How to Prepare for the IMAT: A 12-Week Plan with Official Past Papers

Good IMAT preparation in 12 weeks means about 150 hours: 120 hours of study split in proportion to the 60 official questions, with biology and chemistry taking 76, and 30 hours of timed past papers and mocks. The 2026 IMAT was held on 29 September 2026, and the 2027 date is not yet published.

In short

• The plan: 12 weeks and about 150 hours, split into 120 hours of section study and 30 hours of timed past papers and mocks. That is 11 to 14.5 hours a week.
• Time by section: 2 study hours for every official question, so biology gets 46 hours, chemistry 30, physics and maths 26, logical reasoning 10 and reading and knowledge 8. We call this the ApplyAZ plan.
• Past papers and mocks: 8 full papers timed at 100 minutes, one diagnostic in week 1 and 7 mocks from week 4, plus timed section sets from the official past papers.
• What it cannot do: no plan promises a score or a place. The university's ranking decides admission, and past cut-offs moved by many points from year to year.
• ApplyAZ: ApplyAZ is an Italy-based consultancy that works only with public universities, with offices in Milan and India. For eligible students from countries like India we take care of university checks, applications, Universitaly pre-enrolment and the visa file, and we help with the DSU scholarship application at the right time and in the right format.

IMAT preparation: key facts

What is the best IMAT preparation plan for 12 weeks?

The best 12-week IMAT preparation plan follows the official question counts. Biology has 23 of the 60 questions and chemistry 15, so together they take 76 of the 120 study hours in our plan. Add 30 hours of timed past papers and mocks, and the total is about 150 hours, or 11 to 14.5 hours a week.

The plan runs in three phases. Weeks 1 to 3 build foundations after a diagnostic paper, and weeks 4 to 8 cover every Allegato A topic with a full mock every second week. Weeks 9 to 12 are revision, weak topics and a mock every week.

Twelve weeks suits a student who already studied biology, chemistry and physics in the last years of school. With gaps in those subjects, the same plan can be stretched to 16 or 20 weeks by repeating the foundation phase.

What does the IMAT test, and how many questions are in each section?

The IMAT has 60 multiple-choice questions with five options each, answered in 100 minutes, under articles 2(2) and 2(4) of Decree 1005. There are 4 questions on reading and knowledge, 5 on logical reasoning, 23 on biology, 15 on chemistry and 13 on physics and mathematics. Every question scores the same 1.5 points.

The topics for each section are listed in Allegato A of Decree 1005. Our IMAT syllabus guide goes through it section by section, and our IMAT exam guide covers the date, scoring, seats and centres.

How much study time does each IMAT section deserve?

In the ApplyAZ plan, each section gets 2 study hours for every official question. Biology gets 46 hours, chemistry 30, physics and mathematics 26, logical reasoning 10 and reading and knowledge 8, for 120 hours in all. A reasoning question is worth 1.5 points, exactly like a biology question, so we weight by question count, not by difficulty.

Questions and points come from articles 2(2) and 3(4) of Decree 1005. The hours and minutes are our own plan, not an official rule. The maximum points assume every answer in a section is correct.

Biology also breaks ties. Under article 3(6)(a), when two candidates in the national ranking have the same total, the higher biology score wins, then chemistry. That is one more reason the plan starts every week with biology.

What does the 12-week IMAT study plan look like week by week?

The 12-week plan gives each week 10 hours of section study plus time for past papers and mocks. Biology gets 3.5 to 4 hours a week, chemistry 2 to 3 and physics and maths 2 to 2.5. Logical reasoning and reading and knowledge get short daily sets, and the weekly total runs from 11 to 14.5 hours.

Topics follow Allegato A. Week 1 counts back from test day: 12 weeks before the 2026 test on 29 September was Tuesday 7 July 2026. We fix the start date once the 2027 decree gives the next test date.

How should you use the official IMAT past papers?

Use the official IMAT past papers as timed tests, not as reading. In our plan, one past paper in week 1 sets your baseline, timed section sets from past papers fill weeks 2, 3, 5 and 7, and the mocks start with the most recent papers. Every wrong answer goes into an error log.

Official past papers are the IMAT papers of earlier years released by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), not course providers' question banks. Older papers can still teach topics, but each year's decree sets that year's format. We use them only where they match the 2026 format of 60 questions in 100 minutes, and topic by topic against Allegato A.

The error log is the real product of each paper. For every mistake, note the section, the topic in Allegato A and why it happened: a gap in knowledge, a misread question or running out of time. The weak-topic weeks, 10 and 11, are built from this log.

When should you take IMAT mock tests, and how many?

Take 8 full papers in 12 weeks: an official past paper in week 1 as a diagnostic, then mocks in weeks 4, 6 and 8 and every week from week 9 to week 12. Each mock runs for exactly 100 minutes with no breaks, and the review afterwards takes about as long again.

The 2026 test started at 13:30 Italian time, and centres abroad adjusted to their local time. Once the next decree gives a start time, mocks 5 to 7 run at that hour in your time zone.

How much time do you have per question on the IMAT?

