Medicine and Surgery – Bari English Medical Curriculum (BEMC)

About the course

A 6-year single-cycle degree in Medicine and Surgery (360 ECTS over 12 semesters) taught in English as the Bari English Medical Curriculum. It is based at the Policlinico teaching hospital in Bari and includes at least 60 credits of professional clinical training.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• The university assesses the Irish Leaving Certificate individually and does not publish a fixed Irish requirement. Contact admissions to confirm. You need a secondary school leaving qualification after at least 12 years of schooling. The university pre-evaluates foreign qualifications on its online portal (apply.uniba.it). You back this up with a CIMEA statement or certificate, or with a Declaration of Value from the Italian embassy or consulate.
• Entrance test (2026 format, set under Ministerial Decree 1005/2026): 60 multiple-choice questions with 5 options, in 100 minutes. There are 4 questions on reading comprehension, 5 on logical reasoning, 23 on Biology, 15 on Chemistry and 13 on Physics and Maths. A correct answer scores +1.5, a wrong answer -0.4 and a blank 0, out of 90. EU applicants need at least 20 points to be ranked.
• English: for English-taught courses, the international students annex asks for an English language certificate or proof that you attended an English-medium school for at least one school year. EU citizens do not need to take the Italian language test.

Working in Ireland afterwards

Because your medical degree comes from an EU/EEA country, the Medical Council of Ireland can recognise it automatically under EU Directive 2005/36/EC, as long as it is listed in Annex V (point 5.1.1). If that listing says the degree must come with an internship or state-exam certificate from your home country, you need to have that too, and you must also show your current professional standing and meet the English-language requirements. Graduates of EU/EEA medical schools may apply to the HSE for Irish intern posts, but only if their home-country degree does not already count as complete training. In older HSE intern guides (e.g., the 2022 guide), only graduates from medical schools in Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Iceland and Slovenia could apply. Graduates from other EEA countries (and Italians holding the ‘abilitante’ degree) were told they are not eligible, because they qualify directly for General registration. Applicants who need no work permit were matched before those who do. Please check the current eligibility list in the HSE intern guide for the year you apply. We could not confirm it for the July 2027 intake because the current HSE guide pages are password-protected.

How to apply

1. Pre-evaluation on the university portalCreate an account at apply.uniba.it, upload your Leaving Certificate and your CIMEA or Declaration of Value document, and pay the EUR 30 fee. In 2026 the deadline was the same as the test registration deadline (9 Sep, 15:00).
2. Register for the test on UniversitalySign up for the English-language medicine admission test on universitaly.it, pay the test fee there and choose Bari as a preference. In 2026 registration ran from 26 Aug to 9 Sep, 15:00 Italian time.
3. Sit the entrance testThe 2026 test was on 29 Sep 2026: 60 questions in 100 minutes on Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths, logic and reading. You need at least 20 out of 90 to be ranked.
4. Check rankings and enrolIn 2026 scores were due on 8 Oct and rankings on 26 Oct. If you are offered a place, enrol within the deadlines set by the ministerial decree and the ranking notice. Then pay the first fee instalment (30 Nov in 2026/27).

Costs

• Fees depend on income. If you do not submit an Italian ISEE income assessment, you go automatically into the top band: EUR 2,950 a year, plus the top regional tax of EUR 195 and EUR 16 stamp duty. Families with income or assets abroad can ask for an ‘ISEE parificato’ to be assessed under the normal rules. First-year students with an ISEE of EUR 26,000 or less pay no university contribution, but the regional tax (from EUR 146) still applies. The 2026/27 regulation adds no extra charge for English-taught Medicine, so it costs the same as the university’s Italian-language degrees. Fees are paid in four instalments (2026/27: 30 Nov 2026, 26 Feb, 30 Apr and 30 Jul 2027). There is also a non-refundable EUR 30 pre-evaluation fee on the university’s international application portal. You pay a separate test fee through Universitaly, but the call does not give the amount.

At a glance