Does every university still hold its own YÖS exam?

No, and this is the most out-of-date belief in circulation about the system. TR-YÖS is one centralised exam run by ÖSYM in two sessions a year, and universities work from that result. What they still decide separately is the threshold and the quota.

What is the exam format?

ÖSYM publishes the structure and marking for each session in that session's guide. We prepare to the guide for the session you are sitting rather than quoting a format that may have changed — the guide is linked at the foot of this page.

For the exam, very little: the mathematics is presented with minimal language and we teach in English. For the degree itself it depends entirely on the programme, since some are taught in Turkish and some in English.

Which universities accept TR-YÖS?

A large number, with different thresholds and quotas, and several also accept other qualifications instead. Build the shortlist early; it determines what score you are actually aiming at.

When are the sessions?

Two a year, on dates ÖSYM publishes in advance. Check the current calendar before planning, and note that the university application windows run separately from the exam.

Is there a group course?

Sixty hours in classes of six, taught in English, worked from the published format for your session and from past papers. One-to-one suits a specific gap or an unusual shortlist.

YÖS preparation for Turkish universities, live online

The thing most preparation still gets wrong: YÖS is no longer a different exam at every university. TR-YÖS is a single centralised test run by ÖSYM and held in two sessions a year, and universities work from its result instead of each setting their own paper. What they do still decide separately is the threshold, the quota, and which other qualifications they will accept alongside it. So the question that shapes your preparation is not which exam any more — it is which universities, and what they ask for.

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Exam format

What the YÖS actually looks like

The structure, the timing and the scoring, stated plainly — before anything about a course.

Length: Set by ÖSYM for each session
Questions: Mathematics and reasoning, in the balance ÖSYM publishes for the session
Scored: Universities set their own thresholds against the ÖSYM result

One centralised exam

TR-YÖS is administered by ÖSYM and held in two sessions a year. Universities work from its result rather than each setting their own paper, which is the change most preparation material has not caught up with.

Mathematics

Presented with very little language, which is why the exam is sittable without strong Turkish. The topics recur between sessions and past papers are genuinely representative.

Abstract and logical reasoning

Pattern and sequence questions that assume conventions worth learning explicitly rather than discovering in the exam. This is also the part that improves fastest with practice.

The exact structure and marking for a session are published by ÖSYM in that session's guide. We prepare to the guide for the session you are sitting rather than to a remembered format.
What universities still decide individually is the threshold, the quota, and which other qualifications they will accept alongside TR-YÖS — so a shortlist is part of the preparation, not an afterthought.

Before you start

Is YÖS preparation right for you?

Who it suits. Applicants preparing for TR-YÖS as part of a Turkish university application and seeking focused maths and reasoning practice.

When to check another option. An admission or eligibility guarantee. Each university's current application rules must be checked alongside test preparation.

Why it matters

What a YÖS score is for

TR-YÖS is the route into Turkish universities for international applicants, including a large number of Turkish citizens who completed school abroad. Turkey's public universities are inexpensive by international standards and several are well regarded regionally, which makes the competition for the quota real. The centralised exam also simplified something that used to be genuinely difficult: one sitting now serves an application to many institutions instead of a separate paper at each.

Coverage

What the preparation covers

The ground a course goes over. How much of it you need, and in what order, is what the first session decides.

The current TR-YÖS format, as ÖSYM publishes it in the guide for your session
Mathematics, presented with minimal language
Abstract and logical reasoning
Past papers, and pacing across the whole sitting
Which universities take TR-YÖS, the thresholds they set, and what else they accept

Where marks go

Where candidates lose marks on the YÖS

Not a list of study tips. These are the specific ways this particular test takes marks off people who know the material.

Preparing for a university-specific paper

Most material still assumes each university sets its own exam. That was true once and is not the shape of the system now, and preparing for the wrong structure is the most expensive mistake available here.

Ignoring the session's published guide

ÖSYM publishes the structure and marking for each session. Preparing from a friend's recollection of an earlier sitting means preparing for a paper that may have changed.

