Studying Medicine and Dentistry in Greece: Universities, Costs and the English-Language Route

Last reviewed: August 2026.

Two Separate Systems: Greek-Language and English-Language

Greece strictly separates access to medicine by language. Greek citizens and those holding a Greek school-leaving certificate go through the Panhellenic exams — a national selection process whose rigour rivals the German NC. In parallel, five state universities have built their own fully English-language medical programmes reserved exclusively for international students, running outside the Panhellenic system. For German-speaking applicants, only the second route is realistically open.

The Greek-Language Programme: Panhellenic Exams

The Panhellenic exams are a nationwide examination marathon at the end of Greek upper secondary school that determines access to practically all state degree programmes, not just medicine. Without a Greek school education, this route is in practice barely accessible to foreign applicants — unlike Germany or Austria, there is no separate quota for EU citizens holding a foreign school-leaving certificate. It is worth knowing that this exists, but it is not the door that stands open to you.

The English-Language Medical Programmes for International Students

Five state universities now offer six-year medical programmes entirely in English, open exclusively to applicants without Greek citizenship. Teaching is at state universities with their own clinical infrastructure, and the qualification at the end is a full European medical degree.

Greek is not needed for the teaching itself, but it becomes genuinely useful once patient contact begins in the clinical years — most international students pick it up as they go.

NC-Free to Thessaloniki: Our Placement Location in Greece

Of these five, one is ours: at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki you study for six years in English, with fees of 6,000 euros per semester. The degree falls under EU Directive 2005/36/EC and is automatically recognised in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Access is NC-free — no grade average decides whether you get in.

What we do not publish here are requirement lists or timetables. They differ from university to university and from one intake to the next, and a list that reads reassuringly today can be wrong by next year. What works instead is the direct route: tell us about yourself and let us check it properly.

Send us your profile — your school-leaving certificate, any semesters you have already studied, and the countries you could imagine. We then check individually where we can place you, tell you at which university in which country that is, and where we can get you in on a plan you can genuinely rely on. Greece is one option among several: our network of official partner universities covers medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and veterinary medicine across a number of countries, so the answer is rarely limited to a single destination. If Thessaloniki is the right fit, we arrange the study place and handle all the bureaucracy for you. Book a free study consultation and we will go through it together.

{{cta}}