YÖS and other entrance exams for Turkish universities in 2026

Two exams share the name YÖS

The word YÖS still covers two tests. TR-YÖS is the Exam for Foreign Students for Higher Education in Türkiye, run by ÖSYM. A university YÖS is a test that one university writes and scores itself. A page that prints only “YÖS” has not named the sitting. Ask in writing before you pay a fee or book a flight.

ÖSYM has run TR-YÖS since 2023. YÖK, the Council of Higher Education, says in its principles on admission from abroad that the exam is given in Turkish, German, Arabic, French, English and Russian, twice a year from 2024, and that institutions are to use TR-YÖS results when they admit students from abroad. Quotas, the visa and the student residence permit are in Applying to Turkish universities as an international student in 2026. This page stays with the exams.

A university YÖS is no longer the state-university route. Study in Türkiye describes it as an exam some foundation universities hold, in Türkiye or abroad, and score themselves. The 2026 YÖK principles let an approved directive name national exams, international exams, a high-school average, or an exam the university holds. From 2024–2025, state universities are outside that last method. Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University’s 2026–2027 guide says state institutions’ own foreign-student exams have been removed, so its medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law places are read from the diploma and from TR-YÖS. Ankara Medipol’s international page, as it stood in October 2026, still accepted a university YÖS beside TR-YÖS. One campus’s private score is a different document from a TR-YÖS result.

What the 2026 principles settle

YÖK’s admissions page, under Law No. 2547 article 45/f, is the frame for a self-funded associate or bachelor’s place. You apply to the university with the exam and the score it has set. YÖK’s examples are TR-YÖS, Abitur, SAT and the IB. YÖK publishes the quotas. The institution publishes dates, tuition and the other conditions. There is no national form and no national minimum.

School-leaving results, with Abitur, the IB, GCE and Tawjihi as the principles’ examples, have no validity limit there. University-entrance results, with SAT and TR-YÖS as examples, are limited to two years. A university can still demand a higher score or a different exam. Two years is a ceiling on age. It does not force an old result to be read.

Who may use the international quota is set out in the application guide. One 2026 change sits beside the exam. YÖK’s page says candidates who enrolled in, or graduated from, a secondary school in Türkiye enter higher education in Türkiye and in Northern Cyprus, from 2026, through the YKS. The stated exceptions are embassy schools, MOBİS international schools, and foreigners brought under a Ministry of National Education project. If the school years were mixed, ask the university in writing. A degree you already hold is an equivalence question, later on this page.

SAT, ACT, A-level, IB, a national result, or a grade average

YÖK publishes no single menu of substitutes. Each directive names its exams and its floors. The figures below are from those universities’ own 2026 pages. Confirm the cell on the day you file.

Adıyaman University’s table of 9 September 2026 accepts TR-YÖS on a 500-point scale, with the floor changing by faculty, valid for two years. SAT needs at least 1000 out of 1600 and mathematics of at least 650 out of 800. ACT mathematics is at least 26 out of 36. Iran’s Konkur, named there as the Konkur general state examination, is at least 250 out of 350, valid for two years. Afghanistan’s university-entrance result has its own row. Use the figure in that row.

Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University’s August 2026 guide, for an additional call, is a different list. SAT I needs at least 1000 out of 1600 and mathematics of at least 600, valid for two years. ACT asks for mathematics, science reasoning and the composite, each at least 21. An IB diploma needs at least 28, with no time limit on that table. GCE A-level needs at least three subjects, one related to the programme. Abitur is read on the German scale: 1 is the strong end, and 4 is the weak end that table accepts. For Iran the row is the high-school diploma, Diplome Debirestan, with the pre-university certificate, Pishdaneshgahi, at an average of at least 15 out of 20. A high-school average of at least 60 out of 100 is only for systems with no school-leaving exam.

Galatasaray University’s July 2026 sheet sets that Iranian pair at 17. Ankara Medipol’s page, read in October 2026, sets it at 12 out of 20, and also accepts a diploma grade brought to 50 out of 100, a SAT I total of at least 1000 valid for two years, an Abitur of 4, a TR-YÖS of at least 300, and a university YÖS of at least 60 out of 100. Four pages, four Iranian rules. A missing country does not make a diploma average the fallback. Ask which line the office will read.

Choosing the exam your shortlist actually reads

Build the programme list first. Your first steps toward studying in Türkiye is that shortlist, and Education in Türkiye can help you compare the programmes. The exam follows the list.

A score you already hold counts on a campus only when the directive names it, the number meets that page’s floor, and a university-entrance result is inside the two-year limit. A school-leaving result has no national time limit. The university can still turn a low score away.

If the places you want are state programmes that, like Erzincan’s medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law, read TR-YÖS, that is the sitting to plan. A private YÖS, or a SAT the page never mentions, should not be assumed to fill the gap. One foundation campus may accept a score you hold while a second campus still wants TR-YÖS.

For readers in Iran, “admission without Konkur” usually means without the Iranian Konkur. Some directives do that, and they still rank the file. A directive that lists Konkur, as Adıyaman’s table does, is the other pattern. Readers in Afghanistan meet the same split: a national entrance result on one table, a school record on another. The Dari or Pashto page is a translation question, taken up below.

What the 2026 TR-YÖS paper contains

ÖSYM’s 11 October 2026 announcement, carried that week, describes the paper: Sayısal Yetenek Testi (Numerical Ability) and Temel Matematik Testi (Basic Mathematics), 40 questions each. The time is 100 minutes, from 11:15 Türkiye time. The questions are in Turkish, with German, English, French, Russian and Arabic alongside. Approved extra time may add 30 minutes.

