Syllabus · Biology, Chemistry, English
MU-Sofia publishes no topic list for its entrance exam: its Regulations say the exam follows its Self-study Guide, the Training Manual it sells for €15.34 at the Rectorate. So this is IvyTest's syllabus, in 9 Biology and 10 Chemistry areas, with what to know for each, the sample-test questions that test it and a checklist you can print. It is derived, not official, and nothing in it is copied from the Manual.
Syllabus
Syllabus · Biology, Chemistry, English
Biology and Chemistry are each 20 questions and each triple-weighted in the competition score, so they are 36 of its 42 points. Work an area at a time: read what to know, learn it, answer the sample-test questions on it, then tick it off in the checklist below.
Nucleotides (phosphate, pentose, base), purines and pyrimidines, the DNA double helix with antiparallel strands and complementary pairing, and how mRNA, tRNA and rRNA differ from DNA. Amino acids, the peptide bond and the four levels of protein structure with the bonds that hold each; what proteins do; denaturation and why it leaves the primary structure intact.
Viruses (capsid, genome, envelope, lytic and lysogenic cycles, why they are acellular), the prokaryotic cell, and prokaryotes against eukaryotes. The fluid mosaic membrane; simple and facilitated diffusion, osmosis, active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis. The organelles: ER, Golgi, lysosomes, mitochondria and chloroplasts, and the secretory pathway.
Sample test question 3Sample test question 4Sample test question 5
ATP as the cell's energy currency. Glycolysis in the cytoplasm, the Krebs cycle in the matrix, and the electron transport chain on the inner membrane with oxygen as the final acceptor; the proton gradient and ATP synthase; aerobic against anaerobic yield.
The nucleus, chromatin and chromosomes, homologues, autosomes and sex chromosomes, haploid and diploid sets and the karyotype. Semiconservative replication (helicase, polymerase, ligase, leading and lagging strands, Okazaki fragments). Transcription and RNA processing (cap, poly-A tail, splicing), translation, codons and anticodons, and the properties of the genetic code.
Sample test question 8Sample test question 9Sample test question 10
Mendel's laws, monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, test crosses and probability; sex determination and X-linked inheritance with pedigrees; linkage, crossing over and recombination frequency. Point mutations (substitution, insertion, deletion, frameshift; silent, missense, nonsense), chromosome mutations, nondisjunction and aneuploidy.
Sample test question 11Sample test question 12Sample test question 13
The cell cycle (G1, S, G2), the phases of mitosis and what mitosis is for; meiosis I and II, synapsis, crossing over and independent assortment; how the chromosome and chromatid counts change through each, and how mitosis and meiosis compare.
Spermatogenesis and oogenesis and how they differ, fertilisation and the block to polyspermy, cleavage, morula and blastocyst, gastrulation and the three germ layers with what each forms, and the landmarks of early human development.
Innate defences (barriers, inflammation, phagocytes, natural killer cells); antigens and antibodies; B cells and humoral immunity, T cells and cell-mediated immunity; primary and secondary responses, memory cells and vaccination.
The evidence (fossils, homologous, analogous and vestigial structures, embryology, biogeography, molecular similarity), the sources of variation, natural selection, genetic drift and gene flow, adaptation, isolation and speciation, and evolution as a change in allele frequencies.
Protons, neutrons and electrons, isotopes, electron configuration and valence electrons, relative atomic mass and the mole. Groups, periods and blocks, and the trends in radius, ionisation energy, electron affinity and electronegativity.
Ionic, covalent and metallic bonds, polar and non-polar bonds, molecular shape at VSEPR level, and the forces between molecules: hydrogen bonds, dipole-dipole and dispersion forces, and what they do to boiling points.
Elements and compounds, metals and non-metals; oxides, acids, bases and salts, how they are named and classified and how they typically react; amphoteric oxides and hydroxides (aluminium, zinc).
Oxidation numbers, oxidation and reduction, oxidising and reducing agents, balancing simple redox equations, and electrolysis: what forms at each electrode, molten against aqueous.
Collision theory and activation energy; how concentration, temperature, pressure, surface area and catalysts change the rate; dynamic equilibrium, the equilibrium constant and Le Chatelier's principle.
Solutions, colloids and suspensions, solubility, mass percent and molar concentration with dilution calculations; strong and weak electrolytes and dissociation; pH, neutralisation, ionic equations and the hydrolysis of salts.
Carbon's four bonds, chains, rings and functional groups, homologous series and general formulas, structural, positional and functional isomerism, and IUPAC naming of the common families.
Alkanes (sp³, substitution, combustion, cracking), alkenes (sp², addition, polymerisation, the bromine-water test), alkynes (sp, ethyne) and benzene (delocalised electrons, electrophilic substitution rather than addition).
Alcohols (primary, secondary, tertiary; oxidation, dehydration, esterification), phenol, amines and their basicity, aldehydes and ketones with Tollens' and Fehling's tests, carboxylic acids, esters and their hydrolysis, and amides, acid chlorides and anhydrides at recognition level.
Alpha-amino acids, zwitterions and amphoteric behaviour, peptide bond formation and hydrolysis; glucose and fructose (aldose, ketose), sucrose, maltose and lactose and what they hydrolyse to, and starch, glycogen and cellulose.
