Study Medicine in English in Europe: Countries, Fees and Entry Tests Compared

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Most medical degrees in Europe are taught in the national language. Only a handful of countries offer a full medical degree in English at scale, and almost all of those programmes charge tuition, even where the same degree in the local language is free. This guide compares the countries in our catalogue where you can study medicine in English: how many programmes there are, what they cost, how applicants are selected and what to check before you enrol.

Where medicine is taught in English

In our catalogue, English-taught medical degrees are concentrated in seven countries:

• Italy: 22 of 94 medicine programmes. Medicine in Italy.
• Poland: 17 of 57. Medicine in Poland.
• United Kingdom: all 65 programmes in our catalogue. Medicine in the United Kingdom.
• Ireland: all 6 programmes, since teaching is in English anyway. Medicine in Ireland.
• Czechia: 5 of 12. Medicine in Czechia.
• Hungary: 4 of 10, one at each of the four medical universities. Medicine in Hungary.
• Spain: 3 of 55, all at private universities. Medicine in Spain.

In France, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, our catalogue has no medical degree taught in English: you would need the national language to a high level before you start.

Comparison table

Fees are what our catalogue shows for non-EU students on English-taught programmes, per year, at public and private universities together. The middle figure is the typical one.

A few things to keep in mind when reading the table:

• Italy's low end is not a mistake. Public Italian universities set fees by family income, so the lowest figures are a few hundred euros a year and depend on proving your income. Private universities charge a fixed fee that reaches €23,206.
• The United Kingdom and Ireland are in a different price range. UK medical schools charge international students typically €55,816 a year, and fees differ widely between schools.
• In Ireland only some Irish medical schools publish a non-EU fee we could include, and the lowest of them is €52,100 a year.
• In Poland and Hungary the English-taught fee usually applies to EU citizens too. The discount for EU citizens exists only on the programmes taught in Polish or Hungarian.

How selection works

• Italy. Public universities admit to medicine in English through the IMAT, a single national test in English held once a year in early autumn, with separate quotas for non-EU candidates living abroad. For 2026/27 it was governed by Ministerial Decree 1005 of 6 August 2026. Private universities run their own tests. See IMAT and TOLC.
• Poland. Each university sets its own rules. At the Medical University of Warsaw, for example, applicants for 2026/27 need passing grades in biology, chemistry and physics or mathematics, plus either the university's own competency test or a BMAT, MCAT, GAMSAT or UCAT score, and an English certificate such as IELTS Academic 6.5. See study medicine in English in Poland.
• Czechia. Each faculty sets an entrance exam in English. Masaryk University in Brno, for example, prepares applicants for its exam with courses in biology, chemistry and physics. See how to get into university in Czechia.
• Hungary. You apply directly to the university and sit its entrance exam. At the University of Debrecen this is a written test in biology plus chemistry or physics, followed by an oral exam. See study medicine in English in Hungary.
• United Kingdom. All applicants, from home or abroad, apply through UCAS. For medicine and dentistry the deadline is 15 October at 18:00 UK time in the year before the course starts, much earlier than for other subjects. Most schools also ask for an admissions test such as the UCAT and hold interviews. Medicine in the United Kingdom.
• Ireland. EU applicants apply through the CAO and sit HPAT-Ireland, an aptitude test held in February. The test organiser says international and non-EU students may be exempt, but some universities state that all applicants must sit it, so check each one. University College Cork, for example, takes non-EU applications directly rather than through the CAO. See how to get into university in Ireland.

How long it takes

In Italy, Poland, Czechia and Hungary, the medical degree is a single six-year programme that leads straight to the medical qualification, with no separate bachelor's stage. At Semmelweis University, for example, the English curriculum runs over 12 semesters. Irish undergraduate-entry medicine is shorter: University College Cork's course lasts five years. In every country, specialist training comes after the degree.

Paid in English, free in the local language

The price gap between the two languages is large. A public university charges no tuition fee for medicine taught in Polish to EU citizens, and Czech-taught medicine at public universities has no tuition fee for students of any nationality. English-taught medicine in the same countries typically costs €15,000 and €15,978 a year. If you can reach a high level in the local language before you apply, the local-language route is far cheaper, but it is also more competitive and the entrance exam is in that language.

You will still need the local language

An English-taught degree does not mean you will never speak to patients in another language. In the clinical years you examine patients in local hospitals, and universities build the language into the curriculum:

• Semmelweis University (Hungary) lists Medical Hungarian I to IV as compulsory courses in the first four semesters of its 2026/27 English programme, and a final examination in Hungarian medical terminology is required before the diploma is issued.
• Medical University of Warsaw (Poland) makes Polish an obligatory course in the first year of its English programme. In the second year, students learn to take a patient's history and give simple instructions during an examination in Polish.

Plan for these classes in your timetable, and expect them to matter more once you reach the wards.

Will your degree be recognised at home?

A medical degree lets you practise only where the local regulator accepts it, so check the rules of the country where you plan to work before you choose a university.

• Within the EU, basic medical training listed in the professional qualifications directive (2005/36/EC) is recognised automatically in every EU country.
• Outside the EU, each country sets its own conditions. India is a clear example. Under the National Medical Commission's Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021, the foreign course must last at least 54 months and be taught in English. It must be followed by a 12-month internship at the same foreign institution. You must also be registered to practise in the country that awarded the degree, then pass the NMC's licensing test and complete a further 12-month supervised internship in India.

Ask the university, in writing, whether its programme meets your regulator's conditions, especially on internship and on registration in the country of study.

How to choose

1. Start with the regulator in the country where you want to work, and rule out programmes that do not meet its conditions.
2. Set a realistic budget: the yearly fee multiplied by six, plus living costs. See the cost guides for Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Italy and Ireland.
3. Match the selection method to your strengths: one national test in Italy, faculty exams in Czechia and Hungary, grades and tests in Poland.
4. Check the English requirement. See IELTS and TOEFL for European universities.
5. Be ready to learn the local language from the first year.

Where to look next

• Study medicine in English in Poland
• Study medicine in English in Hungary
• Study dentistry in English in Europe
• Study medicine in Europe: all languages
• All medicine programmes by country

Official sources

• UCAS: dates and deadlines: the 15 October deadline for medicine and dentistry in the UK
• Italian Ministry of University and Research: limited-access programmes 2026
• Medical University of Warsaw: admission criteria for the MD programme
• HPAT-Ireland
• Semmelweis University: curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine
• European Commission: automatic recognition of professional qualifications
• National Medical Commission of India: FAQs on the FMGL Regulations 2021

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.