Pleven Medical University Entrance Exam 2027: Complete Preparation Guide

Topics 1-34 are the human body and topics 35-67 are the cell, molecular biology and genetics, a near-even split by topic count, with the four published sample tests leaning towards the second half.

• Body organization and tissues: biology as a science, its methods and important tools, the living and the non-living, the organism as a united whole, organization of the human body, epithelial and connective tissue, muscular and nerve tissue
• Skeletal and muscular systems: bone and joint structures, the skull, bones and joints of the vertebral column, thorax and limbs, the muscle system, muscle physiology
• Blood and immunity: body fluids, characteristics of blood plasma, blood cells, immunity functions of blood
• Heart, circulation and lymph: heart and blood vessels, heart activity, blood circulation, lymph circulation
• Respiratory system: the respiratory system and the function of the respiratory organs
• Digestion and nutrition: the digestive system, digestion in the mouth, digestion in the stomach and intestines, nutrition, food, vitamins, chemical breakdown of food
• Excretion, skin and thermoregulation: the excretory system, the skin, thermoregulation
• Reproduction and development: human reproduction and development, the male reproductive system, the female reproductive system, fertilisation and embryonic development, postnatal development
• Nervous system: the nervous system, spinal cord, brain, autonomic nervous system
• Endocrine system: pituitary gland, thyroid gland and parathyroid glands, pancreas, adrenal glands, testes and ovaries
• Sense organs: the system of common sensitivity, sight and the visual system, hearing and the auditory system, taste and smell, motor and balance sensory systems
• Cell chemistry and biomolecules: the cell as the basic structural and functional unit of the organism, chemical composition of the cell, inorganic substances (water and minerals), carbohydrates (monosaccharides and polysaccharides), lipids, proteins and polypeptides, structure and properties of proteins, enzymes
• Nucleic acids and protein synthesis: DNA, RNA, replication of DNA, transcription of RNA, translation and protein synthesis
• Viruses and prokaryotic cells: viruses on the boundary between living and non-living matter, viruses as agents of disease, prokaryotic cells
• Eukaryotic cell structure and activity: organelles of the eukaryotic cell, the cell surface, exchange of substances between the cell and its environment, production of proteins by the cell, intake of particles and secretion of substances, the cell programme of existence, chromosomes as carriers of the cell programme, the cell as an automated laboratory
• Metabolism and bioenergetics: breakdown of nutrients and supply of energy, metabolism and energy balance, biological oxidation, ATP and oxidative phosphorylation
• Cell cycle, mitosis and meiosis: cell cycle and cell reproduction, mitosis, meiosis
• Mendelian and sex-linked genetics: monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, Mendel's laws, sex chromosomes and sex-linked traits

Nineteen General Chemistry topics and twenty Organic ones, in the university's own order. Note what the official list does not contain: there is no thermodynamics topic and no stoichiometry topic anywhere in it.

• Atomic structure and the periodic table: structure of the atom, nucleus, electron shells, quantum numbers, orbitals, filling of electron levels, ground and excited states, atomic and ionic radius, ionization energy, electron affinity, electronegativity, the periodic law and the periodic table, variation of the properties of the elements in groups and periods
• Chemical bonding and molecular structure: covalent and dative bond, sigma and pi bonds, hybridization of atomic orbitals, polar and non-polar bonds and molecules, ionic compounds, hydrogen bond
• Valence, oxidation states and redox: valence and oxidation state, oxidation-reduction reactions, oxidizing and reducing agents, balancing redox equations, the activity series of metals
• Reaction rate and catalysis: rate of a chemical reaction, rate law, effect of temperature, activation energy, catalysis
• Chemical equilibrium: chemical equilibrium, the equilibrium constant, effect of concentration, pressure and temperature, the Le Chatelier-Brown principle
• Solutions, diffusion and osmosis: dispersions and solutions, dissolution, concentration, solubility, diffusion and osmosis
• Electrolytes and dissociation: electrolytic dissociation, Arrhenius theory, dissociation of ionic and polar compounds, strong and weak electrolytes, the ionization constant, Ostwald's dilution law
• Acids, bases and pH: acids and bases according to Arrhenius, Brønsted-Lowry and Lewis, autoionization of water, the ionic product of water, pH, indicators
• Hydrolysis, complexes and colloids: hydrolysis of salts, degree of hydrolysis, coordination compounds and their composition, stability and bonding, colloids, lyophobic colloidal solutions and their properties
• Organic bonding and isomerism: carbon chains, bonding in organic compounds, hybridization of carbon orbitals
• Alkanes: homologous series, nomenclature, isomerism, preparation, physical and chemical properties, the inductive effect
• Alkenes and alkynes: homologous series, nomenclature, isomerism, preparation, physical and chemical properties
• Arenes and aromatic substitution: structure of the benzene ring, nomenclature, isomerism, physical and chemical properties, activating and deactivating groups
• Hydroxyl derivatives and amines: classification, nomenclature, isomerism, preparation, physical and chemical properties of hydroxyl derivatives; types of amine, their physical and chemical properties and preparation
• Carbonyl compounds: carbonyl derivatives (classification, nomenclature, preparation, physical and chemical properties)
• Carboxylic acids and esters: characteristics, classification, nomenclature, isomerism, preparation, physical and chemical properties, esterification
• Carbohydrates and monosaccharides: classification, monosaccharides, glucose structure and properties, fructose, ribose, 2-deoxyribose
• Disaccharides and polysaccharides: disaccharides, sucrose, homopolysaccharides (starch and cellulose)
• Amino acids and peptides: amino acids, peptides and their biological importance