The scoring formula, the topic list and the fee are in the guide on osym.gov.tr. This page does not copy them. The universities above print TR-YÖS floors on a scale whose top is 500. The result is a number on that scale, not a placement. TR-YÖS is not a language exam, and a TÖMER certificate does not replace it. Read who may sit before you pay. The 2026 announcements give 444 67 96.

How to register, on the 2026 calendar

The dates are ÖSYM’s exam calendar and the announcements on osym.gov.tr, as read in October 2026. The fee is the figure on the payment step. This page quotes no lira amount. Both 2026 windows were extended, and both extensions were announced first.

• Read the current guide, including who may sit. Apply yourself at tryos.osym.gov.tr. Pay on the route the guide names, keep the receipt, and do not pay a third party for a seat.
• 2026-TR-YÖS/1 was on 12 April 2026. Applications were announced from 14 January at 11:50 to 3 February at 23:59. The calendar listed late applications for 9–11 February. On 3 February ÖSYM extended application and exam-fee payment until 11 February. Results are dated 7 May 2026.
• 2026-TR-YÖS/2 was on 11 October 2026. Applications ran from 9 July at 10:00 to 3 August at 23:59, with a late window from 7 August at 10:00 to 11 August at 23:59. On 3 August ÖSYM extended application and payment to 11 August. Entry documents opened on 29 September 2026. Results are dated 5 November 2026.
• Check the centre, the language and the time on the entry document. Fix a name that disagrees with the passport before the day.
• Send the result only to universities whose directive accepts TR-YÖS, inside two years, with the other documents that directive names. ÖSYM does not assign a department.

What a score does inside an application

The score is evidence. The university sets the weight and decides whether the quota has room. YÖK tells institutions to use TR-YÖS, and it does not place you.

Erzincan’s 2026–2027 guide lets a candidate submit more than one exam from its table if at least one meets the floor. Outside medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law, it ranks with 70 percent from the diploma and 30 percent from the strongest converted exam. Those four programmes use the diploma and TR-YÖS. Adıyaman prints faculty floors and does not describe that blend.

Fine arts, music and sports can add a talent exam. Study in Türkiye says some programmes do. An offer, when one comes, is still not a visa or a residence permit. Those steps are in the 2026 application guide. The university admits.

Turkish prep, TÖMER, and English

The entrance score and the classroom language are separate. Turkish-medium programmes often ask for TÖMER, the university’s own Turkish exam, or a Yunus Emre certificate. Turkish-German University’s Study in Türkiye profile prints a Turkish requirement, including a TÖMER B2 line with the base score beside it. A level from another campus is a different rule. If the certificate is missing or short, ask whether the answer is a Turkish preparatory year, a refusal, or a deferral. The year is a course. It is not a hidden acceptance.

English-medium programmes often ask for a named English test or for the university’s own exam after arrival. Middle East Technical University’s profile describes English as the language of instruction across its programmes. If no accepted English result is in the file, ask whether a preparatory year exists or the file waits.

Türkiye Scholarships uses a separate Turkish-prep rule on turkiyeburslari.gov.tr. That rule does not govern a self-funded file. A TÖMER booklet does not answer a faculty that asked for TOEFL, IELTS, or its own English exam.

The diploma, the transcript, the translation, the equivalence

The score is one page. The usual companions are a passport, a diploma or temporary graduation certificate, a transcript, photographs, and a translation when the originals are in another language. Agree the language with the office first. Many pages ask for Turkish or English, notarized in Türkiye or certified by a Turkish representation.

Iran and Afghanistan are outside the Apostille Convention. The legalisation route, and the difference between a sworn translation and a notarial act, are in the Persian, Dari and Pashto guide. Diploma and transcript translation is the service page for those two documents. The first message names the document, the languages, the issuing country and the university, and leaves out a passport number. Persian spelling, the passport’s Latin spelling and an older diploma often differ by a letter. The translation follows the page it translates.

High-school equivalence is the Ministry of National Education’s reading of a secondary diploma against a Turkish high-school diploma, when registration asks for it. YÖK equivalence is for associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees earned abroad. Erzincan’s guide says a foreign high-school diploma has to be equivalent to a Turkish one. Start that file when the list makes it a registration document. Translation services can prepare the pair once the language and the certification are named. The office accepts or refuses the booklet.

Mistakes that waste a sitting

The expensive ones repeat.

• Sitting a foundation YÖS when the page required TR-YÖS, or offering TR-YÖS where the page still wants its own exam.
• Treating Konkur, the Debirestan and Pishdaneshgahi average, and a plain GPA as one document.
• Using a SAT or TR-YÖS result older than two years.
• Copying one floor, or Erzincan’s 70/30 blend, onto a campus with another rule.
• Reading “without Konkur” as a promise of a place.
• Registering after the window and hoping for an extension that has not been announced.
• Translating into the wrong language, or before the legalisation the office asked for.
• Filing YÖK degree equivalence where the list asked for a Ministry high-school equivalence.
• Treating TÖMER, or a prep year, as the entrance score.
• Missing a talent exam, or treating the admission letter as the end of the visa and residence file.

What to do next

Keep four bookmarks: YÖK’s admissions page, osym.gov.tr for the guide and the calendar, the university’s international page, and Study in Türkiye’s TR-YÖS note.

These pages were read in October 2026. Confirm the floor and the calendar before you pay. Education in Türkiye is where TürkiyeRota helps you compare programmes and line the documents up. Translation services prepares the diploma and the transcript once the office has named the language. Quotas, scholarships, the visa and the residence permit stay in the 2026 application guide. The university admits. A careful file is not an offer.