What NKUA is
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens — NKUA — was founded in 1837 and is the oldest university in Greece and one of the oldest in the eastern Mediterranean. It is broad: medicine, law, sciences, philosophy, theology, economics, education.
Most of it is taught in Greek. What has changed since a 2022 Greek law is that public universities may now run foreign-language programmes for non-EU students at a fee, and NKUA has been among the more active in doing so — including an English-language degree in its School of Medicine and English-taught master's programmes across several faculties.
⚠️ These programmes are new, and a new programme does not automatically run every intake. Before any money moves, confirm on en.uoa.gr that your intake is open, and get the tuition figure from that page rather than from a brochure.
The honest part: a degree is not a licence
Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology, law and teaching are regulated professions. Finishing the degree is the first of three steps, not the whole journey.
| Where you want to practise | What the degree alone gets you |
|---|---|
| Greece | Nothing on its own. Registration plus Greek language competence is required |
| Elsewhere in the EU | Recognition frameworks exist, but each country adds its own registration and language requirement |
| Bangladesh | Nothing on its own. BMDC registration requires a one-year internship in an approved Bangladeshi hospital and the registration qualifying examination, held twice a year |
| UK, US, Australia | Their own licensing examinations, entirely separate |
None of this makes a Greek medical degree a bad idea. It makes the six-year cost a down payment on a longer process, and that is the number a family should be deciding on. Write to BMDC before you enrol, keep the reply, and read the parallel case in the Bulgaria medicine guide, where the same arithmetic applies with more published detail.
What NKUA asks
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Secondary or prior degree | Recognised by the Greek Ministry of Education — a separate administrative step, and the slow one |
| Language | English test score for English-taught programmes; a certified Greek qualification for Greek-taught ones |
| Programme-specific selection | The medical programme runs its own selection; read the programme page for the current method |
| Tuition, in advance | The Greek visa file requires proof of payment, typically at least a third up front |
How you apply and what follows
Greece has no national portal — you apply to the university. Intakes are October, the main one, and February. After an offer comes the national visa, which requires the funds figure of about EUR 7,200 a year plus that up-front tuition proof. The full sequence is in the Greece guide.
Living costs in Athens are higher than Thessaloniki and lower than most of western Europe; the month-by-month breakdown is in the Athens cost guide.
Where applications fail
- 1Ministry recognition of certificates started too late. This is the single most common cause of a lost intake in Greece, and it has nothing to do with the university.
- 2Assuming a new English-taught programme is running. Confirm the intake on the university's own page.
- 3Accepting an agent's fee figure. The university publishes tuition. If those two numbers differ, the difference is the agent's, and you are entitled to ask what it buys.
- 4No plan past graduation. For a regulated profession this is the failure that costs six years rather than one.
Before you apply
- 1Confirm on en.uoa.gr that your programme and intake exist, and note the published fee.
- 2Begin ministry recognition of your HSC or degree immediately.
- 3Write to BMDC about the specific institution and programme, and keep the written reply in your file.
- 4Budget the up-front tuition instalment separately from the EUR 7,200 of visa funds.
Official sources — check for yourself
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Study in Greece — official portal
- Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council
- Greek Ministry of Education
Rules and figures change. We review these articles periodically and show the date above, but always confirm the current requirement with the official source before you act on it.
Common questions
Does the University of Athens really teach medicine in English?+
Its School of Medicine runs an English-language degree aimed at international students, made possible by a 2022 Greek law permitting fee-paying foreign-language programmes at public universities. It is new, so confirm on en.uoa.gr that your intake is running and take the tuition figure from that page.
Can I practise in Bangladesh with a Greek medical degree?+
Not on the degree alone. BMDC registration requires a one-year internship in an approved Bangladeshi hospital and the registration qualifying examination, held twice a year. Write to BMDC about your specific institution before you enrol and keep the reply.
How much is tuition at NKUA?+
Greek-taught public programmes are the cheapest of the nine countries we work with; the English-taught programmes carry a fee that the university publishes on the programme's own page. We do not quote a figure because it is set per programme and changes — and an agent's number is not the university's number.
What delays a Greek application most often?+
Ministry recognition of your Bangladeshi certificates. It is a separate administrative step from the university's decision and it is slow, so start it the day you decide on Greece rather than after you receive an offer.
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