Charles University Hradec Králové Entrance Exam 2027: Complete Preparation Guide

Derived from the official sample paper's topic range. The paper carries no figures anywhere: every item is fully specified in text.

• General biology and the characteristics of life: reproduction, evolution, response to stimuli and the regulation of internal conditions, the levels of organisation from atom to ecosystem, living versus non-living biological entities such as cells, viruses and prions, and the core vocabulary of structure, function, adaptation, feedback, stimulus and response
• Cell structure and organelles: prokaryotic versus eukaryotic cells, animal versus plant cells, the plasma membrane and the fluid mosaic model, nucleus, chromatin and nucleolus, ribosomes, rough and smooth ER, Golgi, lysosomes and peroxisomes, mitochondria including cristae, the electron transport chain and the location of cytochrome c, the cytoskeleton and the functions of microfilaments in shape, contraction, cytokinesis, cell crawling and endocytosis, and the protein synthesis and secretory pathway
• Membrane transport and cell signalling: simple diffusion of gases and small non-polar molecules, facilitated diffusion through channels and carriers, osmosis and hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic environments, active and secondary active transport, phagocytosis, pinocytosis and receptor-mediated endocytosis, exocytosis, autocrine, paracrine, endocrine and synaptic signalling, and membrane and intracellular receptors with signal transduction
• Molecular biology and nucleic acids: the composition of DNA from deoxyribose, phosphate and the four bases, RNA with ribose and uracil, base pairing and complementary strands, semi-conservative replication, transcription into mRNA, translation with codons, tRNA and ribosomes, the central dogma, reverse transcription and retroviruses such as HIV, and substitution, insertion, deletion, frameshift, silent, missense and nonsense mutations
• Cell cycle, chromosomes and cell division: G1, S, G2 and M phases, replication in S phase, counting chromosomes, chromatids and DNA molecules at each stage, the human diploid number 2n = 46 and haploid n = 23, the stages of mitosis and cytokinesis, meiosis I and II, crossing over and independent assortment, somatic cells versus gametes, and basic segregation errors
• Genetics and population genetics: gene, allele, locus, genotype, phenotype, homozygous and heterozygous, dominance, recessiveness, codominance and incomplete dominance, monohybrid crosses and Punnett squares, autosomal versus sex-linked inheritance, X-linked recessive disease and the conditions that produce an affected daughter, human sex determination by the sperm, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the conditions it requires, natural selection, genetic drift, founder effect, bottleneck effect and mutation
• Tissues, skeleton and muscle: the four basic tissue types and their roles, the distinction between tissue, organ and organ system, the diaphragm as skeletal muscle, the axial and appendicular skeleton, the regions and total number of vertebrae, bone structure and function, joints, cartilage, ligaments and tendons, skeletal muscle contraction with actin, myosin, calcium and ATP, and smooth and cardiac muscle
• Cardiovascular system and blood: the four heart chambers, the tricuspid, bicuspid, pulmonary and aortic valves, the conducting system of sinoatrial node, atrioventricular node, bundle of His and Purkinje fibres, coronary arteries and pericardium, which vessels and structures do not belong to the heart, arteries, veins and capillaries, pulmonary versus systemic circulation, plasma, erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets, haemostasis from platelet plug through prothrombin activator, thrombin, fibrinogen and fibrin, and basic blood pressure regulation
• Respiratory system: the airways from nasal cavity to bronchioles, alveoli and gas exchange by diffusion, the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide in blood, inspiration with diaphragm contraction and falling alveolar pressure, passive expiration by elastic recoil, and brainstem control of breathing in the medulla oblongata and pons
• Digestive system and liver: the digestive tract from mouth to anus, the order of duodenum, jejunum and ileum, the regions of the large intestine, liver functions including detoxification, plasma protein synthesis, urea production, glycogen storage, bile production and the processing of old red blood cells, the gallbladder as the store of bile rather than its source, pancreatic enzymes with insulin and glucagon, and absorption through villi and microvilli
• Urinary system and osmoregulation: kidney anatomy of cortex, medulla, renal pelvis and ureter, the nephron from glomerulus and Bowman's capsule to collecting duct, podocytes and the filtration barrier, urine formation by filtration, reabsorption, secretion and concentration, the basic roles of ADH and aldosterone, and the excretion of nitrogenous waste with the maintenance of water, salt and pH balance
• Nervous system and sensory biology: central and peripheral nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions, cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalon, pons and medulla oblongata, the medullary reflex centres for heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure, neurons, synapses and neurotransmitters, glial cells, the eye with retina, fovea centralis and optic nerve, and rods for low-light vision against cones for colour vision and acuity
• Endocrine and reproductive systems: hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal glands, pancreas and gonads, hormone action through receptor specificity and feedback control, male anatomy including testes and seminiferous tubules, female anatomy including ovaries, oviducts and uterus, spermatogenesis and oogenesis, FSH, LH, testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone, and the role of FSH in male sperm production
• Immunology, microbiology and infectious agents: innate versus adaptive immunity, the leukocyte types including lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils and NK cells, B cells, T cells, antibodies, antigens and memory cells, matching named cells to their system such as Kupffer cells, Purkinje cells, podocytes and glial cells, bacterial structure and binary fission, the temperature and salt classes including psychrophiles, thermophiles and halophiles, DNA viruses, RNA viruses and retroviruses, prions and prion disease, and the differences between bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi and prions

