Official topics · annotated
Warsaw Medicine Competency Test 2027: Full Topic List (Syllabus)
WUM's competency test is 80 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes: Biology 30 and Chemistry 30 at one point each, Decision Making 20 at two points each. Everything it covers is in the three syllabuses its Competency Test page links, quoted here in full: 61 Biology topics, 13 Chemistry units and the four Decision Making question types.
All 78 topics of Medical University of Warsaw's official topic list, in its own words, each with what to know, the IvyTest lessons that teach it. Tick a topic off when you have it; your ticks stay in this browser.
Based on "Syllabuses for Competency Test", the page on Medical University of Warsaw's admissions site, as it read on 30 October 2026 (the page carries no date of its own). The official wording is quoted as printed; the notes and links are IvyTest's.
Before you start
How to use this list
WUM's Competency Test page links three syllabuses, one PDF each for Biology, Chemistry and Decision Making. The Biology and Chemistry syllabuses name topics only, with no weighting and no question count per topic; the page says the test "verifies the candidate's knowledge of high school biology and chemistry". The Decision Making syllabus gives an approximate number of questions for each of its four types, five each. Biology's dashed items are one topic each here, and its two bare headings, Protist and Fungi, one topic each; each numbered Chemistry unit is one topic, its heading and lines quoted together. Every word is quoted as printed. Work through a heading at a time: read the note, learn it from the lesson, then tick it.
The lessons are part of the Medical University of Warsaw Complete Admissions System and open for students who have it; a lesson marked "members" links to the Medical University of Warsaw guide, which says what it includes.
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Medical University of Warsaw Entrance Exam
What's not on the test
Physics and Mathematics as subjects. The competency test has three sections, Biology, Chemistry and Decision Making, and the Competency Test page links only their three syllabuses. WUM's Physics Syllabus and physics formula sheet are for the additional exam a candidate sits when their school certificate lacks a required subject (50 questions, passed at 30% of the points), not for the competency test. Decision Making "does not require any specific knowledge, only basic scientific and mathematical knowledge, which is usually taught in secondary school", and the whole test is sat without a calculator.
7 topics
The Cell
The Cell
What to know: Virus structure (nucleic acid in a protein capsid, sometimes an envelope), lytic and lysogenic cycles, and why viruses are not cells.
The Cell
What to know: What prokaryotes lack (nucleus, membrane-bound organelles) and share (ribosomes, membrane, DNA), and the organelles of animal and plant cells with their jobs.
Lesson (members): Cell theory, prokaryotes & eukaryotesLesson (members): Cell structure & organelles
The Cell
What to know: The fluid mosaic model: phospholipid bilayer, membrane proteins, cholesterol and glycocalyx, and selective permeability.
The Cell
What to know: Interphase (G1, S, G2) and mitosis stage by stage, cytokinesis, checkpoints, and how meiosis differs.
Lesson (members): Cell cycle & mitosisLesson (members): Meiosis & gametogenesis
The Cell
What to know: Diffusion, facilitated diffusion, osmosis, active transport and pumps, endocytosis and exocytosis; which need ATP.
The Cell
What to know: ATP as the energy currency, coupling of reactions, and the redox carriers NAD⁺ and FAD.
The Cell
What to know: Bacteria, fungi and viruses as tools: fermentation, recombinant DNA, plasmids and vectors, and their uses.
Lesson (members): Bacteria, viruses & microorganismsLesson (members): Gene regulation, mutations & biotechnology
7 topics
The chemistry of life
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: The elements of living matter (C, H, O, N, P, S and the main ions) and water's properties: polarity, hydrogen bonding, solvent, heat capacity.
Lesson (members): Water, weak interactions & the chemistry of life
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: Monomers, bonds and functions of each class: glycosidic bonds, triglycerides and phospholipids, amino acids, peptide bonds and protein structure levels.
Lesson (members): CarbohydratesLesson (members): Lipids & biological membranesLesson (members): Proteins & enzymes
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: Nucleotides, the antiparallel double helix and base pairing, and semi-conservative replication with its enzymes.
Lesson (members): Nucleic acids & nucleotidesLesson (members): DNA structure & replication
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: DNA to mRNA by RNA polymerase, processing in eukaryotes, the genetic code, tRNA and ribosomes building the protein.
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: Active site and specificity, activation energy, the effect of temperature, pH and substrate concentration, and inhibition.
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: Glycolysis, the link reaction, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, where each happens, the ATP yield, and anaerobic respiration.
