Legal Process Initiated to Annul Turkey's 2026 YKS Exam Questions

Today, July 7, 2026, reports indicate that a new legal process has commenced regarding the 2026 Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) questions in Turkey. This action follows changes made by the Measurement, Selection, and Placement Center (ÖSYM) to the answer keys, which sparked widespread dissatisfaction among candidates and educational experts [1].

Details of Changes Implemented by ÖSYM Following the exam held in late June 2026, ÖSYM announced that based on scientific analysis, question number 20 in the "Turkish Language and Literature-Social Sciences-1" booklet of the AYT exam has been completely annulled. Additionally, the answer key for question number 23 in the AYT Mathematics section, concerning derivatives, was changed from option "C" to option "A" [2]. Although the organization attempted to ensure fairness with these corrections, many candidates believe these changes alone are insufficient and have violated the rights of those who spent significant time solving these questions.

Official Complaint and Request for Annulment in Court A candidate named Doruk Kerem Atam from Sakarya province filed an official lawsuit against ÖSYM in the administrative court, requesting a stay of execution for the results and the complete annulment of Mathematics question number 23 [1]. In his defense statement, he argued that simply changing the correct option in a controversial question is not a fair method and the entire question should be removed from the score calculation cycle. Educational lawyers believe that if the court rules in favor of the candidates, ÖSYM will be required to recalculate all scores and rankings for the 2026 exam [2].

Reaction of Educational Institutions and Consequences Educational unions, including "Eğitim Sen," have also reacted to this situation, stating that repeated errors in exam question design damage public trust in the national assessment system [1]. Experts warn that this legal process could delay the university preference and registration schedule. The court is expected to issue its final verdict within the next 15 days after obtaining the opinion of an expert panel (Bilirkişi) [2]. If the question is annulled, its points will be distributed among other questions, and candidate rankings will change nationwide, causing significant concern for families [3].