Art. 154 sets a scientific text of 1 to 1.5 pages with 10 multiple-choice questions that test reading comprehension. There is no grammar paper and no published English syllabus. Expect questions on the main idea, details stated in the text, what a sentence implies, the meaning of a word in context, and NOT questions. Practise reading science articles in English against the clock and answering only from what the text says.
English counts once in the competition score (6 of 42 points) but it must be passed like the other two: one failed component fails the whole exam.
Sample test question 41Sample test question 43Sample test question 48
Sofia Medical University Entrance Exam
All three components are sat together, remotely and in English, in two hours. The competition score is the English grade plus three times the Biology grade plus three times the Chemistry grade, out of 42.00 (Art. 156), and if one or two components are not passed the whole exam is failed (Art. 154). Results are final (Art. 155).
Syllabus · Biology, Chemistry, English
Tick an area when you can explain it without notes and answer its sample-test questions. Use "Download the checklist (PDF)" above to print the page with the answers open. Source: MU-Sofia's Regulations 2025/2026 and foreign-candidates page, checked 19 October 2026.
Biology
Twelve questions across the areas, four options each like the sample test, every answer explained. They are not the sample test's questions.
Which molecule carries amino acids to the ribosome during translation?
Answer: B
Transfer RNA carries a specific amino acid and pairs its anticodon with the mRNA codon on the ribosome. mRNA carries the code, rRNA is part of the ribosome itself, and DNA stays in the nucleus (Molecular Genetics).
Which organelle modifies, sorts and packages proteins for secretion?
Answer: C
Proteins made on the rough ER pass to the Golgi apparatus, which modifies them (for example by adding sugars), sorts them and packs them into vesicles for secretion. Lysosomes digest, the smooth ER makes lipids, and the nucleolus makes ribosomal RNA (Cell Structure and Transport).
In which phase of mitosis do the chromosomes line up at the equator of the cell?
Answer: A
In metaphase the chromosomes, each of two sister chromatids, line up on the metaphase plate, attached to spindle fibres at their centromeres. They condense in prophase, the chromatids separate in anaphase and new nuclei form in telophase (Cell Division).
A man with blood group AB has children with a woman with blood group O. Which blood groups can their children have?
Answer: C
The father is IᴬIᴮ and the mother ii. Each child receives Iᴬ or Iᴮ from the father and i from the mother, so the children are Iᴬi (group A) or Iᴮi (group B), half and half. No child can be AB or O (Inheritance and Mutation).
Where in the mitochondrion does the Krebs cycle take place?
Answer: D
The Krebs cycle runs in the mitochondrial matrix, where its enzymes are; the electron transport chain and ATP synthase sit in the inner membrane, folded into cristae (Cellular Energy and Metabolism).
Which cells are infected and destroyed by HIV, weakening both arms of the adaptive immune response?
Answer: B
HIV infects CD4⁺ helper T cells. Because they help to activate both B cells and cytotoxic T cells, their loss weakens humoral and cell-mediated immunity alike, which is what makes AIDS an immunodeficiency (Immunity).
How many moles of oxygen atoms are there in 0.5 mol of sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄?
Answer: C
Each H₂SO₄ contains 4 oxygen atoms, so 0.5 mol of the acid contains 0.5 × 4 = 2 mol of oxygen atoms. 4 is the count in one formula unit, not in half a mole (Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table: the mole).
Which type of bond holds the atoms together in a crystal of sodium chloride?
Answer: A
Sodium gives its outer electron to chlorine, and the Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions are held in a lattice by electrostatic attraction: an ionic bond between a metal and a non-metal with a large difference in electronegativity (Chemical Bonding).
In the reaction Zn + CuSO₄ → ZnSO₄ + Cu, which species is oxidised?
Answer: D
Zinc goes from 0 to +2: it loses electrons, so it is oxidised and is the reducing agent. Cu²⁺ gains electrons and is reduced to copper; the sulfate ion is a spectator and does not change (Redox and Electrolysis).
An aqueous solution of which salt is acidic, because the salt hydrolyses?
Answer: B
NH₄Cl is the salt of a weak base (ammonia) and a strong acid: NH₄⁺ + H₂O ⇌ NH₃ + H₃O⁺, so the solution is acidic. Na₂CO₃ (weak acid, strong base) gives a basic solution; NaCl and KNO₃ (strong acid, strong base) give neutral ones (Solutions and Electrolytes).
What is the general formula of the alkenes with one double bond?
Answer: C
One C=C double bond means two fewer hydrogens than the alkane: CₙH₂ₙ (ethene C₂H₄, propene C₃H₆). CₙH₂ₙ₊₂ is the alkanes and CₙH₂ₙ₋₂ the alkynes (Hydrocarbons).
Which reagent gives a silver mirror with an aldehyde but not with a ketone?
Answer: A
Tollens' reagent (ammoniacal silver nitrate) oxidises an aldehyde to a carboxylic acid and is itself reduced to metallic silver, the mirror. Ketones are not oxidised this way, so they give no mirror; Fehling's solution makes the same distinction with a red precipitate (Functional Group Derivatives).
Syllabus · Biology, Chemistry, English
The full paper, the score maths and the rest of the exam.
50 questions in 120 minutes in the exam's format: English 10, Biology 20, Chemistry 20.
English + 3 × Biology + 3 × Chemistry, out of 42, against the 2026 lists.
Format, dates, results, fees and the rules MU-Sofia publishes.
Entry requirements, fees, term dates, rankings and the curriculum.
Art. 154-161: the exam, the formula, the ranking and the Self-study Guide.