Derived from the official sample paper's topic range. Calculation items are well represented: the sample includes dilution, pH after dilution, hydroxide from hydronium, 1:1 titration and yield-corrected stoichiometry.

• Atomic structure, the periodic table and bonding: protons, neutrons and electrons, atomic number, mass number, isotopes and relative atomic mass, electron shells, valence electrons and basic electron configuration, groups and periods with alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens, noble gases and transition metals, trends in atomic radius, electronegativity, ionisation energy and metallic character, ionic, covalent, polar covalent, coordinate and metallic bonding, hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole and dispersion forces, polarity and water solubility including why tetrachloromethane dissolves poorly, and the recognition of ionic compounds such as potassium bromide
• The mole, solutions and stoichiometry: the mole, molar mass and the Avogadro constant, balancing equations and stoichiometric coefficients, mass-to-mole and mole-to-mass conversion, limiting and excess reactant, theoretical, actual and percentage yield, concentration in mol per litre and in mass percent, dilution factors, mixing a concentrated solution with water in a stated ratio to reach a target percentage, and thermal decomposition calculations corrected for reaction yield
• Acids, bases, pH and salts: the Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry definitions, conjugate acid-base pairs and the strength of a conjugate base, strong and weak acids and bases, pH and pOH, the ion product of water and calculating hydroxide from hydronium concentration, pH after dilution of a strong acid, titration calculations for 1:1 stoichiometry, salt hydrolysis, and which salts give acidic, basic or neutral solutions
• Equilibrium, kinetics and enzymes: reaction rate and the factors that change it, activation energy and catalysis, chemical equilibrium and the equilibrium constant at conceptual level, the fact that catalysts and enzymes change the rate but not the equilibrium constant, the enzyme-substrate complex, active site, specificity, saturation and denaturation, and the effect of temperature and pH on enzyme activity
• Redox chemistry: oxidation numbers and the rules for assigning them, oxidation as loss and reduction as gain of electrons, identifying oxidising and reducing agents, common oxidants such as permanganate and bromate and common reductants such as carbon monoxide and iron(II), balancing redox equations in acidic medium, and reading electron transfer in reactions such as iron(II) to iron(III) and permanganate to manganese(II)
• Inorganic chemistry: the main-group chemistry of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens, oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorus, common oxidation states including magnesium at plus two, transition elements with variable oxidation states, coloured compounds and complex formation, mercury with its symbol, toxicity and oxidation states, the common oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, sulphates, nitrates, chlorides, chromates, cyanides and ammonium salts, counting atoms in a formula, and the solubility and acid-base behaviour of common salts
• Organic chemistry foundations: carbon tetravalence, sp3, sp2 and sp hybridisation, single, double and triple bonds, molecular, condensed and structural formulas, chain, position, functional and cis-trans isomerism, chirality and the chiral carbon with four different substituents, alkanes, alkenes, alkynes and aromatic compounds, addition and polymerisation of alkenes such as ethenyl chloride, benzene derivatives and basic aromatic nomenclature, and counting carbon atoms in a named compound
• Functional groups and organic reactions: alcohols and their primary, secondary and tertiary classes, ethers, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids, esterification of an acid with an alcohol and examples such as methyl acetate, amides distinguished from amines, primary, secondary and tertiary amines including diphenylamine, hemiacetals and glycosides for contrast, acid derivatives at recognition level, and the reduction, polymerisation and toxicity of medically relevant compounds such as propenamide
• Biomolecules and biochemistry: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides, the aldose and ketose classification of glucose and fructose, sucrose as glucose and fructose and starch as a glucose polymer, fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids and steroids, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids including the carbon count of oleic acid, amino acids, peptide bonds and the levels of protein structure, enzymes as proteins, nucleotides and nucleosides, and the recognition of heterocycles such as pyridine, pyrrole, pyrimidine and purine

