Veterinary Medicine (Single Cycle Degree, English-taught)

About the course

This single-cycle degree in Veterinary Medicine (class LM-42) is taught in English on the Ozzano dell’Emilia campus near Bologna. Entry is restricted at national level and decided by the IMAT.

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. In general, you need a foreign secondary qualification that is equivalent to the Italian five-year diploma and gives access to university under Italian rules.
• The IMAT has 60 multiple-choice questions: 4 on general knowledge, 5 on logical reasoning, 23 on biology, 15 on chemistry and 13 on physics and mathematics. Your place depends on your IMAT ranking.
• You need English at CEFR level B2 or higher; passing the IMAT satisfies this.

Working in Ireland afterwards

Veterinary degrees from EU member states listed in Annex V (point 5.4.2) of Directive 2005/36/EC are recognised qualifications you can register with at the Veterinary Council of Ireland, which in effect means automatic recognition. You still need to apply to the VCI to register before you can practise. Check the VCI’s list of recognised qualifications to confirm your specific degree is on it.

How to apply

1. Register for IMATRegister and apply on Universitaly and choose Bologna Veterinary Medicine. In the 2026 cycle the window was 26 August to 9 September 2026 (15:00 Italian time).
2. Sit the IMATIn 2026 the test was on 29 September at Bologna Fiere. Prepare for the biology, chemistry, physics and maths, logic and general knowledge sections.
3. Enrol after the rankingIf you rank high enough, enrol and pay the first instalment by the deadline in the call. Your Leaving Cert must be obtained by 31 December (2026 cycle).
4. Sort out fees and arrivalSubmit foreign-income documents for a reduced fee (in 2026 by 30 October) and activate your student career (in 2026 by 26 February 2027).

Costs

• Bologna does not charge a flat fee. Every student pays a fixed amount of EUR 157.04 (first instalment, due 24 September 2026 for 2026/27) plus a variable contribution that depends on your family’s financial situation (ISEE, or the foreign-income documents that EU students submit). If you do not submit these documents, you pay the maximum all-inclusive contribution set for the programme plus the EUR 157.04. The programme maximums are listed in a separate university table that we could not open, so check it before you apply. For 2026/27 the income-document deadline was 30 October 2026 (or 16 November 2026 with a EUR 100 late fee). Any IMAT registration fee is paid separately through Universitaly.

At a glance