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Health professions, university admission test for 58,000 candidates with almost 33,700 places

Decline in the number of applications submitted to the universities slows down compared to last year while the number of vacancies still increases with the highest number of applications for physiotherapy while nursing goes down by 11 per cent

by Angelo Mastrillo *

8 September 2025

4' min read

4' min read

Monday 8 September is the date to be circled in red for the examinations for admission to the 23 degree courses for nurses, physiotherapists, health technicians and other health professions in the 41 state universities for almost 58,000 students who have applied for 33,695 places on the list, the majority of which are for nurses.

Thanks to the availability of data from all the universities, the survey allows us to see that in general the number of first-choice applications at state universities is falling, but only slightly, from 58,860 last year to the current 57,985, i.e. -1.5%, which is less than last year's -4.9%.

While out of the total of 49 universities (including eight non-state universities with a further 3,258 places, which hold the entrance exam on different dates), around 63,600 applications are expected for the total of 36,943 places on the list, less than the 64,139 applications of last year, when the drop from 66,686 the previous year was -3.8%.

On the contrary, there was a further increase in the number of vacancies, with 1,351 or +3.8%, from 35,592 to 36,943, with a ratio of applications per vacancy (D/P) of 1.7, down from 1.8 in 2024 and the peak of 4.9 recorded in 2011.

Top Physiotherapists

With respect to the 41 state universities for the average application/place ratio (D/P) of 1.7, almost all the positions of previous years are confirmed: in first place Physiotherapist with D/P 6.5 and an increase in applications from 16,390 to 17.980 (+9.7%) out of 2,772 vacancies, in second place with 4.8 Speech Therapist from 3,883 to 4,713 applications (+21%) out of 1,032 vacancies, in third place with 3.4 Midwife from 4,885 to 3,757 applications (-23%) out of 1,116 vacancies, in fourth place Dietitian with 2.9 from 1.753 to 1,720 applications (-1.9%) out of 603 places, in fifth 2.7 Radiology Technician from 3,922 to 4,249 applications (+8.3%) out of 1,568 places, Osteopath with D/P 2.5 from 335 to 395 applications (+18%) out of 155 places, Dental Hygienist 2.1 from 1.999 to 1,826 applications (-8.7%) out of 846 places, with 2.0 Neuro and Psychomotricity Therapist Developmental Age from 787 to 807 applications (+2.5%) out of 412 places, with 1.5 Paediatric Nurse from 536 to 440 applications (-18%) out of 290 places. They follow below the average D/P ratio of 1.7: with 1.2 Neurophysiology Technician with 249 stable applications on 206 posts and Podiatrist from 144 to 141 applications on 119 posts, with 1.1 Laboratory Technician from 1,668 to 1,615 applications (-3.2%) on 1,446 posts and Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technician from 664 to 568 applications (-14%) on 538 posts.

Nurses down

Below the D/P ratio of 1: with D/P 0.9 Nurse from 19,421 to 17,215 applications (-11%) out of 18.918 posts and Orthoptist from 294 to 304 applications (+3.4%) out of 345 posts, with D/P 0.8 Cardiocirculatory Physiopathology Technician from 251 to 180 applications (30%) out of 222 posts and Prevention Technician from 639 to 688 applications (+7.7%) out of 911 posts, Professional Educator with 0.6 from 545 to 546 applications out of 844 posts, with 0.5 Audiometric Technician from 45 to 46 applications out of 102 posts, finally all with D/P 0.4: Orthopaedic Technician from 114 to 93 applications (-18%) out of 207 places, Hearing Aid Technician from 131 to 130 applications out of 289 places, Health Care Assistant from 201 to 182 (-9.5%) out of 502 places and Occupational Therapist from 76 to 101 applications (+33%) out of 253 places on the call.

However, it should be pointed out that subsequently, places will be filled through the rankings derived from second- and third-choice Course applications. In addition, for the 12 'related' courses (including Nursing), those who did not place in a useful position in the rankings for the open semester of the single-cycle degree courses in Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine, on which it should be noted that for Medicine alone there were 54,313 enrolments, thus less than the 57,900 for the Health Professions.

The regional map

With regard to the situation of the universities among the 18 regions, there are differences in the average values among the seven with increasing applications, such as Piedmont with +3.6%, from 3,604 to 3,733 out of 1,994 vacancies with a D/P ratio of 1.9; the five in Lombardy +1.0% from 6,421 to 6,483 out of 4,065 vacancies and D/P ratio of 1.6; almost stable Abruzzo from 2.152 to 2,162 out of 1,167 vacancies, with D/P 1.9; Molise +34% from 265 to 355, with D/P 1.4 which was 1.1; Campania +5.4% average, from 4,945 to 5,210 out of 2.546 places and D/P 2.0 which was2.1; Calabria with +8.6% from 1,975 to 2,145 out of 991 places with D/P 2.2 which was 1.8 and Sardinia +7.2%, from 2,083 to 2,234 out of 704 places with D/P 3.2.

On the contrary, all the other 11 Regions are down, in geographical order of average values per Region: Veneto -4.4% from 5,150 to 4,923 and D/P of 1.4 compared to the previous 1.5; Trento -23% from 53 to 41 out of 40 places; Friuli Venezia Giulia -3.3% from 1,256 to 1,214 out of 818 places and D/P 1.5; Liguria -9% from 1,525 to 1.387 out of 862 vacancies with a D/P ratio of 1.8 as last year; the four universities of Emilia-Romagna -3.4%, from 5,126 to 4,952 out of 3,097 vacancies and D/P 1.6 stable; Tuscany -8.4% from 4.023 last year to the current 3,686 on 2,072 places and D/P dropping from 2.0 to 1.8; Marche -12.4% from 1,267 to 1,110 on 685 places and D/P stable at 1.6; Umbria -5.5% from 765 to 723, with D/P stable at 1.2. Then the two public universities of Lazio -5.7% from 7,115 to 6,712 out of 5,766 places and D/P 1.2 which was 1.3; Puglia -1.6% from 4,581 to 4,508 out of 1,623 places and D/P rising from 2.7 to 2.8 and Sicily -2.9% from 6,554 to 6,363 out of 2,936 places and D/P 2.2 stable.

The presentation of the data with further details will be made on 12 September as part of the National Conference of Health Professions Degree Courses.

* Lecturer in Health Professions Organisation, University of Bologna

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