One of the two elective tracks. You sit Physics or Mathematics, not both. The official paper supplies its own constants list and permits a simple calculator, so use the printed constants rather than remembered values.

• Units, constants and calculation discipline: the SI base and derived units including newton, joule, watt, pascal, coulomb, volt, ohm and hertz, conversion of kilometres per hour to metres per second and of metric prefixes from pico to kilo, Celsius to Kelvin conversion, scientific notation and powers of ten, significant figures with rounding of the final result only, and substituting the constants printed on the paper rather than remembered ones
• Mechanics, work and energy: uniform motion, uniformly accelerated motion and the three kinematic equations, braking distance and stopping time under constant deceleration, Newton's laws at basic level, weight and gravitational force, work, kinetic and gravitational potential energy, and power including the average power developed when running up stairs
• Fluids and circulation: density, mass and volume, pressure and its units including normal atmospheric pressure, the continuity equation for incompressible fluids, the cross-sectional area of a circular vessel, and blood-vessel branching problems relating total area, velocity and the diameter of the daughter vessels
• Thermodynamics and gases: the Celsius to Kelvin conversion, the ideal gas law, the constant-volume gas law relating pressure and absolute temperature, heat capacity and specific heat, latent heat of fusion and of vaporisation, and finding a final temperature from a percentage change in pressure at fixed volume
• Electricity and magnetism: charge and the elementary charge, Coulomb's law and how the force scales when the charges are replaced, the charge of an alpha particle, Ohm's law and resistance at basic level, alternating current and frequency, inductance and inductive reactance, and the conversion of millihenry to henry with the result expressed in ohms
• Waves, sound and optics: wave speed, frequency and wavelength, sound intensity and the decibel scale, intensity ratios for a ten- and a twenty-decibel rise, refractive index and Snell's law, total internal reflection and the critical angle with answers sometimes requested in radians, and the relationship between the speed of light, wavelength and frequency
• Modern physics and radiation: the Planck relation and photon energy from frequency or wavelength, conversion between joules and electronvolts, X-ray photon energy, the de Broglie wavelength of a moving electron, electron mass and speed conversion, and half-life and exponential decay at basic level

The other elective track. Ten items, and the official sample reaches further than most medical entrance papers: differential calculus and complex numbers both appear.

• Algebra, powers and factorials: simplification, expansion and factorisation, linear and quadratic equations, powers, roots and the exponent laws, logarithms and the logarithm laws, factorial expressions such as the ratio of consecutive factorials and their cancellation, manipulation of expressions in a parameter such as n, and rounding to the precision the question specifies
• Functions, graphs and inverses: linear, quadratic, exponential and logarithmic functions, domain and range at basic level, composite functions, finding an inverse by swapping the variables and solving, the inverse relationship between exponentials and logarithms, and reading graphs and turning points
• Quadratics and parabolas: the general form of a quadratic, vertex form, the vertex abscissa from −b/2a, completing the square, locating the turning point of a parabola given in implicit form, and combining the vertex coordinates as a sum or in an evaluation
• Differential calculus: the derivative as the slope of a tangent, derivatives of powers, the exponential and the natural logarithm, the product rule and the simple chain rule, differentiating products such as x² eˣ and x ln x, evaluating a tangent slope at a point, and the acute angle between two tangents from their slopes
• Coordinate geometry in the plane: the Cartesian plane and point coordinates, lines written as a constant abscissa or ordinate, in slope-intercept form and in general form, slope and intercepts, the intersection of two lines, distance between points, and the area of a triangle bounded by two axis-parallel lines and one oblique line
• Solid geometry and the sphere: three-dimensional coordinates, the equation of a sphere in standard and expanded form, completing the square in three variables, extracting the centre and radius, and the surface area and volume of a sphere
• Complex numbers: the imaginary unit and the fact that its square is minus one, real and imaginary parts, addition, subtraction and multiplication, simplifying powers of the imaginary unit before dividing, and division by multiplying through by the conjugate
• Probability and sets: basic probability and the complement rule, union and intersection of sets, the inclusion-exclusion principle applied to overlapping groups, independent events and repeated trials, binomial probability for at-least and at-most wording such as the number of boys in a family, and rounding a probability to the requested number of significant digits