Treating reasoning as untrainable

The abstract and logical questions assume conventions — how sequences are built, how the answer options are constructed. Learned explicitly they are quick marks; met cold they are slow ones.

Studying mathematics without pacing

The mathematics is not conceptually hard for a well-taught student. Finishing is the constraint, and untimed practice does not reveal that until it is late.

Applying without checking each university's terms

Thresholds, quotas and which alternative qualifications are accepted differ between universities. A score that is comfortable at one is short at another, and the shortlist should be built before the target is set.

Missing the application window

The exam and the university applications run on separate timetables. Candidates prepare well and then lose the place to a date, every year.

Lesson format

Group course, or one-to-one

Group · 60 hours

Sixty hours in classes of six, taught in English, worked from ÖSYM’s published format for the session you are sitting. The mathematics is presented with very little language, which helps if your Turkish is limited; the reasoning questions assume conventions worth learning explicitly.

One-to-one

One-to-one lessons when the gap is one specific area rather than the subject as a whole, or when your shortlist includes universities with unusual entry requirements.

How it runs

How the teaching works

A diagnostic before anything is planned

The first session is spent finding out where the marks are actually going. That is not a formality: on most of these tests the gap a student describes and the gap the diagnostic shows are different, and hours spent on the described one are hours wasted.

Teaching in the order your deadline allows

A group course works through the syllabus in a fixed order because a class of six has to. One-to-one starts with whatever is costing you most and works outwards, which is why it suits a retake or a short runway better.

Timed work from early, not saved for the end

Untimed accuracy is a poor predictor of a timed score, and finding that out three weeks before the test is too late. Timed sections start in the first fortnight, short at first.

Review and progress checks

Review looks beyond the mark: which errors recur, whether the reasoning is clearer and how accuracy holds under time pressure. Bring earlier attempts to the discussion so the next practice has a specific purpose.

All of it runs in the browser, live, with a teacher on the other end. There are no recordings sold as a course and no premises to travel to.

Timeline

How long YÖS preparation takes

A rough shape rather than a promise. People arrive at different starting points and the plan is built around yours, but this is what a full run usually looks like.

1
Four to six months out — the session's guide and a diagnostic
Confirm which session you are sitting and what ÖSYM has published for it, then a timed paper against that structure. Also the shortlist, because the thresholds shape the target.
2
Early months — mathematics, taught in English
The topics that recur across sessions, taught and then practised. The minimal language of the paper means the teaching language does not have to be Turkish.
3
Middle months — reasoning and past papers
Abstract and logical reasoning taught as conventions rather than as puzzles, with past papers under time from early rather than at the end.
4
Final weeks — pacing and the applications
Full papers to time, and a check that every university application on the shortlist is submitted within its own window.

FAQ

YÖS questions we get asked

Does every university still hold its own YÖS exam?: No, and this is the most out-of-date belief in circulation about the system. TR-YÖS is one centralised exam run by ÖSYM in two sessions a year, and universities work from that result. What they still decide separately is the threshold and the quota.
What is the exam format?: ÖSYM publishes the structure and marking for each session in that session's guide. We prepare to the guide for the session you are sitting rather than quoting a format that may have changed — the guide is linked at the foot of this page.
Do I need Turkish?: For the exam, very little: the mathematics is presented with minimal language and we teach in English. For the degree itself it depends entirely on the programme, since some are taught in Turkish and some in English.
Which universities accept TR-YÖS?: A large number, with different thresholds and quotas, and several also accept other qualifications instead. Build the shortlist early; it determines what score you are actually aiming at.
When are the sessions?: Two a year, on dates ÖSYM publishes in advance. Check the current calendar before planning, and note that the university application windows run separately from the exam.
Is there a group course?: Sixty hours in classes of six, taught in English, worked from the published format for your session and from past papers. One-to-one suits a specific gap or an unusual shortlist.

Pricing

What YÖS preparation costs

Shown in US dollars. Charged in US dollars — there is no conversion at checkout to be surprised by.

One-to-one lessons