Lesson (members): Glycolysis & cellular respirationLesson (members): Fermentation & anaerobic metabolism
The Chemistry of Life
What to know: Light-dependent reactions in the thylakoids and the Calvin cycle in the stroma, and limiting factors.
6 topics
Genetics
Genetics
What to know: How genes sit on chromosomes, alleles and loci, gene and chromosome mutations and their effects.
Lesson (members): Cytogenetics & chromosomal abnormalitiesLesson (members): Gene regulation, mutations & biotechnology
Genetics
What to know: Segregation and independent assortment, and how meiosis (crossing over, random orientation) explains them.
Lesson (members): Mendelian geneticsLesson (members): Meiosis & gametogenesis
Genetics
What to know: Monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, Punnett squares, test crosses and expected ratios.
Genetics
What to know: Codominance and multiple alleles (ABO blood groups), sex linkage, linkage, and pedigree analysis.
Lesson (members): Mendelian geneticsLesson (members): Non-Mendelian & human genetics
Genetics
What to know: Restriction enzymes, ligase, plasmid vectors, PCR, gel electrophoresis, cloning and GMOs.
Lesson (members): Gene regulation, mutations & biotechnology
Genetics
What to know: Gene pools, allele frequencies and the Hardy-Weinberg equation, and what changes them.
13 topics
Ecology and evolution
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Species, populations, communities and ecosystems; trophic levels, food chains and webs, energy flow and nutrient cycling.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Greenhouse gases, how they trap long-wave radiation, and the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: How ecological knowledge is used to protect species and habitats.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Interactions between species: competition, predation, mutualism, parasitism, and succession.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: The major biomes and the climate that shapes them, and ecosystem productivity.
Lesson (members): Ecology, populations & ecosystemsLesson (members): Earth & environmental systems
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Pollution, habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species and climate change.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, threats to it, and in situ and ex situ conservation.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Population growth curves, carrying capacity, density-dependent and independent factors.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Hypotheses for the first cells: prebiotic synthesis, the RNA world, endosymbiosis.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: The biological species concept, reproductive isolation, allopatric and sympatric speciation.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: The hominin lineage, key traits (bipedalism, brain size) and the evidence for them.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: Cladograms, shared derived characters, and molecular evidence for relationships.
Ecology and Evolution
What to know: The ranks from domain to species, the three domains and the kingdoms, and binomial names.
16 topics
Human health and physiology
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: The digestive tract and glands, enzymes and where they act, absorption in the small intestine and transport of the products.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Nutrients and their roles, vitamins and minerals, energy balance and deficiency diseases.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: The heart and cardiac cycle, arteries, veins and capillaries, blood and its components, double circulation.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Barriers, phagocytes, inflammation, B and T cells, antibodies, immunological memory and vaccination.
Lesson (members): Innate & adaptive immunityLesson (members): Infection, vaccination & host defence
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Ventilation, alveoli, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and their transport in blood.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Negative feedback control of body temperature, blood glucose and water balance by nerves and hormones.
Lesson (members): Nervous system & sensory physiologyLesson (members): Endocrine system & hormonesLesson (members): Integrated physiology & homeostatic control
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: The main glands and hormones, the hypothalamus and pituitary, and how hormones act on target cells.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Receptors, the reflex arc, and coordination by the nervous and endocrine systems.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Sense organs, the eye and the ear, and how a stimulus becomes a nerve impulse.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Inborn behaviour (reflexes, instinct) against behaviour learned by experience (conditioning, imprinting).
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Central and peripheral nervous systems, the parts of the brain and their functions, the autonomic system.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: The resting and action potential, synaptic transmission, and excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: The skeleton, bone structure, joints and how muscles and bones move the body.
Lesson (members): Skeletal system, bones & jointsLesson (members): Muscular system
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Skeletal muscle structure, the sliding-filament model, and antagonistic muscles.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Male and female reproductive systems, gametogenesis, the menstrual cycle and its hormones, fertilisation and development.
Human Health and Physiology
What to know: Kidney and nephron structure, filtration, reabsorption and secretion, and osmoregulation by ADH.
6 topics
Plant science
Plant Science
What to know: Cell wall, chloroplasts and the large vacuole: what sets a plant cell apart from an animal cell.
Plant Science
What to know: Roots, stems and leaves, plant tissues, meristems and growth.
Plant Science
What to know: Photosynthesis, transpiration, and transport of water and sugars in xylem and phloem.
Plant Science
What to know: Flower structure, pollination, fertilisation, seeds and fruit, and asexual reproduction.
Plant Science
What to know: Mosses and ferns: spores and the alternation of generations.