It's the Written Science Entrance Test the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové uses to select candidates for its English-taught General Medicine and Dentistry programmes. You answer 60 questions worth one point each: Biology for 25 points, Chemistry for 25 points, and either Physics or Mathematics for 10 points. An interview worth 40 more points follows, and admission goes to the best combined scores out of 100.

Neither. There is no national Czech medical entrance test, and Charles University's five medical faculties run structurally different papers. Hradec Králové is the only one that offers an elective third subject and the only one that publishes unequal block weights. The Pilsen faculty runs Biology, Chemistry and compulsory Physics with no elective; the First Faculty in Prague has no Physics paper at all; the Second Faculty runs four sections including Logic and scores its science items all-or-nothing; the Third Faculty runs only Biology and Chemistry. Preparation built for one does not transfer cleanly to another.

Both formats are used. For 2026/27 the faculty's own sitting on 13 May 2026 was held online through the external provider Scio, with the interview via MS Teams, while partner agencies abroad ran the written test and interview in person on the same day. The official 2024/2025 sample paper is pen-and-paper, marked with a cross on a separate answer sheet. The faculty's page allows a scientific calculator and no dictionaries or tables. The test is delivered entirely in English.

The faculty states it explicitly: +1 for a correct answer, 0 for no answer, 0 for an incorrect answer. There is no negative marking, so a wrong answer costs exactly what a blank costs. With five options, a blind guess returns +0.20 marks on average against a blank's 0, which means there is no question on this paper worth leaving empty. Eliminating even two options before guessing lifts the return on that item to about +0.33 marks.

No pass mark is published. IvyTest re-read the faculty's official admissions page and the programme's admission criteria, including the 2027/28 records, directly on 10 October 2026: they state the full marking structure and admit the best-ranked applicants up to capacity, with no fixed threshold. There are also no per-subject floors: the Czech system has no counterpart to the per-subject 'additional learning requirement' thresholds used by some Italian medical schools.

Whichever you score better on, measured rather than remembered. The block is only worth 10 of the 60 marks, so the choice is capped: moving from 50% to 90% accuracy in the better track is worth 4 marks, about seven percentage points of your total, but it is free, so it should be made on evidence. Sit both official sample blocks before you commit. Mathematics reaches into differential calculus and complex numbers; Physics leans on constants, units and calculation discipline.

Because the booklet prints both elective tracks. Biology runs 1 to 25, Chemistry 26 to 50, Physics 51 to 60 and Mathematics 61 to 70. You answer your two compulsory blocks plus one elective block: sixty items, sixty points. The ten questions in the track you did not choose are not yours to answer and carry no marks for you.

Not yet announced. The faculty's admissions page, updated for 2027, still listed the written test's time as 'tba' when IvyTest re-read it on 12 October 2026, and the official 2024/2025 sample paper states no limit anywhere. A 120-minute figure circulates from an unofficial syllabus quoting a screenshot; treat it as unconfirmed and check the faculty's page yourself before your sitting.

105 places in General Medicine and 25 in Dentistry, filled in rank order on the combined written and interview score. Charles University's admissions records give 208 of 377 General Medicine applicants and 33 of 80 Dentistry applicants admitted in the past academic year, about 55% and 41%. The places are the same for 2027/28.