They are the Medical University of Pleven's own admission examinations in Biology and Chemistry, both compulsory, sat on the same date and delivered in English, for its English-taught Medicine programme. Each paper has a multiple-choice Part A (40 questions per subject, 80 in total) and a written short-answer Part B.

Neither. Bulgaria has no shared national medical entrance test and each school writes its own paper. The formats differ genuinely: Pleven runs a multiple-choice Part A plus a written Part B in each subject, Varna runs two 90-minute papers with five sections each, Assen Zlatarov in Burgas runs three separate 60-minute tests on one day including an English diagnostic, and Sofia University runs one combined three-hour paper. There is also a separate Bulgarian-citizen national admission route at Pleven itself, which uses state matriculation results rather than these examinations; figures quoted from that route do not apply here.

Both formats exist, and which one runs depends on the cycle: the university describes the examinations as held face to face or online. Recent cycles have been conducted online, with a camera, microphone and headphones, a connection of at least 20 Mbit/s in each direction, and a current version of Chrome or Firefox. Confirm the delivery mode for your own cycle rather than assuming it matches the last one.

The honest answer is that MU-Pleven does not publish a scoring rule: no marks-per-question figure and no statement on whether wrong answers are penalised. IvyTest works from the neutral assumption of one mark for a correct answer and nothing for a wrong one. Under that assumption a blind four-option guess is worth +0.25 marks and a blank exactly 0, so there is no item worth leaving empty, and on the minority of Biology items that give only three options, a blind guess is worth +0.33. If a penalty did exist at the usual break-even level, blind guessing would drop to zero expected value but eliminating even one option would still pay, so the habit to build either way is elimination before answering.

No pass mark is published for this track. You may find a figure of 24 out of 42 on mu-pleven.bg; that governs the Bulgarian-citizen national admission route, a different process using state matriculation results. The university's current admission regulation is built around that domestic track throughout and carries further figures of its own (a maximum of 36.00 for the domestic Medicine formula; a 24.00 maximum and 10.00 minimum for a separate biology-only route), none of which is this examination either. IvyTest re-checked four of the university's own admissions pages and two regulation PDFs on 21 September 2026 and found no pass mark for the English-taught Biology and Chemistry papers.

Yes, entirely: both papers are set and sat in English, matching the language of the programme. Your school-leaving grade in the official language of your own country enters the ranking formula separately, converted to the Bulgarian six-point scale.

Part B is a short-answer section in each paper, written by the candidate rather than chosen from options: five items in each of the four published Biology samples and four in the Chemistry sample. It is clearly part of the examination, but because MU-Pleven publishes no marks-per-question breakdown there is no way to know in advance how much of the paper it carries. Prepare it as content you can state from a blank page.

Not according to the university's own list. The official Chemistry admission syllabus names 39 topics (19 General and 20 Organic), and neither stoichiometry nor thermodynamics appears among them, so mole, molar-mass and reacting-mass calculations are outside the published scope. The only numerical item in the published sample paper is a pH/pOH conversion. That makes Pleven unusually light on chemical arithmetic compared with most medical entrance exams, and unusually heavy on descriptive organic chemistry.

