Cattolica · Preparation

How to prepare for the Cattolica Medicine and Surgery test

Checked against the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore's official pages on 27 October 2026. The 2027/28 call for the English-taught Medicine and Surgery has been out since 14 October 2026; the 2027/28 call for the Italian-taught Medicina e chirurgia was not yet published on 27 October 2026.

Key figures

questions are logical reasoning, the largest section
20 of 65
for 65 questions: one minute each, one sitting
65 min
ethics texts named by Cattolica for 2027/28
3
simulator questions, unlocked by the €210 fee
≈3,000

Università Cattolica's test for its English-taught Medicine and Surgery degree in Rome asks 65 questions in 65 minutes across seven subjects, and two of them, general culture and ethics and religious culture, are not school science. Preparing well means training logical reasoning as hard as biology, reading the three ethics texts Cattolica names, and practising at one question a minute with no paper on the desk. This page sets out what each subject asks, what Cattolica itself gives you, and a plan for the time you have.

In short

  • The 2027/28 call (Art. 4) sets 20 logical reasoning, 18 biology, 12 chemistry, 4 physics, 4 mathematics, 2 general culture and 5 ethics and religious culture questions, in English, with five options each.
  • The science syllabus is Annex A of the call. Its physics list was rewritten for 2027/28; biology, chemistry and mathematics are essentially unchanged.
  • For ethics Cattolica names three texts: Dignitas personae, Caritas in veritate and Magnifica humanitas. It publishes no list of what it asks about them.
  • Cattolica publishes no past papers. It gives free logic material online, and an online simulator of about 3,000 questions from earlier years once you have paid the €210 fee.

What each subject asks

The test is one sitting of 65 minutes, not split into timed sections, then 7 reserve questions in 7 minutes that count only if a question is cancelled. Every question is worth the same: +1 right, −0.25 wrong, 0 blank.

SubjectQuestionsWhat to know
Logical reasoning20No syllabus is published. Cattolica's free logic material covers logic, numerical reasoning, problem solving, text comprehension, attention and visual-spatial reasoning.
Biology18Annex A: the chemistry of living things, the cell, membranes, cell cycle, bioenergetics, Mendelian and molecular genetics, human genetics, biotechnology, evolution, human anatomy and physiology.
Chemistry12Annex A: matter, gas laws, the atom and periodic table, bonding, inorganic compounds, stoichiometry, solutions, equilibria, kinetics, redox, acids, bases and pH, basic organic chemistry.
Ethics and religious culture5The three texts Cattolica names: Dignitas personae, Caritas in veritate and Magnifica humanitas.
Physics4Annex A, rewritten for 2027/28: units and vectors, kinematics, dynamics, fluids including Bernoulli and viscosity, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism.
Mathematics4Annex A: numbers and algebra, powers, radicals and logarithms, basic combinatorics, equations and inequalities, functions, trigonometry, plane and analytic geometry, probability and statistics.
General culture2No syllabus is published.

Applying to the Italian-taught Medicina e chirurgia instead? It has its own call and test, sat in person, with a different split: see the Italian and English courses compared.

What Cattolica gives you to prepare with

Cattolica's course page and Cattolica International's Entrance exam page list the following. Everything but the simulator is free to anyone.

  • Annex A of the 2027/28 call: the official topic list for biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. The topics PDF on the Entrance exam page is a 2019-2020 document, so read Annex A for physics.
  • The ethics reading list: the Instruction Dignitas personae on certain bioethical questions, Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in veritate and Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica humanitas.
  • A database of 3,000 logic-type questions, compiled in 2015 by Selexi, Cattolica's test partner, without answers by design, and a 23-page guide with worked solutions to some of them, written for a test held in January 2016.
  • An online simulator of about 3,000 questions set in earlier years' tests, open without limit once you have registered and paid the €210 fee. The questions on test day are not drawn from it.
  • Paid preparation courses: Cattolica's pages advertise online courses in Italian (30 hours, 60 hours and a chemistry module), Selexi's online courses, and a 150-hour remote course the Faculty runs for 2027/28.

