Short version: The NMAT is 240 multiple-choice items in two parts. Part 1 is four mental ability subtests: Verbal, Inductive Reasoning, Quantitative, Perceptual Acuity. Part 2 is four sciences: Biology, Physics, Social Science, Chemistry. Every subtest carries exactly 30 items, so all eight count equally.
The Center for Educational Measurement publishes the NMAT's structure and content areas openly, which means you never have to guess at coverage. This page sets out what CEM actually prints, and what each line of it means for someone deciding what to review.
The shape of the test
The NMAT is a two-part test. CEM's Bulletin of Information describes Part 1 as tests of mental ability and Part 2 as tests of academic proficiency. The four Part 1 subtests measure "aptitudes that were found to have significant correlations with academic performance of medical students." The four Part 2 subtests measure "subject proficiency in areas which are part of the academic background required of applicants to the medical course."
Delivered as an online computer-based test, the sitting is organised into five sections:
| Section | Content | Assigned time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Important reminders and certifying statement | 12 minutes |
| 2 | Part 1, 120 items | 2 hours 15 minutes |
| 3 | Test break | 10 minutes |
| 4 | Part 2, 120 items | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| 5 | End test page | 1 minute |
CEM notes that the timer starts when you reach the first item of the test and does not include preliminary activities such as the system check and identity verification, and that the timer restarts for each section.
Every item is multiple choice, with four or five options. There is no essay and no free-response component in the published description.
Part 1: mental ability
Four subtests, 30 items each.
Verbal
Two item types: word analogies and reading comprehension. CEM says these measure verbal reasoning, inferential and analytical abilities, and that reading comprehension items draw on portions of published material "covering a wide range of topics, e.g., social, scientific, medical, philosophical, literary."
The practical consequence is that the passages are not all medical. A test-taker who only reads science prose is at a disadvantage on a philosophy or literary passage.
Inductive Reasoning
Item types: number series, letter series, figural series, and figure grouping. CEM describes these as measuring induction, "a reasoning that occurs in the absence of complete information," specifically the ability to perceive relationships among stimuli and infer a general rule.
No outside knowledge is required. The material is self-contained in each item.
Quantitative
Three item types: fundamental operations (direct computation), problem solving, and data interpretation. CEM frames the subtest as measuring general reasoning, "the ability to organize and apply knowledge of basic mathematics."
Note the word basic. This is not a calculus subtest. It is arithmetic, algebra, proportion and reading data off tables and charts, done without a calculator, since physical calculators appear on CEM's prohibited materials list.
Perceptual Acuity
Three item types: hidden figure, mirror image, and identical information. CEM calls these visual recognition tasks "complicated by distractions," where the solution comes from accuracy, focusing on relevant details, analysing relationships and visualisation.
This is the subtest with no analogue in most other admission exams, and the one people are most surprised by.
Part 2: academic proficiency
Four subjects, 30 items each. CEM publishes the content areas for all four.
Biology
Published content areas:
- Unity and diversity of life
- Cells and cellular processes
- Genetics
- The world of plants and animals
- Development
- Life processes: regulation and homeostasis
- Organisms and their environment
Note what is not there: no clinical medicine, no pharmacology, no advanced human pathology. This is a general biology syllabus, not a pre-clinical one. Whole-organism and ecological biology sit alongside cell biology and genetics, which surprises applicants who assumed the subtest would be human-focused.
Physics
Published content areas:
- Mechanics
- Thermodynamics
- Vibrations, waves, and optics
- Electricity and magnetism
- Modern physics
That is the entire span of an introductory physics sequence compressed into 30 items, modern physics included. For most pre-med graduates this is the subtest furthest from anything they have touched recently.
Social Science
Published content areas:
- Sociology and anthropology
- Psychology
Two content areas, 30 items, the same weight as Biology. This is the most commonly under-prepared subtest on the NMAT, because "social science" reads as softer than the laboratory subjects while counting exactly the same.