Plant Science
What to know: Gymnosperms and angiosperms: seeds, flowers and how they differ.
4 topics
Zoology
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: Epithelial, connective, muscle and nervous tissue: structure and function.
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: The main invertebrate groups and their body plans, from sponges to arthropods.
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: Chordate features and the vertebrate classes: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: Parasites of humans, their life cycles and hosts, and how they are transmitted.
Lesson (members): Parasitology & host–parasite relationships
1 topic
Protist
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: Single-celled eukaryotes: protozoa and algae, how they feed, move and reproduce, and those that cause disease (malaria, for one).
1 topic
Fungi
Zoology, Protists and Fungi
What to know: Hyphae, chitin walls, heterotrophic nutrition by absorption, spores, and fungi as decomposers, symbionts and pathogens.
13 topics
Chemistry Syllabus
Stoichiometry
What to know: The mole and the Avogadro constant, molar mass, balancing equations, and mass-to-mole calculations done by hand.
Lesson (members): Measurement, quantities & the moleLesson (members): Stoichiometry & chemical equations
Atomic Theory
What to know: Protons, neutrons and electrons, isotopes and relative atomic mass, and writing electron configurations by shells, sub-shells and orbitals.
Lesson (members): Atomic structure & electronic configuration
The Periodic Table of the Elements
What to know: How configuration places an element in its block and group, valence electrons, and the trends in atomic radius, ionisation energy, electronegativity and reactivity.
Lesson (members): Atomic structure & electronic configurationLesson (members): Periodic table & periodic trends
Bonding
What to know: Ionic, covalent and metallic bonds, sp, sp² and sp³ hybridisation, VSEPR shapes, and van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds.
Lesson (members): Chemical bonding & molecular structureLesson (members): Intermolecular forces
States of Matter
What to know: Kinetic theory, changes of state, and the gas laws including pV = nRT and the molar volume.
Energetics
What to know: ΔH sign conventions, Hess's law cycles, and ΔG = ΔH − TΔS to decide whether a reaction is spontaneous.
Kinetics
What to know: Collision theory and activation energy, what speeds a reaction up, rate equations and orders, and half-life.
Equilibrium Law
What to know: Writing Kc, Le Chatelier's principle, and calculating equilibrium constants and concentrations.
Solutions
What to know: Ksp, percentage and molar concentration and dilution, dissociation constants, the degree of dissociation and Ostwald's dilution law.
Acids and Bases
What to know: The three definitions, strong against weak, pH from concentration and Ka, indicators, salt hydrolysis and neutralisation calculations.
Lesson (members): Acids, bases, pH & buffersLesson (members): Hydrolysis, complexes & colloids
Oxidation and Reduction
What to know: Oxidation numbers, which species is oxidised or reduced, oxidising and reducing agents, and balancing redox equations by electron transfer.
Electrochemistry
What to know: The electrochemical series, building a galvanic cell and its EMF, electrolysis products, and Faraday's-law calculations.
Organic Chemistry
What to know: The biggest unit: isomerism, functional groups and reaction types, then each class from hydrocarbons to amines with its preparation, properties, typical reactions and tests (alcohols against phenols, aldehydes against ketones), plus esters, amino acids and proteins, carbohydrates and polymers.
Lesson (members): Organic chemistry foundations & nomenclatureLesson (members): Hydrocarbons & aromatic compoundsLesson (members): Isomerism & stereochemistryLesson (members): Alcohols, phenols, ethers & thiolsLesson (members): Aldehydes & ketonesLesson (members): Carboxylic acids & derivativesLesson (members): Amines & nitrogen compoundsLesson (members): Biomolecules & biochemical chemistryLesson (members): Vitamins, medicines, drugs & polymers
4 topics
Decision Making Syllabus
Verbal Reasoning
What to know: About 5 questions. Read a short argument and pick the conclusion it supports, the assumption it rests on, its flaw, or the fact that would strengthen or weaken it.
Quantitative Reasoning
What to know: About 5 questions. Pull the right figures from a table or chart and work percentages, ratios and rates by hand.
Lesson (members): Numerical & quantitative reasoningLesson (members): Data, tables & graph interpretation
Problem Solving
What to know: About 5 questions. Pick out what matters in a scenario and reason to the answer: orderings, constraints, working backwards.
Abstract Reasoning
What to know: About 5 questions. Find the rule in a set of figures and ignore the shapes, colours and positions that are only there to distract.
Next step
Test yourself on the list
The Medical University of Warsaw Entrance Exam guide has the format, dates and scoring in full, and practice questions in the exam's own format, every one explained.