Health professions test: structure, syllabus, preparation

The admission test for the health professions (nursing, physiotherapy, midwifery, radiography technology and the other three-year degrees in the area) is not a TOLC (the Italian university admission tests). It has a single national exam, a single clock and a marking scheme with a heavier penalty than the one candidates for the other tests are used to. Whoever prepares for it with TOLC rules in mind gets the strategy wrong before even opening the biology book.

An honest note on the numbers: the structure, date and number of places are set every year by a ministerial decree, and the calls of the individual universities come afterwards. Here I use the 2026 structure, but for the year in which you enrol check the decree and the official call: that is where you find the dates, places and official syllabus, not in a blog. I don’t write admission thresholds because there is no fixed one: the ranking depends on the number of places and on how the other candidates do.

How the test is built

In 2026 the exam was 60 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes, divided like this:

The marking is +1.5 for each correct answer, −0.4 for each wrong answer, 0 for an omitted one: the maximum is 90 points. There is a single time limit for the whole exam, so you can jump from one area to another as you like. That works out at 100 seconds per question on average, but not all questions cost the same: a biology question that only needs recall is solved in twenty seconds, a stoichiometry problem needs two minutes.

The reading that matters: biology and chemistry together are 38 questions out of 60, 63% of the test. A candidate starting from zero with a few weeks to go has to build the plan from there.

The penalty: when it pays to answer

The questions have five options. If you can’t rule anything out and guess at random, the probability of being right is 1/5 and the expected value is

Almost zero, but negative. The real boundary is the probability $p$ of being right: answering pays when $1.5p-0.4(1-p)>0$, that is for

So it is enough to rule out a single option (4 left, $p=0.25$) to move into positive territory: the expected value is about +0.08. With two options ruled out it rises to about +0.23, with three to +0.55. The practical rule: if you know nothing, leave it blank; if you can discard even one with real reasoning, answer. Answering “by feel” a question you haven’t understood is another matter: there $p$ is not 1/4 but much less, because the feeling tends to reward the most attractive distractor.

The syllabus, area by area

The official syllabus is attached to the decree: download it and use it as a checklist, because it is the only list that counts. This is how I would study it, in order of return.

Biology (23 questions). Cell, membranes and transport, energy metabolism, cell division, DNA and protein synthesis, Mendelian genetics; then human anatomy and physiology at revision level. The cell and molecular block is compact and self-contained and is worth half of the questions in this area: you will find it explained at length in cell and molecular biology for medicine admission tests, and exactly the same method applies. For mitosis and meiosis there is a separate guide. Anatomy is a bottomless pit: surface revision and no more.

Chemistry (15 questions). Normally: atomic structure, periodic table, bonds, nomenclature, the mole and concentrations, equilibrium and pH, some notions of organic chemistry. The mole is the bottleneck: whoever masters it solves half of the numerical questions in a minute, and the typical stoichiometry mistakes are always the same.

Physics and maths (13 questions). Quantities and units of measurement, proportions and percentages, first-degree equations, basic kinematics and dynamics, elementary electricity. Many questions can be solved with dimensional analysis and a bit of hand calculation: check in the call whether the calculator is allowed, and in the meantime train as if it weren’t.

Logic and reading (9 questions). Few questions but easy to pick up with a little method: in the guide to logical reasoning in the TOLC you will find the types that keep coming back.

Three exercises like the real ones

1. Chemistry (mole and concentration). How many grams of NaCl ($M=58.5$ g/mol) are contained in 250 mL of a 0.20 M solution? (A) 0.29 g — (B) 2.9 g — (C) 5.9 g — (D) 11.7 g — (E) 29 g

The moles are $n=c\cdot V=0.20\cdot 0.250=0.050$ mol. The grams are $m=n\cdot M=0.050\cdot 58.5\approx 2.9$ g: answer (B). The typical mistake is forgetting to convert millilitres into litres: with 250 instead of 0.250 you get 2925 g, but even with a conversion off by a factor of 10 you land on (A) or (E), which are there on purpose.

2. Physics (units and speed). A car travels 90 km in 1 hour 15 minutes. What is the average speed in m/s? (A) 12 — (B) 15 — (C) 18 — (D) 20 — (E) 72

One and a quarter hours is 1.25 h, so $90/1.25=72$ km/h. To convert to m/s you divide by 3.6: $72/3.6=20$ m/s, answer (D). Option (E) is the trap for those who stop at km/h. With 20 seconds of hand calculation you need nothing else.

3. Maths (percentages in a health context). A solution has a concentration of 5% m/V (5 g of solute per 100 mL). How many grams of solute are in 40 mL? (A) 0.2 g — (B) 0.5 g — (C) 2 g — (D) 5 g — (E) 20 g

5% m/V means 5 g in 100 mL, that is 0.05 g for every mL. In 40 mL: $0.05\cdot 40=2$ g, answer (C). It is a proportion, not a formula to remember: $5:100=x:40$.

To measure yourself on the real format (60 questions, 100 minutes, penalty included) try the health professions test practice test: the correct answer is free, and the guided solution of each question unlocks with the first lesson. The questions are original, written in the style and on the syllabus of the test, not copies of the real test.

An eight-week plan

Week 1: diagnosis. One complete timed practice test and a classification of the mistakes: I didn’t know, I knew and got it wrong, I ran out of time.

Weeks 2-4: biology and chemistry. An hour a day per area, alternating compact theory and batches of twenty questions. At the end of each batch, redo only the ones you got wrong, cold.

Week 5: physics and maths. Units of measurement, proportions, percentages, equations, kinematics. Hand calculation has to be trained on purpose: no calculator in your study either.

Week 6: logic and reading, then the first complete practice test after the two previous phases.

Week 7: two complete practice tests, reviewed question by question. What counts is the why of each mistake, not the score.

Week 8: light revision. A last test in the middle of the week, then rest. The day before you only go over the summary diagrams.

If you have fewer than eight weeks, cut anatomy and organic chemistry, never the practice tests.

How we work in lessons

I start from the results of a practice test to understand whether what you lack is theory, hand calculation or cool-headedness against the clock, and from there we build a plan on biology, chemistry and physics, with exercises worked out together on a graphics tablet and shared screen. The science tutoring page and the one on admission tests explain how I work; the options are on the pricing page. If you want to work out where to start, book a lesson or write to me via contacts for a free introductory call.

The test rewards those who can do a few types of question very well and know when to stop. You train for it with real practice tests and classified mistakes, not by rereading the manual a third time.