Within the EU, yes: automatically, as a standard Czech medical degree. There's no separate national licensing exam afterwards: the Czech state exam (státní rigorózní zkouška) is built into the MUDr degree itself, and registration with the Czech Medical Chamber (ČLK) is compulsory to practise in the country. Outside the EU recognition isn't automatic as a rule, but the UK is an exception. Under the Medical Act 1983 (section 21B, as in force on 12 October 2026), a Czech medical degree (MUDr.) is a 'relevant European qualification', so a graduate who applies to the GMC with one, whatever their nationality, is not asked to show the knowledge and skills other international graduates prove through PLAB/UKMLA; evidence of English is still required, and the rule is UK policy that can change. US-bound graduates need ECFMG certification via USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK, the same requirement every international medical graduate faces.

Yes. The IvyTest simulator runs Hradec-format practice (60 questions, five options, the real +1/0/0 rule scored 25/25/10 across Biology, Chemistry and your chosen elective) in timed, tutor and review modes, with a free diagnostic available without payment.

There is no archive of past papers. The faculty publishes one official sample paper as a PDF, its 2024/2025 test for General Medicine and Dentistry: 70 numbered questions (you answer 60), five options each, with the correct answers marked in bold. It also publishes a PDF of Requirements and Recommended Literature, a topic list with textbooks for each subject. Both are linked from its Admission Process page.

Charles University's 2027/28 admissions records give 30 April 2027 as the application deadline for General Medicine and Dentistry in English, and an entrance-exam date range of 1 April to 30 June 2027 (alternative 4 June to 17 August 2027). The faculty's page, updated for 2027, puts its own online sitting in May 2027 for applications submitted by 30 April 2027, but the exact date and the partner agencies' dates abroad are still 'tba'. For 2026/27 its online sitting was on 13 May 2026, and sittings abroad ran from 29 March to 1 July 2026.

A completed secondary education with a school-leaving certificate, of a kind that would admit you to the same programme in your home country. You apply online, pay the CZK 2,500 fee and sit the entrance exam, which is compulsory: the written test, then the 40-point interview. One attempt is allowed per academic year, and the faculty lists no English certificate among its conditions. Applying for both General Medicine and Dentistry, you sit the exam once.

Tuition for the English-taught programmes is CZK 400,000 a year for General Medicine and CZK 410,000 a year for Dentistry, the same in the 2027/28 admissions records as for 2026/27. The online application costs CZK 2,500, paid by bank transfer quoting the application number. The faculty also teaches General Medicine in Czech, free of charge, with a separate entrance procedure.

Six years, leading to the MUDr degree. Years 1 and 2 cover the structure and function of the body (anatomy, histology, biophysics, biochemistry, physiology) with compulsory Czech; years 3 and 4 the preclinical subjects and the first clinical ones; year 5 is wholly clinical, and year 6 is bedside practice ending in state exams in Internal Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Paediatrics and Preventive Medicine. Clinical lessons run in groups of 5 to 7 students at the University Hospital, which has 37 clinics and departments and 1,500 beds.

The faculty publishes no ranking of its own. It describes itself as among the best educational, scientific and research institutions in medicine in the Czech Republic, and as the oldest university in East Bohemia, the first medical faculty founded after the Second World War. For Charles University as a whole it cites the QS World University Rankings 2024, which placed Charles as the only Czech university in the world's top 250.

Charles University. The faculty is one of its 17 faculties, two of which are in Hradec Králové (the other is the Faculty of Pharmacy), and Charles University's Constitution makes Charles University a public higher education institution, in existence since 1348. The degree is a Charles University degree, and graduates of the English-taught programmes receive it at the Karolinum in Prague.

IvyTest publishes no student reviews of its own. The faculty's Stories of our students page carries accounts from its international students: a fifth-year student presenting research at the EHRA 2026 congress in Paris, and electives at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Galway University Hospital and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Its Open Day for international applicants, in person or online, is announced for February 2027, and the 2026 session's recording is on its Open Day page.

The science is at a strong school-leaver's level, but the format has traps: five options per item, a 25/25/10 point split that makes Biology and Chemistry worth 50 of the 60 marks, and an elective block you choose yourself. No cut-off is published, and the ranking is on the combined score out of 100, interview included. The admissions records give 208 of 377 General Medicine applicants admitted in the past academic year.

Yes: r/CharlesHradec, where Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové applicants ask each other about the Charles University Hradec Králové Entrance Exam and share how their preparation is going. It is run by the IvyTest team. Dates, rules and results come only from the university's own pages, listed under Official sources on this page.

r/CharlesHradec