Debrecen Entrance Exam 2027: Complete Preparation Guide

Official. Reference text named by Debrecen: Sadava, Heller, Orians, Purves and Hillis, Life: The Science of Biology, 8th edition.

• Cell structure and function: basic structure and characteristics of the eukaryotic cell, the cellular organelles, and how the structure of each relates to its function
• Metabolism and enzymes: the basic metabolic pathways (glycolysis, biological oxidation and photosynthesis), the biological role and basic characteristics of enzymes, substrate specificity, and oxidising and reducing coenzymes
• DNA, replication and protein synthesis: the structure of DNA and its role in heredity, the genetic code, replication of the genetic material and the enzymes involved, translation, mRNA, rRNA, tRNA and ribosomes
• Cell division: chromatin and chromosomes, the behaviour of chromosomes during mitosis, meiosis and its role in sexually reproducing organisms, and the differences between mitotic and meiotic division
• Genetics and inheritance: genotype, phenotype, genes and alleles, the monohybrid cross, dominant-recessive inheritance, co-dominance and the first Mendelian law, X-linked inheritance, the dihybrid cross and the second Mendelian law, genetic linkage and crossing-over, and testcross probability calculation
• Respiration and circulation: basic anatomy and physiology of the human respiratory and circulatory systems, gas transport and partial pressures, regulation of breathing, and the cardiac cycle
• Digestion and excretion: basic anatomy and physiology of the human digestive and excretory systems, the digestive secretions and their substrates, the order of structures from mouth to anus, and nephron function
• Nervous and endocrine regulation: homeostasis, the basic structure and function of the human nervous system, hormones and the human endocrine system, pituitary and hypothalamic control, feedback regulation, and the female ovarian cycle with its hormone profile
• Muscle and locomotion: basic structure and function of skeletal muscle cells, and locomotion in humans
• Immunity and defence: the basic defence systems against infection, the humoral and cellular immune response in humans, and conditions associated with immune failure

Official. Reference text named by Debrecen: McMurry and Fay, Chemistry, 6th edition (2012).

• Measurement and classification of matter: the SI system, unit conversion between multiples and submultiples, classification of matter, mixtures and compounds, elements and their symbols
• Atomic structure and the periodic table: the structure of atoms, atomic and mass number, isotopes and ions, electronic structure including quantum numbers, orbitals and electron configuration, the periodic table and main groups, and periodic properties such as atomic radius, electronegativity and ionisation energy
• Chemical bonding and intermolecular forces: types of chemical bond, the covalent bond, Lewis structures, molecular shapes, valence bond theory, bond polarity and bond length, intermolecular forces and hydrogen bonding
• Stoichiometry and mass relationships: atomic, molecular and molar mass relationships, chemical equations and stoichiometry, balancing equations, limiting reactant and yield, and particle diagrams representing a reaction
• States of matter and gas laws: the gaseous state, the gas laws, stoichiometric relationships involving gases, the kinetic-molecular theory, the liquid and solid states, and phase changes
• Solutions and chemical equilibrium: solutions and their properties, concentration, solubility and the factors affecting it, ions in aqueous solution, electrolytes and nonelectrolytes, chemical equilibrium and the equilibrium constant
• Acids and bases: pH in solutions of strong acids and strong bases, equilibria in solutions of weak acids and weak bases, degree of dissociation, Brønsted-Lowry acid-base reactions and conjugate acid-base pairs
• Thermochemistry: energy changes and energy conservation, expansion work, energy and enthalpy, Hess's law, and heat of formation
• Oxidation and reduction: oxidation state, the activity series of the elements, oxidising and reducing agents, and balancing redox reactions
• Inorganic chemistry: hydrogen and oxygen and their compounds, the halogens and their compounds, the noble gases, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur and their compounds, carbon and its allotropic forms, inorganic carbon compounds, and the s-block, p-block and transition metals
• Hydrocarbons and aromatics: the covalent bonds of carbon, multiple covalent bonds in carbon compounds, alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes and alkynes, their characteristic reaction types, and aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds
• Functional groups and derivatives: alcohols, phenols and ethers, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and substituted carboxylic acids, carboxylic acid derivatives including esters, amides and anhydrides, nitrogen-containing organic compounds and amine classification, naming of common substituent groups, and boiling-point trends across functional groups
• Isomerism: structural, geometrical and optical isomers, cis-trans pairs, enantiomers, and keto-enol tautomers

Official. Reference text named by Debrecen: Serway, Faughn and Vuille, College Physics, 9th edition. The sample paper leans conceptual (direction, limiting cases, units and graph slopes) more than arithmetic.

