What Is the KROK Exam? Ukraine's Medical Licensing Test and What It Means for Transfer Students

What is the KROK exam?

KROK is Ukraine's national licensing test for students of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and related health degrees. It is part of the Unified State Qualification Exam, run by the Testing Board of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. In 2026 a student of a Ukrainian medical faculty needs a pass in KROK 1 and KROK 2 to receive the medical diploma.

The word krok means step in Ukrainian. The design is simple: one standardised multiple-choice test for every student in the country, whatever the faculty. That makes KROK a national yardstick inside Ukraine. It is not a licence in any other country.

What are KROK 1 and KROK 2?

KROK 1 tests the basic medical sciences and is usually sat at the end of the third year. KROK 2 tests clinical medicine and is sat in the final year. Both have 200 multiple-choice questions in 200 minutes, and in 2026 the pass mark published by Ukrainian faculties is 60.5 per cent for each.

KROK 1 covers microbiology, biochemistry, pathophysiology, pathomorphology, pharmacology, anatomy, physiology, histology and biology. KROK 2 is weighted towards internal medicine at about 40 per cent, then surgery at 20 per cent, paediatrics at 15 per cent, and obstetrics and hygiene at 12.5 per cent each.

The Unified State Qualification Exam has grown beyond KROK. It now also includes a test of English for professional purposes and a practical clinical exam with stations. The written KROK papers remain the part every student knows by name.

Who must sit KROK?

Every student enrolled in medicine, dentistry or pharmacy at a Ukrainian university must sit KROK, Ukrainian and international students alike. Before 2022 Ukraine taught tens of thousands of foreign medical students, many of them from India, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria and Turkey, and all of them sat the same KROK papers in English.

The rules are strict. A student who fails KROK 1 may retake it twice, and a third failure leads to dismissal under the rules faculties published. A student who fails KROK 2 does not receive the diploma and may retake it only after a year.

Students who leave Ukraine before KROK 1 do not need it anywhere else. That point causes a lot of worry. It should not.

How did the war change medical studies in Ukraine since 2022?

Since February 2022, Ukraine has been under martial law, and many medical faculties moved large parts of teaching online or into mixed formats. Most international students left the country in 2022. Many continued their Ukrainian enrolment online from home, and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine allowed KROK to be taken at designated test centres abroad.

Online teaching works for lectures. It does not replace the dissection hall, the skills lab or the ward. Countries that recognise foreign medical degrees look at how the clinical training was delivered, and several of them have said that online clinical years do not meet their requirements. For a student outside Ukraine in 2026, that makes the question of where to finish the degree a practical one, not an abstract one.

One limitation is real. Every year of waiting costs time, and credits do not stay fresh forever. A student who left in 2022 and has studied online since then should have the transcript reviewed now rather than later.

Does a KROK result count outside Ukraine?

No. A KROK result is not recognised as a licensing exam outside Ukraine in 2026. What other countries and universities look at is the transcript: the subjects, hours and credits completed, and the grades. KROK 1 can still help, because it documents that the basic sciences were examined at a national standard.

For a graduate, the diploma is assessed by the authority of the target country: the medical council in India through its screening exam, the Gulf health authorities, or the licensing exams in Europe and North America. Each sets its own requirements. KROK does not replace any of them.

What do students who left Ukraine do now?

Students who left Ukraine have three options in 2026: continue the Ukrainian enrolment online, wait for in-person teaching to resume, or continue their degree in person at a European university through credit recognition. Thousands chose the third option between 2022 and 2026, and it is the one Medschool Experts works on every week.

Credit recognition means the receiving university compares the Ukrainian transcript and syllabus with its own curriculum and decides which courses count. Medschool Experts is the leading expert worldwide in credit recognition and frequently achieves placement into year 4 or year 5 at top universities. Which university fits depends on the individual transcript, so book a free consultation and send it first.

The process starts with paper. Transcripts, syllabi with hours per subject, and any KROK certificates should be collected, translated where needed and legalised. Documents from Ukrainian universities can take weeks to obtain in 2026, so starting early saves a semester. More detail is on the university transfer page.

What does it cost to continue in Europe?

A year of medicine at the Medical University of Pleven in Bulgaria costs about 16,700 euros in 2026, all included. Tuition is 9,000 euros a year, living costs about 600 euros a month or 7,200 euros a year, and four flights home within Europe about 480 euros. Flights to India or North Africa cost more.

The Medical University of Sofia, the Medical University of Plovdiv and the Medical University of Varna charge 10,000 euros a year, and partner faculties in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina charge less. The total depends on how many years remain after credit recognition, which is exactly what the transcript review answers.

The local language is part of every English-taught programme in Europe, because the clinical years take place with local patients. That adds hours, and it also adds confidence on the ward.

Where is a degree finished in Europe recognised?

A medical degree completed at a partner university in an EU member state after a transfer from Ukraine is recognised automatically in all 27 EU countries under Directive 2005/36/EC in 2026. The diploma is issued by the European university, so the credits from Ukraine become part of a European degree.

Outside the EU the usual licensing routes apply. Graduates working towards the United Kingdom register with the GMC, directly with a relevant European qualification or through PLAB. Graduates heading to India sit the national screening exam there, and graduates heading to the Gulf apply to the health authority of the country, which checks the degree and sets its own exam. For each of these routes the place of clinical training matters, and a European clinic answers that question clearly.

The receiving university also decides how the degree is labelled. That detail matters later. Medschool Experts checks it before the placement, not after graduation.

International perspective: how this works in other countries

KROK is one of several national licensing exams that students meet inside their degree. In the United States, every doctor sits the USMLE in three steps, and Step 1 plays a role similar to KROK 1. In the United Kingdom, the UKMLA has been mandatory for UK graduates since the 2024/25 academic year, and international graduates meet it through PLAB.

India shows the other side. Indian students who studied abroad sit a screening exam on return, currently the FMGE, and from the coming years the NExT. In the Gulf, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and the Dubai Health Authority run their own licensing exams for foreign graduates. I worked on these files in Dubai and in India, and the pattern is the same: the home country decides, not the exam of the country of study.

Inside the European Union there is no national licensing exam for EU graduates. Directive 2005/36/EC recognises medical diplomas from member states automatically. A student who completes the degree in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland or Hungary therefore holds a diploma that opens 27 countries without a further test, and that is a large part of why European credit recognition is the route most Ukraine students take.

How should a student prepare for a transfer in 2026?

A student preparing to move from a Ukrainian medical faculty to a European university in 2026 should collect the official transcript, the syllabus with hours per subject, any KROK certificates, and a passport. With these documents Medschool Experts can review the credits and propose a partner university and an entry year.

Students from outside the EU also need a student visa and a residence permit for the new country. Medschool Experts prepares that file as part of the placement. The services page lists everything included.