The admission campaign 2026 has begun: school and college graduates are taking exams and preparing to submit documents to universities. The main session of the national multi-subject test has ended, and the first results have already appeared in the personal accounts of participants. Registration for electronic cabinets of applicants opens on July 1. From this day on, applicants will form applications to higher education institutions and compete for budget places.
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When Will the Results of the NMT Be Known
Participants of the main session who took the test by the end of May and early June already see official scores on a scale of 100 to 200 in their personal accounts. The rest of the applicants of the main sessions will receive results by July 3. The Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment advises checking the cabinet regularly to avoid missing the appearance of the information card required for submitting applications.
For those who missed the testing for valid reasons or want to improve their score, an additional session is provided. It will last from July 17 to July 24, and official results will appear in the accounts by July 29. Registration for this stage has special conditions, and there is little time left for reflection, as the application submission system will already be working in parallel.
Admission Calendar from Registration to Enrollment
Registration of electronic cabinets of applicants and uploading of documents starts on July 1 and lasts until October 15. The cabinet is created on the page of the application submission system in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education, where the login is the email address. During registration, the applicant indicates the data of the certificate, the details of the NMT certificate, the identification code, and uploads a photo card in JPEG format.
Applications for budget places can be submitted from July 19 to 18:00 on August 1. The formation of rating lists recommended for enrollment takes place until August 6. Applicants who received a recommendation for the budget fulfill the requirements for enrollment until 18:00 on August 11, after which orders for enrollment appear — until August 13.
Enrollment in the contract form lasts longer: institutions determine their own deadlines within the campaign, and the second wave of recommendations for contract students starts from August 14. Cabinets remain active until October 15, which provides an opportunity to submit applications for vacant places and participate in additional recruitments.
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How Many Applications Can Be Submitted and What Are Priorities For
This year, an applicant submits up to ten applications in total, with no more than five for budget places. Each application must be assigned a priority, where one means the most desirable option. The system recommends enrollment on a budget for one application — the one with the highest priority among the passing ones.
Prioritization requires careful calculation. After an application receives the status of “Registered at the institution”, it is impossible to change its priority, so the sequence of options is thought out before submission. Specialties and universities that the applicant wants the most receive the highest positions, and backup options are placed below.
How the Competitive Score Is Calculated
For admission, scores are taken on a scale from 100 to 200. Each subject is multiplied by a weighting coefficient that depends on the chosen specialty, after which the final competitive score is calculated. The same NMT result gives different weight to different areas, so applicants are advised to use the competitive score calculator from the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, which allows you to enter your own scores and calculate your chances for specific programs.
There are two different thresholds in the system, and they are easy to confuse. The first is the “passed / not passed” threshold on the test itself: to be considered valid, you need to score at least 15% of the maximum from each subject, and from the Ukrainian language and history of Ukraine — 15% plus one additional point.
The second threshold is the minimum competitive score, with which the institution admits an application to the competition for a budget place. For most specialties, it is 130, and for law and medicine, it reaches 150.
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What Has Changed in the Rules of 2026
The most notable innovation concerns the motivational letter — it has been canceled for all forms of admission. Previously, the document was required from certain categories, and now the main criterion for selection for the first level of higher education remains the results of the NMT.
The test retains a three-year validity period: for admission this year, certificates received from 2023 to 2026 are accepted, provided that the scores meet the requirements of the chosen specialty. Graduates of previous years whose results give a competitive score can enter without retaking the test.
The campaign has become more accessible to those who are abroad. Ukrainian applicants take the NMT in temporary examination centers, which this year operate in more than fifty cities in over thirty countries. There is also a norm according to which the results of national final exams of schools in some European countries are officially credited instead of the NMT for citizens of Ukraine.
Who Can Enter Without the NMT
The test remains mandatory for most school and college graduates. The law provides for exceptions. Participants in hostilities, children of participants in hostilities, persons with disabilities, and internally displaced persons can use state support mechanisms — an interview instead of a test, quotas, or priority enrollment according to the Admission Procedure.
The results of the NMT become the first filter of the admission campaign, and then everything is decided by the strategy of submitting applications and timely response to changes in ratings. Applicants who monitor the status of applications and comply with deadlines can more easily maintain their positions until enrollment and avoid a situation where the desired place is taken by someone who submitted documents earlier.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When will the results of the NMT-2026 be known? Participants of the main sessions receive official scores by July 3. The additional session lasts from July 17 to July 24, and its results appear in the accounts by July 29.
When to submit applications for admission to the budget in 2026? Applications for budget places are accepted from July 19 to 18:00 on August 1 through the electronic cabinet of the applicant on the website of the Unified State Electronic Database on Education.
How many applications can be submitted for admission in 2026? Up to ten applications in total, with no more than five for the budget. Each application must be assigned a priority, where one means the most desirable option.
Is a motivational letter required in 2026? No. The motivational letter has been canceled for all forms of admission, although individual institutions may provide for it in their internal rules for non-standard programs.
What is the minimum competitive score for admission to the budget? For most specialties — 130 points, for law and medicine — from 150. A separate threshold for passing the NMT applies: 15% of the maximum from each subject.
Who can enter without the NMT? Certain privileged categories — participants in hostilities and their children, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons — through an interview or quotas. Without the NMT, contract servicemen on a long-term contract also enter military institutions of higher education.
