Transfer from the University of Malta: Where to Continue Medicine in 2026

Is a transfer from the University of Malta possible in 2026?

Yes. A transfer from the University of Malta, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery to another medical university is possible in 2026, including after a failed September session or a decision that you cannot progress. Your passed study-units and ECTS credits stay on your transcript. Medschool Experts plans the move, and the consultation is free.

The University of Malta traces its roots to 1769, and its medical school is the one that trains most of Malta's own doctors. The MD runs over five years: two pre-clinical years in Msida, then three clinical years built around attachments at Mater Dei Hospital. Teaching is in English, and every year carries 60 ECTS.

A study transfer is a complex undertaking. Our experts have almost 10 years of experience in study transfers worldwide, which is why they plan and carry it out confidently. The consultation is free.

What do the University of Malta exam regulations say about resits and failing a year?

The University of Malta gives MD students four assessment attempts per study-unit, with a September supplementary session capped at 45 %. A failed unit of up to 10 ECTS can be referred to the next year once in the whole course. A failed unit above 10 ECTS after September means repeating the year, and each part of the course allows only one repeat.

Two documents set these rules. The first is the Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (M.D.) Degree Course Regulations, 2013, published as Legal Notice 310 of 2013 and last amended by Legal Notice 66 of 2026. The second is the General Regulations for University Undergraduate Awards, 2019 (Legal Notice 248 of 2019, amended in 2021), which apply wherever the course regulations say nothing different.

The design is strict, and it is designed that way on purpose. There is no compensation in the MD regulations, which means a 43 % in one unit cannot be balanced by a 78 % in another. The general undergraduate rules do know compensation for units with at least 35 % and a year average of 50 %, but the MD course regulations require each study-unit to be passed individually. Students who come from systems with compensation are often surprised by this in their first January.

The September session is the next safety net, and it is a thin one. Every supplementary mark is capped at 45 %, so the best you can achieve is a bare pass. Under the general regulations, the September session is also limited to incomplete units totalling no more than 20 credits.

The ECTS size of a unit decides what happens next. Units of 10 ECTS or less can be referred once, on academic counselling and a Board decision, and then sat again the following year. Units above 10 ECTS cannot be referred: the student repeats the year and retakes every unit, and the new marks replace the old ones. If a referred unit is failed again after the next September session, regulation 10(5) states that the student "shall not be allowed to continue with the Course".

Repeat years are rationed. The Board may allow one repeat in the pre-clinical part and one in the clinical part. An additional year of studies is granted once only. A student who has used these and still has a failed unit is, in the words of the regulations, "unable to progress in the Course".

What happens if you are dismissed from the University of Malta?

At the University of Malta, an MD student who exhausts all attempts or fails a referred unit again cannot continue with the course. The student may then request an exit award: a Diploma after 60 ECTS, a Higher Diploma after 120 ECTS or a Bachelor in General Studies after 180 ECTS. Passed units stay on the transcript and remain usable for a transfer.

The regulations do not use the word "expelled". They use quieter phrases: "unable to progress", "not allowed to continue", "required to withdraw" in the general rules. The effect is the same. Your place in the MD ends, and the Board decides on any exit award.

What the decision does not do is wipe your record. Every study-unit you passed, with its grade and ECTS value, appears on your University of Malta transcript. Receiving faculties work with that transcript. A student who leaves with 120 ECTS of pre-clinical medicine has completed two full years of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology, and many of our partner faculties can build on that.

Timing matters. Results of the September session are usually known in early autumn, when most European faculties have already started their winter semester. The best moment to act is before that session, when you can already see that a large unit is at risk. Under the general regulations, appeals against decisions about absence or non-submission must be lodged within three working days, so there is little time to think once results arrive. Talk to us in July or August if September looks uncertain.

Which subjects do students fail most at the University of Malta?

At the University of Malta, the bottleneck units are the anatomy-heavy system blocks and Cell Biology and Biochemistry in year 1, Integrated Biomedical Sciences and the two nervous system blocks in year 2, and Pathology and Respiratory and Cardio-Vascular in year 3. Their size in ECTS matters as much as their content, because large units cannot be referred.

Year 1: Organisation of the Body, the musculoskeletal blocks and Cell Biology and Biochemistry. Anatomy is taught with dissection and spread across several system units, each worth 4 to 8 ECTS. The year-long Cardiovascular System unit (8 ECTS) stands out because it runs the whole year and is examined at the end.

