Student Selection and Placement System

Student Selection and Placement System (Öğrenci Seçme ve Yerleştirme Sistemi, ÖSYS) or Higher Education Foundations Examination (Yükseköğretim Kurumları Sınavı, YKS), formerly Higher Education Examination Undergraduate Placement Examination, (Yükseköğretime Geçis Sınavı-Lisans Yerleştirme Sınav, YGS-LYS), is a standardized test for the admission to higher education in Turkey administered by ÖSYM. Within the Turkish education system, the only way to enter a university is through this exam. 1,692,000 high school graduates took the exam in 2011 and 2,255,386 in 2016. It is a multiple choice exam, with 5 options for each question. It has two parts, together called the Core Proficiency Test-Advanced Proficiency Test (Temel Yeterlilik Testi-Alan Yeterlilik Testi, TYT-AYT).

History
ÖSS was first applied in the late 1960s. Before then, each university selected their students via their own criteria. With the increasing number of youth and the overloaded applications, the universities gathered and founded "Yüksekögretim Kurulu", the Higher Education Council, and a subdivision named ÖSYM, the Student Selection and Placement Center.

1980–1999: ÖSS and ÖYS
In 1980, the number of the exams were increased to two, namely the ÖSS and ÖYS. If a student did not achieve the specified grade in ÖSS, they did not have the right to enter ÖYS, and thus, lost their chance to be accepted to a university. ÖSS consisted of questions about the ninth grade curriculum, and ÖYS was a test on the tenth and eleventh grade curriculum. ÖSS eliminated the students on the basis of the grade they had received in the exam, and ÖYS placed the students to the universities they wanted. This system continued until 1999 when ÖYS was dropped and the system reverted to the single ÖSS exam, with the same format and same questions.

1999–2005: ÖSS and YDS
The ÖSS exam was a 180-minute exam with 180 questions testing students' analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities, as well as knowledge of the high school curriculum.

A foreign language exam, the YDS, was conducted a week after the ÖSS. It was composed of foreign language questions in English, French, and German.

The maximum score that a student could attain on the ÖSS was 380. The highest score on the exam was 300, and the final 80 was based on a student's high school score based on their GPA, graduation rank, and school's past success on the ÖSS exam.

If a student selected a university department related to their studies at high school (namely applied sciences, social sciences, or foreign languages), their score was multiplied by 0.8. If a student preferred to study at a different department from their high school concentration, their score was multiplied by 0.3.

2006–2009: Major changes
Students who took ÖSS in 2006 saw some major changes. The exam now lasted 195 minutes, and had two parts: ÖSS 1 and ÖSS 2. ÖSS 1 had 120 questions on the ninth and tenth grade curriculum.

ÖSS 2 is composed of 120 questions out of which students have to answer 60. Students at foreign languages departments answered ÖSS 1 and foreign language questions; tested separately in YDS.

2010–2018: YGS–LYS
From 2010 to 2018, students took the Transition to Higher Education Examination (YGS) in March. Those who pass the YGS are then entitled to take the Undergraduate Placement Examination (LYS), in June. Students who only take the YGS, in which students have to answer 160 questions in 160 minutes, are able to apply for associate degree programs. There were five LYS sessions, whereas the previous university entrance system, the ÖSS, was held once in a year throughout the country.

2018–present: TYT–AYT
The Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) is a 3-session exam. All applicants applying to YKS are required to attend the Basic Proficiency Test (TYT). Other sessions are optional.

The first session is the Basic Proficiency Test (TYT), with 125 questions. The second session is the 2nd Field Qualification Tests (AYT), and the third session is the Foreign Language Test (English) (YDT).

Results are announced in the second half of June and students have to make their university preferences by the last week of July. They are placed in courses according to their scores and this is announced at the end of August.

Criticism
In 2005, "Life = 180 minutes?" was a slogan used by the Turkish Education Association criticizing the ÖSS system for attempting to encompass all the work of a student throughout their 12 years of academic life in a 3-hour multiple choice exam. The president of the ÖSYM exam board said that "ÖSS is the only available university entrance system until the number of people who apply to universities is lowered."

For a student, the education they receive at school is seen as not enough to succeed in ÖSS. Therefore, there is a huge sector in Turkey of private evening and weekend cram schools ("dershane") all around the country. These institutions prepare students solely for exams, including university entrance exams. All "dershane"s compete with each other in order to create the "champion", the one to score the highest mark in Turkey. The dershane sector is bolstered every year by huge media interest as the results of the exam are disclosed and the students who rank in the top few appear on TV and in the newspapers. In 2011, ÖSYM charged newspapers 150000 TL for past exam questions, while forbidding television channels other than the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation from broadcasting the questions.