There is no official measure: MU-Pleven publishes no applicant numbers, no seat count and no admission rate for Medicine in English. What it does publish is the bar, at least 62% of the maximum mark in the official language of your country and a pass in both the Biology and the Chemistry examination, and the ranking on your language grade plus each examination result multiplied by three. Selectivity genuinely varies between Bulgarian schools; do not assume every one is equally easy to enter.

Within the EU, yes: automatically, as a standard Bulgarian medical degree. There is no separate national board exam afterwards: Bulgaria's state exam is built into the final year of the six-year degree itself, followed by free and indefinite registration in the National Register of the Bulgarian Medical Association (BLS). 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 Bulgarian 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. 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 Pleven-format practice (40 Part A questions per subject, four options as standard with the three-option and combination-answer variants included) in timed, tutor and review modes, with a free diagnostic available without payment.

MU-Pleven publishes no past papers, but its Entry Exams page gives free PDFs: the Biology syllabus with four sample tests, the Chemistry syllabus with one, and an answer sheet for each test. Every sample has 40 multiple-choice questions in Part A and a written Part B (five questions in Biology, four in Chemistry). The page also recommends a print book, the CHEMISTRY Questions & Answers Handbook, sold for €33 including shipping or at the university library.

For the February 2027 intake, online applications ran from 1 June to 1 October 2026, the deadline the university's FAQ gives, and the online exam dates are 23 June, 17 September, 8 October, 28 October and 17 November 2026, with both papers on the same day. You register for a date at least one week before it. Hard-copy documents are due by 30 October 2026 (non-EU/EEA) or 30 November 2026 (EU/EEA). Dates for the February 2028 intake are not published yet.

A secondary-school leaving certificate whose mark in your country's official language is at least 62% of the maximum, a certificate that you may enter university in your country, and a validation of your certificate from Bulgaria's NACID, translated into Bulgarian and legalised. Add four passport photos, a copy of your passport and, if English is not an official language in your country, a B2 English certificate. You must sit both entrance exams, and non-EU/EEA students then need a Type D visa, which can take up to 90 days.

Medicine in English costs €9,000 a year, paid in two equal parts at the start of each semester (Expense Guide 2026/2027). Applying costs €240, non-refundable: €40 registration and €200 for the entry exams. The one-year English preparatory course costs €4,000, and there are no scholarships. The degree is not an MBBS: graduates receive a Master's degree with the professional qualification Physician. The university puts minimum living costs at €500 a month, with a hostel room at €75 to €95.

Medicine is a full-time, six-year course at the Faculty of Medicine: 2 years of pre-clinical study, 3 of clinical study and a final year of state clinical practice, 411.5 credits in all, ending with state exams in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, and hygiene, infectious diseases, epidemiology and social medicine. English-taught students take Bulgarian 6 hours a week for the first three years. Their first academic year runs from February to December, in two 16-week semesters with a one-week break at Christmas and at Easter, and each semester ends with an exam session of 45 days.

For international students it teaches Medicine (six years, a Master's degree, €9,000 a year) and Nursing (four years, a Bachelor's degree, €3,500 a year) in English, plus a one-year English preparatory course. Both degrees are full-time courses in Pleven: the only part held at a distance is the online entrance exams, and the university's Electronic and Distance Learning page reads 'Under Construction'.

By its own account, MU-Pleven was founded in 1974 and has been a Medical University since 2004, is accredited by Bulgaria's National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency, and has a University Hospital of more than 1,000 beds and teaching groups of at most 6 students. It says its degree lets graduates practise medicine in EU countries. Its pages cite no world or QS ranking and publish no student reviews, so this guide quotes none.

The university is in Pleven, Bulgaria, at 1 St. Kliment Ohridski Str., 5800 Pleven. Admissions for international students run through its International Student Center (room 138, +359 64 884 153). Once enrolled, you deal with the Faculty of Medicine's Students' Office, in Rectorate Building 1, rooms 208 and 209 (+359 64 800 001), which handles enrolment, class and exam schedules, and transcripts.

The content is secondary-school Biology and Chemistry, and the topic lists are unusually explicit: Chemistry names no stoichiometry or thermodynamics. What makes it hard lies elsewhere: each paper has a written Part B you cannot answer by picking options, and the time limit, the marks per question, any penalty for a wrong answer and the pass mark are all unpublished, so you cannot set a target score. Practise on the official samples, written answers included.