TMS - Test for
Medical Studies
Scholastic aptitude test for human medicine, dental medicine and veterinary medicine
The TMS – Test for Medical Studies – is one of the most renowned subject-specific scholastic ability tests in Germany. Responsible for coordination and organisation of the TMS is the central TMS Coordination Office (“TMS-Koordinationsstelle“), which is located at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty. ITB is responsible for the development and evaluation of the test.
The TMS consists of nine groups of tasks proven suitable for ensuring a very good prediction of success in medical studies. The various tasks cover competencies such as memory, reasoning and concentration.
The TMS is currently being used by 36 medical faculties in the process of admitting
students to human medicine and by 28 faculties for admitting students to dental medicine within the framework of the quotas “Zusätzliche Eignungsquote” and “Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen”, which are part of the German Higher Education Act. In addition, the pharmacy in Leipzig, molecular medicine in Ulm and numerous “Landarztquoten” (Quotas for strengthening medical care in rural areas) of the federal states considers the TMS in the admission or selection process.
The largest scholastic aptitude test in the German-speaking world
In 2021, more than 22,500 participants registered for the four test days of the TMS. The logistics required for this were enormous: the test material weighs a total of almost eleven tonnes and covers a total of more than 90,000 km on the way to and from the various test sites, all well guarded.
This makes the TMS the largest subject-specific study ability test in the German-speaking world.
In 2022, the TMS will again be carried out on four test dates at more than 80 test locations throughout Germany. For the first time, there will be dates in spring as well as in autumn:
TMS Spring 2022:
Saturday, 07 May 2022
Sunday, 08 May 2022
TMS Autumn 2022:
Sunday, 06 November 2022
Monday, 07 November 2022
We expect another record number of participants.
Content and structure of the TMS
The Test for Medical Study Programmes (TMS) is a subject-specific study ability test consisting of eight groups of exercises. The pure processing time is just over five hours. However, with registration, admission and lunch break, the test takes around eight hours to complete.
The TMS consists of the following groups of exercises:
- Muster zuordnen (Recognizing Patterns)
- Medizinisch-naturwissenschaftliches Grundverständnis (Basic medical and scientific understanding)
- Schlauchfiguren (Tube figures)
- Quantitative und formale Probleme (Solving Quantitative Problems)
- Merkfähigkeitstest (Figuren lernen / Fakten lernen) (Memory test (learning figures / learning facts))
- Textverständnis (Understanding and Interpreting Texts)
- Diagramme und Tabellen (Analysing Charts)
The examination does not cover subject-specific knowledge which is the subject of the final exam (“Abitur”) or of another examination which conveys the higher education entrance qualification.
Further information can be found on the TMS website (only available in German).
EMS - Aptitude test for medical study programmes - Adaptation of the TMS for Switzerland
In Switzerland, the aptitude test for medical study programmes (EMS), which is an adaptation of the German TMS test concept, is used in a similar way to the TMS. For the EMS, too, we primarily act as test developers, while responsibility for implementation and organisation lies with the Centre for Test Development and Diagnostics (ZTD) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).
The EMS is offered in German, French and Italian.
