heavily on the most important topics of biology, as they clearly dominate the question allocations. It also shows that the less important topics can still feature and are thus worth doing, unless one is very short on time.

 

IMAT 2025 Chemistry Analysis (15 Questions)

The chemistry section for 2025 was similar in difficulty to 2024, but the types of questions were far less practical and mathematical in nature. Instead, the focus lay on chemistry theory.

The question allocations were as follows:

• 2 questions on redox reactions (Q34 and Q35)
• 2 questions on chemical bonds (Q36 and Q38)
• 2 questions on acids and bases (Q39 and Q40)
• 2 questions on biological molecules (Q44 and Q47)
• 1 question on the periodic table (Q37)
• 1 question on gas laws (Q33)
• 1 question on chemical equilibrium (Q41)
• 1 question on aromatic compounds (Q43)
• 1 question on kinetics (Q42)
• 1 question on inorganic nomenclature (Q45)
• 1 question on atomic structure (Q46)

Overall, the chemistry section focused heavily on the more high-yield topics as defined by our course. Less usually assessed topics, such as aromatic compounds, did make a feature, but the bulk was in the typically essential topics.

While not as extreme as the biology section, the IMAT writers seem to select certain topics that they like to ask about more than once, as opposed to asking just one question on a certain topic. This creates dangers for students who do not dedicate enough time to individual topics.

 

IMAT 2025 Math Analysis (7 questions)

The math section was a bit more challenging. The question allocation was as follows:

• 2 questions on standard algebra (Q53 and Q54)
• 1 question on square root inequalities (Q48)
• 1 question on trigonometric inequalities (Q49)
• 1 question on set theory (Q50)
• 1 question on polynomials (Q51)
• 1 question on geometry (Q52)

Overall, these questions often required more in-depth knowledge than just the basics. Typical favourites like exponents, logs and probability were absent in 2025, while rare topics like set theory showed up.

 

IMAT 2025 Physics Analysis (6 questions)

The physics section was average in difficulty. The question allocations were as follows:

• 2 questions on electricity (Q56 and Q57)
• 1 question on kinematics (Q55)
• 1 question on Newton’s laws and friction (Q59)
• 1 question on gravitation (Q58)
• 1 question on fluid mechanics (Q60)

While the mathematical formula-based questions required a bit more knowledge than simply remembering the formula and plugging in variables, they were not overwhelmingly difficult. The theory questions were mostly moderate as well. Electricity has always been a favourite of the IMAT writers. Strangely, no thermodynamics questions featured at all this year

 

IMAT 2025 Cut-Off Predictions

Cut-offs are impacted by multiple variables. If we compare 2025 to 2024, we can say the following:

• Things that put upward pressure on cut-offs include the fact that there were more students applying for the IMAT this year than before
• Factors that put downward pressure on cut-offs include a more difficult exam compared to 2024. There is also the fact that there are more seats in 2025 as compared to 2024
• Then there are more ambiguous factors that we don’t know. This includes how well prepared students on average were this year compared to the previous year. For non-EUs, the number of students who applied (and successfully sat the test) at each university is also relevant.

Students always ask us to predict what the cut-offs will be after the IMAT is released. The truth is that no one can predict any meaningfully accurate cut-offs prior to the release of the rankings.

 

Important Lessons for the IMAT 2026

Reading Skills and Knowledge Acquired During Studies

• Passage comprehension can comprise a decent number of marks. It is not worth skipping
• General knowledge can be very hard to study for effectively, especially if there are not many questions and they are very specific

Logical Reasoning

• Critical Thinking has been missing for 2 years in a row, and thus, its importance is low. However, the skills developed in this subsection can still be beneficial for the Reading Skills section

Biology

• High-yield topics can dominate the entire section. In 2024, this topic was the central dogma of biology; in 2025, it was cellular respiration
• The 2024 trend of easy questions and no anatomy topics is not permanent!
• The new IMAT writers seem to prefer straightforwardly worded questions as opposed to the long, complex questions seen during the Cambridge era.

Chemistry

• In 2024, stoichiometry and calculations dominated. In 2025, theory dominated. It is important to have a wide understanding of chemistry

 

Overall

• The IMAT is growing in popularity. More students are applying
• The IMAT is less predictable than during the Cambridge era
• The IMAT writers can heavily focus on certain topics
• Questions are written in a more straightforward way compared to the Cambridge era

 

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