Controversy Over Derivative Question in Turkey's 2026 Exam; Case Taken to Court

The 2026 Higher Education Institutions Exam (YKS) in Turkey is facing a serious legal crisis. The center of this controversy is question number 23 in the mathematics section of the Field Proficiency Test (AYT) booklet, which focused on the topic of derivatives. Following the exam, the Turkish Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) announced that based on expert reports, the correct answer to this question was changed from option 'C' to option 'A' [1][2]. However, this action failed to quell the protests and instead led to the opening of a judicial case in the country's administrative courts.

Details of the Key Change and Candidate Protests On July 1, 2026, ÖSYM issued an official statement announcing that in addition to the cancellation of question 20 in the literature section, the answer key for math question 23 (derivative) had also been corrected. This decision was made after educational experts pointed out ambiguities in the question design and the existence of two possible options [3]. However, many candidates, particularly high-achieving students competing for top rankings, believe that changing the option alone is not enough and that the question should be completely removed from the score calculation cycle due to scientific flaws [4].

The Plaintiff Student's Account of Rights Infringement Doruk Kerem Atam, an 18-year-old candidate from Sakarya province, is the first person to formally file a lawsuit against this decision. Studying in the Equal Weight (Eşit Ağırlık) track and expecting a single-digit ranking, he told the media that the change in the answer key resulted in a decrease of 2.25 net points in his scorecard [1]. He emphasized: "Two years of my day-and-night efforts have been jeopardized by a mistake in question design. A question that leaves a student hesitant between two options lacks scientific validity and must be canceled, not merely have its option changed" [1][2].

Legal Process and Probability of Full Cancellation With the filing of this complaint, the administrative court is required to first receive the official defense from ÖSYM. Subsequently, a scientific committee consisting of university professors will be appointed as "official experts" (Bilirkişi) to examine the scientific accuracy of question 23 [2]. According to current Turkish laws, the court must issue its final verdict within 15 days after the file is completed. Legal experts believe that if the experts confirm the ambiguity of the question, the probability of its full cancellation is very high [4].

Impact on Final Results and Candidate Rankings If a cancellation ruling is issued, ÖSYM will be obliged to recalculate the scores of all candidates. According to the new ÖSYM procedure, the score of a canceled question is no longer given to all candidates; instead, its weight is distributed among the remaining questions [1]. This could cause widespread shifts in final rankings and lead to significant delays or revisions in the university preference process, which is scheduled to begin soon [3].