Medicine, the judges (for now) save the reform: first appeals rejected

No irregularities in the Medicine filter semester. This is the answer that comes from the orders of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio to the numerous appeals received from students against the new system of access to the faculty, which has taken the place of the entrance tests used in recent years.

By rejecting the request for suspension, the Regional Administrative Court avoided the suspension of the filter semester procedure, including the rankings formed on the basis of Chemistry, Physics and Biology examinations.

We will see what the decision on the merits will be, but from the judges' pronouncements come some indications as to the legitimacy of the system sought by University Minister Anna Maria Bernini in implementation of Delegated Law 26/2025.

In particular, the appeals rest on three points. The first is the decree by which the Mur changed the criteria for the formation of the rankings, allowing access even to students who had not obtained a pass mark in all three subjects, provided they made up the missing credits with exams between January and February.

According to the Tar, the ministry "did not overturn the original rules", but integrated them in a manner compatible with the criteria of "competition par condicio and legitimate expectations". In particular, clarifying that the mechanism was created to 'saturate the available places as much as possible', the Tar's orders emphasise that the filter semester tests are not simple admission tests, but university exams that affect a student's career. And that, furthermore, no inequality was created, since the candidates 'were in possession of the same and identical information'.