Year 2: Integrated Biomedical Sciences (10 ECTS), Nervous System: Head and Neck and Special Senses (7 ECTS), Higher Brain Function and the Spinal Cord (7 ECTS). Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology are the classic second-year wall. Integrated Biomedical Sciences sits exactly at the 10-ECTS threshold, and Year 2 is the year from which a failed student cannot progress to the clinical part without the pre-clinical units complete.

Year 3: Pathology (10 ECTS) and Respiratory and Cardio-Vascular (9 ECTS). The first clinical year adds an Integrated Clinical Skills examination.

Year 5: finals. The written papers are sat in January and the clinical units in June, mostly as OSCE stations. Entry requires a certificate of satisfactory clinical placements and at least 80 % attendance at the shadowing programme.

What do students criticise about the University of Malta?

Students of the University of Malta's MD most often criticise the strict attendance rules, the 45 % cap on every resit, the lack of compensation, the Medical Maltese requirement for international students, high rents around Msida and the €26,000 fee for non-EU students. These themes recur in student reviews and public discussions.

Attendance and barring. Attendance at clinical attachments is compulsory, and the regulations allow the faculty to bar students with poor attendance from assessment. A bar means 0 and an F. For students who face illness or family problems during the year, this is the rule that hurts most. A transfer to a faculty with a different structure can be the way to keep going, and we organise it.

Every resit is capped. A recurring complaint is that supplementary and referred units can never score more than 45 %. Students who fail once lose any chance of a strong grade in that unit, which matters for later applications. Combined with no compensation, the system leaves little room for one bad day.

Maltese on the wards. Teaching is in English, but many patients, especially older ones, speak Maltese. Non-Maltese students must obtain a Medical Maltese proficiency certificate before starting, and some still find bedside communication hard. Our partner universities are used to international students and teach the clinical years with that in mind.

Cost of living and fees. Rents in Msida, Gżira and Sliema are shaped by tourism and have risen strongly. Non-EU students pay €26,000 a year in tuition on top. For them in particular, a transfer can save a large sum.

The University of Malta also has real strengths. Its MD is a state degree from an EU university with automatic recognition across the EU under Directive 2005/36/EC, and the Faculty sits right next to Mater Dei Hospital, so clinical students are on the wards every morning.

Failed exams at the University of Malta: what now?

If you have failed exams at the University of Malta, first check the ECTS value of each failed unit and whether you have already used your one referral or your repeat year. A failed unit up to 10 ECTS may still be referable. A failed unit above 10 ECTS after September means a repeat year, and that is often the moment to consider a transfer.

Make a short list. Which units are open, how many of the four attempts have you used, and is the next attempt in September with a 45 % cap? Then ask yourself one plain question: is repeating a year in Malta the best use of your time, or would another faculty let you continue in the year you are actually ready for?

The rule of thumb for a transfer is clear. Usually no more than two exams may be open, and their credits must stay below a maximum. Every case is checked individually, and faculties often place transfer students into high years when the curriculum matches.

Do not withdraw in panic. A student who leaves with an exit award still has a transcript. A student who leaves without telling anyone may have a harder time collecting documents later.

Why do students consider a transfer from the University of Malta?

Students consider a transfer from the University of Malta for five reasons: a looming repeat year under strict progression rules, an exhausted referral or repeat allowance, the €26,000 non-EU fee, the cost of living on the island and personal circumstances. EU students rarely leave because of tuition; they leave because of time.

• Repeat year. One failed 10-plus ECTS unit means retaking every unit of the year. Many students would rather continue elsewhere in the matching year.
• Used-up allowances. Only one referral in the whole course and one repeat per part. Once they are gone, the next failure is final.
• Tuition for non-EU students. €26,000 per year is high by any measure.
• Island living. Rents, distances from home, summers that are long and hot. Small things that add up.
• Life. Health, family, a different idea of where to practise later.

None of this means the University of Malta is the wrong university in general. It means it may be the wrong fit for you, now.

How are credits from the University of Malta recognised (ECTS)?

Credits from the University of Malta are awarded in ECTS: 60 per year and 300 for the five-year MD. Each study-unit carries its own ECTS value and code, such as MDS1037 Organisation of the Body. A receiving faculty compares these units and their descriptions with its own curriculum and decides which to recognise and which year you enter.