• Kinematics and vectors: motion in one dimension, displacement, velocity and acceleration, motion diagrams, freely falling objects, vectors and two-dimensional motion, and projectile motion
• Newton's laws and forces: the laws of motion, forces, Newton's first, second and third laws, forces of friction, and free-body diagrams
• Work, energy and momentum: work, power, kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem, systems and energy conservation, gravitational and spring potential energy, momentum, collisions and conservation of momentum, and elastic and inelastic collisions
• Rotational motion and gravitation: rotational motion and the law of gravity, rotational equilibrium and rotational dynamics, torque and the conditions for equilibrium, centripetal and tangential acceleration, moment of inertia and angular momentum
• Solids and fluids: states of matter, density and pressure, Archimedes' principle, buoyant force, and the condition for floating expressed in terms of object and fluid densities
• Thermodynamics: temperature and the zeroth law, the kinetic theory of gases, thermal expansion of solids and liquids, heat and internal energy, specific heat and latent heat, the laws of thermodynamics, entropy, and ideal-gas proportional reasoning at constant pressure
• Vibrations and waves: Hooke's law, elastic potential energy, simple harmonic motion, motion of a pendulum, waves and their interference, frequency, amplitude and wavelength, sound and the characteristics of sound waves, and the Doppler effect
• Electricity and circuits: electric forces and the electric field, electric charges, insulators and conductors, Coulomb's law, electrical energy and capacitance, the parallel-plate capacitor, current and resistance, Ohm's law, the temperature variation of resistance, direct-current circuits, resistors in series and parallel, Kirchhoff's laws and RC circuits
• Magnetism and induction: magnetism and magnetic fields, motion of charged particles in a magnetic field, torque on a current-carrying loop, induced voltage and inductance, Faraday's law of induction, alternating current, and resistors and capacitors in AC circuits
• Light and optics: the nature of light, reflection, refraction, total internal reflection, polarisation, mirrors and lenses, converging and diverging lenses, image formation by a flat mirror and by thin lenses, and the wavelength range of visible light
• Modern physics: the speed of light, Einstein's principle of relativity, atomic spectra, the exclusion principle and the periodic table, binding energy, radioactivity and alpha, beta and gamma decay, nuclear fusion and fission, elementary particles and the fundamental forces

It's Debrecen's own two-stage admission assessment for its English-taught Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Basic Medicine Course programmes. First a written test in two subjects: compulsory Biology plus either Chemistry or Physics, 20 multiple-choice questions each with five options, alongside structured written sections. Then a separate one-to-one oral exam covering the same two subjects.

Neither. There is no shared Hungarian medical entrance test, and Debrecen's is structurally the odd one out: it is the only one of the four that does not test English as a separately scored written subject, and one of only two that let you substitute Physics for Chemistry, the other being Szeged, where the Physics route is restricted to Admissions Office sittings and closed to Stipendium Hungaricum applicants. Semmelweis runs four separately timed 20-minute tests with English worth half the marks, Pécs puts 60 of its 100 questions into General and Medical English, and Szeged runs 60 questions in 60 minutes with a combined English section.

Yes. Biology is compulsory and you choose either Chemistry or Physics as your second subject, so you sit 40 multiple-choice questions in total. Debrecen publishes topic lists and sample tests for all three subjects (which is where the figure of 60 questions comes from), but no candidate sits all three papers.

Both formats exist. The written test is delivered in English and can be sat on site or online, and Debrecen's FAQ notes that the online exam schedule may differ from the on-site one. The oral exam is taken one candidate at a time.

Debrecen doesn't publish a marking scheme. Its entrance-examination page states that the scores of the different parts of the exam are for internal use only and are not communicated to applicants, and no negative-marking rule appears anywhere on its site. Under the only defensible model (one mark for a correct answer, nothing for a wrong one), a blind guess across five options is worth +0.2 marks and a blank is worth exactly 0, so there is no question worth leaving empty. For reference, the penalty that would make a five-option guess break-even is −0.25 per error, and Debrecen publishes nothing of the kind.

No pass mark is published on any official University of Debrecen page, and there are no per-subject minimums either: Hungary has no counterpart to the Italian Obblighi Formativi Aggiuntivi floors, and Debrecen states that overall exam performance is what it considers. The '260 points for Medicine, 150 for the Basic Medicine Course' figure circulates on third-party preparation sites but is not sourced to unideb.hu, and it sits awkwardly next to the university's own statement that part-scores are internal and not communicated to applicants. Don't plan against it.