Chemistry
Published content areas:
- General chemistry
- Analytical chemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Biochemistry
Four distinct branches inside one 30-item subtest. Coverage is therefore wide and shallow: expect recognition-level questions spread across all four rather than deep problems in one.
How deep the content goes
The single most useful sentence CEM publishes about Part 2 is the scope limit:
The items in the four subtests are "limited to concepts that are common and basic to the curricula of college introductory courses, particularly the degree programs considered as premedical courses."
That is a ceiling. Reviewing above introductory college level is not rewarded. At the same time, CEM says these subtests still "measure complex mental abilities because answering the items requires the use of the different cognitive skills — understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing." So the content is introductory but the questions are not pure recall.
CEM's own preparation guidance draws the same distinction between the two parts: Part 1 "requires more of innate abilities" and primarily measures aptitude, while in Part 2 "the items in any of the four subtests, with the exception of some recall items, require the use of complex abilities such as application and analysis."
What the coverage means for your degree choice
Any baccalaureate degree qualifies you to take the NMAT. CHED Memorandum Order No. 18, series of 2016, requires applicants to Doctor of Medicine programs to hold at least a baccalaureate degree; it does not prescribe a specific pre-medical course list at the CHED level, though individual medical schools may.
But the Part 2 coverage does tell you where your gaps will be:
| If your degree was | Usually strong | Usually the gap |
|---|---|---|
| BS Biology | Biology, some Chemistry | Physics, Social Science |
| BS Nursing | Biology, Social Science | Physics, Analytical and Organic Chemistry |
| BS Medical Technology | Biology, Chemistry | Physics |
| BS Psychology | Social Science | Biology, Physics, Chemistry |
| Non-science degree | Verbal | All four Part 2 sciences |
None of these are disqualifying. They are just where the review hours should go. Our guides to BS Biology and BS Nursing cover what each degree actually contains, and what strand to take for medicine works the question back to senior high school.
What the NMAT does not cover
Worth stating plainly, because it saves review time:
- No essay or written response. The published description is entirely multiple choice.
- No clinical or medical knowledge. Part 2 is introductory college science, not medicine.
- No mathematics beyond the basic level described for the Quantitative subtest.
- No English language proficiency subtest as such. Verbal reasoning is tested, but not in the form of a separate language exam.
- No spoken or practical component. The whole test is delivered on screen.
Coverage is not the same as difficulty
Knowing the topics does not tell you how the test feels. Two structural features do more to determine that:
Every subtest is worth the same. Thirty items each. There is no weighting toward biology or toward mental ability. A weak subtest costs you as much as any other weak subtest.
Part 2 is the faster half. Part 1 gives 2 hours 15 minutes for 120 items; Part 2 gives 1 hour 30 minutes for the same number. Part 2 carries the content load and the tighter clock at the same time.
If you are planning study time around this coverage, how to review for the NMAT turns it into a subtest-by-subtest plan, and NMAT scores and percentile ranks explains what the eight subtest results are converted into. For the wider admissions picture, see how to become a doctor in the Philippines.
Coverage is stable but not frozen. CEM revises the Bulletin of Information periodically and states that its contents "may be subject to change without prior notice," so read the current edition for your cycle before you finalise a study plan.
Sources
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., NMAT Bulletin of Information (July 2025 edition), including Table 1, Overview of the Online NMAT, with subtest content areas, item counts and time allotments: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/downloads/NMAT_BOI_OCBT_0725-R.pdf
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., "Brief Description of the Test," NMAT Online Registration System: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/brief-description-test
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., NMAT Frequently Asked Questions (July 2025): https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/downloads/NMAT_FAQs_072025.pdf
- Commission on Higher Education, CHED Memorandum Order No. 18, series of 2016, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine Program, on admission requirements: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/upload/CHED_MO_No__18_Doctor_of_Medicine_Program.pdf
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., "Admission to Philippine Medical Schools": https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/admission-philippine-medical-schools