Malta's integrated, system-based curriculum has one practical consequence. Anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are taught inside system blocks rather than as stand-alone subjects. A receiving faculty with a classic subject-based curriculum will want the unit descriptions to see how much anatomy sits inside "Respiratory System" or "Renal System". We prepare that mapping for you, because it decides how many credits are recognised.

A short international comparison. In the European Union, credits follow ECTS: 60 per year and around 25 to 30 hours of work per credit, which makes transfers between EU faculties comparatively straightforward. In the United Kingdom, medical schools use their own credit frameworks and admit almost exclusively into year 1 or through graduate-entry routes, so transfers between UK schools are rare. In the United States, medicine is a graduate degree, credits count in semester hours, and transfers between MD programmes are few and usually limited to the second or third year. The University of Malta is part of the European system, which is the most open of the three to students who need to move.

Units passed in a repeat year replace those of the failed year, and those are the marks that count. Units passed through the 45 % cap are full passes for credit purposes.

Which universities accept transfer students from the University of Malta?

Several of our European partner universities accept transfer students from the University of Malta into English-taught medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary programmes. Medschool Experts has 25+ partner universities in Europe specifically for this situation, checks every profile individually and free of charge, and we match your Malta transcript with the faculty where you lose the least time.

We do not publish a list of destinations, and for good reason. The right faculty for a student who completed year 2 but failed Integrated Biomedical Sciences is not the right one for a student who used both repeat years in the clinical part. We look at your units, your goals and your budget, then we propose.

Some partner faculties place transfer students into high years when the curriculum overlap is strong. Others are particularly suited to students who need a different exam rhythm after a hard time in Msida.

What does studying at our European partner universities cost compared with the University of Malta?

It depends on your passport. EU/EEA students pay no tuition for the MD at the University of Malta, so for them a transfer does not save tuition; it saves time, rent and often a repeat year. Non-EU students pay €26,000 per year in Malta, while our European partner universities start from €1,750 tuition per semester for Medicine and Dentistry, from €1,500 for Pharmacy and from €3,000 for Veterinary Medicine.

For a non-EU student with three years left, the tuition difference alone is about €67,500. For EU students the calculation is different: tuition in Malta is free, but living costs on the island are often higher than at our partner locations, and a lost year costs a year of rent and a year of a doctor's salary later. Time is the real currency here.

We help with the application without loss of time and rescue the career.

Can I transfer from the University of Malta without losing a year?

Often yes. Students who transfer from the University of Malta with no more than two open units can usually continue in the matching year or close to it, because faculties often place transfer students into high years. For many students, a transfer actually avoids the repeat year that the Malta regulations would require.

The key is the timing around the September session. If you already know in summer that a large unit is likely to fail, a transfer can be prepared in parallel. If you wait for the result, the winter semester elsewhere may already have started. It is still possible then, just tighter.

Send us your transcript early. The earlier we see it, the more options stay open.

Can I continue towards the USMLE, the UK or the Gulf after leaving the University of Malta?

Yes. A transfer from the University of Malta keeps the USMLE, the UK and the Gulf states within reach. Some of our partner universities have very strong USMLE preparation, with pass rates of up to 100 % among their students in the last two years.

For the United States, the final medical school must be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools and meet the requirements for ECFMG certification. For the United Kingdom, graduates of European medical schools follow the licensing route of the General Medical Council. Gulf licensing authorities assess graduates through their own exams and prefer degrees from established state-accredited universities. We factor your target country into the choice of faculty from the first conversation.

Planning to practise in Malta later? Then the Medical Maltese requirement and registration with the Medical Council of Malta apply no matter where you graduate in the EU. Tell us, and we include it in the plan.

How does a transfer from the University of Malta work with Medschool Experts, step by step?

A transfer from the University of Malta with Medschool Experts runs in six steps and usually takes four to seven months: a free consultation, a review of your transcript and unit descriptions, matching with the best entry year, a concrete offer, credit recognition at the new faculty and your first day there. You stay enrolled in Malta until the new place is confirmed.

1. Free consultation. Your units, your attempts, your goal. No obligation.
2. Transcript review. You send your University of Malta transcript and the descriptions of passed study-units. We map the system blocks onto partner curricula.
3. Matching. We identify where the highest entry year is realistic.
4. Offer and decision. You receive a concrete proposal with costs and timing.
5. Credit recognition. We prepare the recognition file so your Malta units are credited correctly.
6. First day. Arrival, housing, enrolment. Only then do you close your file in Msida.

Students often tell us the hardest part was deciding to ask. The rest is a process, and we know it well.