Cattolica's own FAQ for its Italian-taught course says it neither has nor recommends a particular preparation manual.

Six things that make the difference

  1. 01

    Train logical reasoning as a subject

    Twenty questions, nearly a third of the test, and more than any science. Practise argument, number and pattern questions a little every day rather than in a block at the end.

  2. 02

    Read the three ethics texts early

    Five questions come from texts most candidates have never read. Read each one through once, then summarise its structure and key terms; a summary is not a substitute for the text.

  3. 03

    Learn the new physics

    Only 4 questions, but the 2027/28 list now names fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's equation, friction, angular momentum and the magnetic field of a current. Older books and the 2019-2020 topics PDF predate it.

  4. 04

    Practise at one question a minute

    65 questions in 65 minutes leaves a minute each, with no section clock to pace you. Set your own checkpoints, for example 20 questions answered by minute 20.

  5. 05

    Work without paper

    At home under proctoring, paper of any kind is forbidden; calculations go on a digital sheet inside the exam platform. Do your timed practice with on-screen notes only.

  6. 06

    Decide your guessing rule now

    IvyTest's arithmetic: a blind guess among five options is worth 0.2 × 1 − 0.8 × 0.25 = 0 on average; rule out one option and it becomes +0.0625, rule out two and +0.17. So guess only when you can eliminate something.

A plan for the time you have

These are IvyTest's suggestions, not Cattolica's. Start with a full diagnostic in the 65-question format and score it subject by subject.

Time to the examFocus
12 weeks or moreAll seven subjects. Annex A topic by topic with practice questions, a first reading of the three ethics texts, daily logical reasoning, a full timed mock every fortnight.
8 weeksRank the subjects by marks lost and repair the costliest first, without dropping logic. One full mock a week, reviewed the same day; second reading of the ethics texts.
4 weeksTwo full mocks a week at home, on screen, with no paper and the 7-minute reserve round at the end. Only the most frequent gaps.
Under 4 weeksNo new topics. Logical reasoning drills, the ethics summaries, the new physics areas, and two full mocks in the last ten days.

What Cattolica preparation should cover

Whatever you prepare with, a course, a tutor or books, check it against the test as the 2027/28 call describes it. IvyTest is independent and not affiliated with Università Cattolica.

  • All seven subjects in the call's proportions, logical reasoning first, not only the four sciences.
  • The 2027/28 physics list, fluid dynamics included, not the older one.
  • All three ethics texts, Magnifica humanitas included.
  • Timed practice of 65 questions in 65 minutes, in English, with the +1, −0.25, 0 scoring.

Questions

How long does it take to prepare for the Cattolica Medicine test?

Cattolica gives no figure. Twelve weeks or more lets you cover all seven subjects and read the three ethics texts properly; with less time, put logical reasoning and timed full mocks first. The 2027/28 test is on 17 March 2027.

What does Cattolica recommend for the ethics questions?

Three texts: the Instruction Dignitas personae on certain bioethical questions, Benedict XVI's Caritas in veritate and Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica humanitas. Cattolica does not say what it asks about them.

Is the Cattolica simulator free?

It is included once you register and pay the €210 participation fee, which is not refundable. It holds about 3,000 questions from earlier years' tests and can be used without limit; the questions on test day are not drawn from it.

Can I use a calculator or paper in the Cattolica test?

No. The 2027/28 call forbids calculators and paper of any kind; for calculations there is a digital sheet inside the exam platform. A non-scientific calculator is allowed only to candidates with a learning disorder whose diagnosis prescribes it.

Official sources

Every figure on this page was read on the source itself on the date above. (27 October 2026)

Practise in the real format

A free practice paper in the 2027/28 format: 65 five-option questions (20 logical reasoning, 18 biology, 12 chemistry, 4 physics, 4 mathematics, 2 general culture, 5 ethics and religious culture), in English like the real test, with every answer explained and a PDF to download. Written by IvyTest, not an official Cattolica paper.

Try the free practice paperSee Cattolica preparation

The Cattolica Medicine Test, one question at a time

Also on IvyTest