Decisive Changes in Turkey's 2026 University Entrance Exam; Cancellation and Correction of YKS Questions

The Assessment, Selection and Placement Center of Turkey (ÖSYM) announced its final decisions regarding controversial questions after completing technical and scientific reviews of objections from candidates of the 2026 National University Entrance Exam (YKS). According to this announcement published on July 1, 2026, one question in the literature section has been canceled and the answer to one question in the mathematics section has been changed [1][3].

Details of the Change in the Mathematics (AYT) Answer Key According to the official announcement from ÖSYM management, the answer to one of the key mathematics questions in the Field Proficiency Test (AYT) held on June 21, 2026, has been changed. Question number 23 in the basic mathematics booklet, which was previously announced with option "C" as the correct answer, was changed to option "A" after scientific re-evaluations [2][4]. This change will be applied to all candidates who answered this question, and their scores will be calculated based on the new key.

Cancellation of a Question in the Literature and Social Sciences Section In addition to the change in the mathematics subject, ÖSYM decided to completely cancel one question in the "Turkish Language and Literature - Social Sciences-1" section. Question number 20 in the basic booklet of this section has been removed from the score calculation cycle due to scientific or structural errors [1][2]. Reports indicate that candidate objections regarding an error in the name of one of the characters in the novel "Handan" by Halide Edib Adıvar in this question led to this decision [3].

How Scores are Calculated After Question Cancellation Many candidates are concerned about how this cancellation will affect their final ranking. According to the 2026 YKS guide, questions canceled by ÖSYM or judicial authorities will be excluded from the evaluation process [5]. In other words, the total score for that section is calculated based on the number of remaining (valid) questions, and the weight of the canceled question is distributed among the other questions [2][3]. This can cause minor changes in the percentile and ranking of candidates compared to initial estimates.

Next Steps for Candidates With the finalization of the answer keys, the paper grading process has now entered its final stage. Results for the 2026 Turkish university entrance exam are expected to be announced in mid-July according to the previous schedule [4]. Candidates can view their final transcripts, which include the effects of these changes, by visiting the ÖSYM results system. Educational experts recommend that candidates avoid unofficial estimates until official rankings are released, as the change in the mathematics answer key can create significant shifts in the top rankings [1].