You have 100 minutes for 60 questions, or 1 minute 40 seconds per question on average, under article 2(4) of Decree 1005. Split in proportion to question counts, that is about 38 minutes for biology, 25 for chemistry, 22 for physics and maths, 8 for reasoning and 7 for reading and knowledge.

Those minutes are the ApplyAZ plan, not official section limits. In mocks, a question that takes more than twice the average goes to a second pass, so easy points later in the paper are not lost.

Is it worth guessing on the IMAT?

A blind guess is not worth it: with five options, it loses 0.02 points on average under the scoring of article 3(4). Once you can rule out one option, a guess gains 0.075 points on average. Ruling out two gains 0.23, so in our mocks you guess only after ruling out at least one option.

These averages are our arithmetic from 1.5 points for a correct answer and minus 0.4 for a wrong one. Mocks 4 to 7 track blanks and wrong answers separately, so you can see whether your guesses help or cost points.

When is the next IMAT, and when should you start preparing?

The next IMAT date is not yet published. The 2026 test was held on 29 September 2026 under a decree dated 6 August 2026, and the 2027 date will come in next year's MUR decree. For a 12-week plan, week 1 starts 12 weeks before the test day that decree sets.

Starting earlier costs nothing. Students who begin months ahead can run the foundation weeks slowly, then start the 12-week plan on schedule. We track the decree and tell our students the date as soon as it is published.

Is 12 weeks enough to prepare for the IMAT?

Twelve weeks is enough for a student who covered biology, chemistry, physics and maths at school, at about 150 hours in our plan. It is not a promise of a score. A student with gaps in one subject does better stretching the foundation phase, and our plan shows where the hours go.

What counts is what the score does at your university. Past last admitted scores moved by many points between years, as our IMAT cut-off scores by university and our guide to a good IMAT score show with the official lists.

How does ApplyAZ help while you prepare for the IMAT?

Studying for the IMAT is your own work, and the rest is ours. For eligible students, we handle the IMAT registration and Universitaly pre-enrolment, check each university's call, and follow the results calendar. After the ranking, we handle enrolment and the visa file, and we prepare the DSU scholarship application with you.

The choice of university matters. Non-EU applicants living abroad are ranked only at the university where they pre-enrolled, under article 2(3) of Decree 1005. We shortlist public universities with you from our medical universities in Italy list and the places in Tabella B.

For the DSU scholarship, the application and the family income declaration are in the student's own name. We prepare them with you, and we help you declare at the right time and in the right format. A degree at a public university can be tuition-free for eligible students.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours a day should I study for the IMAT?

In our 12-week plan, about 1.5 to 2 hours a day, or 11 to 14.5 hours a week. That makes about 150 hours in all: 120 hours of section study and 30 hours of timed past papers and mocks. Students who start earlier can spread the same hours more thinly.

Which IMAT section is the most important?

Biology, by question count. It has 23 of the 60 questions and 34.5 of the 90 points, and under article 3(6)(a) of Decree 1005 it is the first tie-break for the national ranking. Chemistry comes next with 15 questions, so the two together are 38 questions.

Are IMAT past papers enough to prepare?

Not on their own. Past papers show the style and the timing, but the topics come from Allegato A of each year's decree. Our plan uses past papers for the diagnostic, section sets and mocks, and covers every Allegato A topic in the study weeks between them.

Can I prepare for the IMAT on my own?

Yes. Studying is your own work, and students can prepare from the syllabus and the official past papers. For eligible students, we take the rest off your hands: the IMAT registration, Universitaly pre-enrolment, the university calls, and every deadline after the results.

Does the IMAT syllabus change every year?

It can. Each year's MUR decree carries its own Allegato A with the syllabus, and the 2026 one is part of Decree 1005 of 6 August 2026. We compare the 2027 decree with it when it is published and update the plan if a topic changes.

Can I take the IMAT more than once?

Yes. Decree 1005 sets no limit on attempts, and each year's decree sets that year's rules. Under article 3(7), a score counts only for the selection in which it was taken, so a student who retakes the test starts again with a new score.

Where can I take the IMAT outside Italy?

For 2026, Tabella A of Decree 1005 listed test centres in more than 20 countries, including India. Candidates chose their centre when they registered on Universitaly. The centres for the next test will be in next year's decree, and we register our students at their centre.

Does a high mock score mean I will be admitted?

No. A mock shows only how you perform on a practice paper, and admission depends on your real score, the places at your university and the other candidates. Our cut-off and good-score pages show how much the official last admitted scores moved between years.

Sources

• MUR Decree 1005 of 6 August 2026: decree text (arts 2, 3), Allegato A, syllabus, Allegati 1, 2 and 3, Tabella A, test centres 2026 and Tabella B, places 2026/27
• Universitaly, international students
• Study hours, minutes by section, the weekly plan and the mock schedule: ApplyAZ plan, in proportion to the question counts in article 2(2).

Written by İrem Yılmaz, Student Experience Lead at ApplyAZ. Published and last updated on 30 September 2026. Test facts checked against MUR Decree 1005 of 6 August 2026 and its annexes.

Further reading

• IMAT exam 2026: date, scoring, seats and cut-offs
• What is a good IMAT score in 2026?
• IMAT cut-off scores and seats by university
• MBBS in Italy: medicine in English at public universities