The university's own pages disagree, and both are live. The entrance-examination page states that each written test takes 45 minutes; the FAQ states 50 minutes per subject and adds that the online schedule may be different. Neither page resolves the other. Prepare against 45 minutes per paper: a candidate trained for the shorter limit loses nothing if given the longer one.

No, and this is where Debrecen differs most from its Hungarian peers. Its written papers are Biology plus Chemistry or Physics, with no separately scored English component. You still need English throughout, because the entire exam and the oral are conducted in it, and an English certificate is required to apply.

Debrecen publishes no seat count or applicant figure, so any acceptance rate quoted elsewhere is an estimate. What is documented is a real demand signal: in September 2026 its own programme pages recorded Medicine closing to September 2026 applications because of an exceptionally high number of applications, and Dentistry's 2026/27 intake as fully booked, and the university hosts around 7,800 international students from over 140 countries across all faculties. Treat early application as a practical advantage rather than an optional one.

Within the EU, yes: automatically, as a standard Hungarian medical degree. There's no separate Hungarian licensing exam afterwards: the closing exam (záróvizsga) is built into the sixth year of the degree itself, and registration with the national healthcare register is automatic. A specialist exam (szakvizsga) applies later, only to those pursuing specialty practice. Outside the EU recognition isn't automatic as a rule, but the UK is an exception. Under the Medical Act 1983 (section 21B, as in force on 12 October 2026), a Hungarian medical degree is a 'relevant European qualification', so a graduate who applies to the GMC with one, whatever their nationality, is not asked to show the knowledge and skills other international graduates prove through PLAB/UKMLA; evidence of English is still required, and the rule is UK policy that can change. Debrecen's own Medicine page says the same: its graduates are 'NOT required to take the PLAB exam for practicing in the UK'. US-bound graduates need ECFMG certification via USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK, the same requirement every international medical graduate faces.

Yes. The IvyTest simulator runs Debrecen-format practice (20 questions per subject in the real five-option (A-E) format, across Biology plus your choice of Chemistry or Physics) in timed, tutor and review modes, with a free diagnostic available without payment.

Debrecen publishes no past papers and no answer keys. Its Exam topics and sample tests page offers one sample test each for Biology, Chemistry and Physics as a free PDF download, beside a one-page topic list per subject. Each sample has multiple-choice questions plus structured tasks such as naming, calculations and problem solving. The Mathematics topics on that page are for non-medical BSc programmes: Medicine tests Biology and Chemistry or Physics.

The application deadline for the September 2027 intake is 15 May 2027 (1 November 2026 for a January/February 2027 start). The 2027 exam dates are not published yet: Debrecen's exam calendar lists sittings hosted by its representatives abroad, the last so far on 5 June 2026, and otherwise the date is set by email with you or your representative. The decision comes right after the oral exam, with your Letter of Acceptance.

A high school certificate (final-year students may apply with transcripts and predicted grades), a B2-level English certificate unless you are a native speaker or were schooled in English, and the entrance exam: written and oral, in Biology and Chemistry or Physics. Completing Debrecen's Basic Medicine Course is the other route in. You apply online with a CV, a medical certificate, your passport and the USD 150 application fee, and for medical programmes the gap since your last studies can be at most 6 years.

For students admitted for 2026/27, the latest year published, Medicine costs USD 16,900 a year, with health insurance, the medical check-up and the student card included. Applying costs USD 150 and the entrance exam USD 350, both paid by bank transfer. To hold your place you pay the seat reservation fee set in your Letter of Acceptance, or the full year's tuition if you need a visa. From year 2, a 4.0 average can earn a tuition reduction.

The Bulletin is the Faculty of Medicine's yearly handbook, a free PDF on its Bulletins page: the 2026/2027 edition runs to 460 pages, with the curriculum year by year, the credit rules, the university calendar, the required electives and the textbook list. Medicine takes 12 semesters and 360 credits, about 30 a semester. The sixth year is an internship in internal medicine, surgery, gynaecology, neurology, psychiatry and paediatrics, and Hungarian is taught so you can talk with patients from year 3.

No. For Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and the Basic Medicine Course the exam is Biology plus Chemistry or Physics, a written test and then an oral, on Debrecen's entrance-exam page. The Mathematics topics and sample test on its Exam topics and sample tests page are listed for the Non-Medical BSc programmes only, so they are not part of the medical exam. Numbers still come up: the Chemistry and Physics papers include calculations, and Biology can set one in genetics.

Yes: r/DebrecenMedicine, where University of Debrecen applicants ask each other about the Debrecen Entrance Exam and share how their preparation is going. It is run by the IvyTest team. Dates, rules and results come only from the university's own pages, listed under Official sources on this page.

r/DebrecenMedicine