Investigation of Suspicious Questions in Turkey's 2026 YKS; Potential Cancellation of Questions

Following the administration of the 2026 Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) in Turkey, a wave of protests regarding certain questions has emerged on social media and in educational circles. Approximately 2.5 million candidates who participated in this decisive exam are now waiting for the final decision of the Measuring, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) [1].

Controversy in Literature and Mathematics Questions The protests are mainly focused on two questions. The first case concerns the Turkish Language and Literature section, which featured a question about the famous novel "Handan" by Halide Edib Adıvar. According to published reports, the name of one of the novel's characters was incorrectly written as "Nermin" in the question stem, while the correct name is "Neriman" [2]. Literary experts believe this typographical error caused confusion for candidates in choosing the correct option.

The second case, which has sparked more heated debates, is question number 23 in the Mathematics booklet of the Field Proficiency Test (AYT). This question, which relates to the analysis of a derivative graph and determining the interval of a function's roots, has been criticized from a scientific perspective [3]. While the initial answer key released by ÖSYM declared option "C" as correct, many prominent mathematics professors in Turkey believe that with a more detailed analysis of the graph, option "A" is the correct answer, or the question should be canceled due to scientific ambiguity [4].

ÖSYM's Reaction and Formation of an Expert Committee Following increasing pressure and repeated requests from candidates and educational institutions, ÖSYM officially announced that it has started the expert review process for these questions [1]. The organization has formed a specialized committee consisting of university professors and assessment experts to scientifically review the disputed questions. The final report of this committee (Expert Report) is expected to be published next week [2].

According to legal procedures, if a question is proven to have a scientific error or more than one correct answer, that question will be removed from the score calculation cycle. In such a case, the points from the canceled question are distributed among the other questions in that section so that the rights of the candidates are not violated [3].

Consequences for Rankings and Results Announcement Timing Educational experts warn that the cancellation of even a single question in an exam with this level of competition can create significant changes in the final rankings of candidates. Given that the final results of the 2026 Turkey YKS are scheduled for July 22, ÖSYM is striving to resolve the status of the suspicious questions before this date [4].

Currently, candidates and their families are following the news regarding these investigations with high sensitivity. ÖSYM has asked candidates to rely only on news from official sources until the release of an official statement and to avoid fueling rumors on social networks [2].