The Cabinet of Ministers has changed the rules for training doctoral and postgraduate students. What is known?
8 April 2025 14:49
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has changed the rules for postgraduate and doctoral studies. From now on, a foreign exam will be mandatory for applicants.
This was announced by MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
Final exam in Ukrainian and foreign languages will become mandatory
From now on, all postgraduate students in their third year of study are required to take a state final exam in Ukrainian and a foreign language. This form of control aims to ensure an adequate level of proficiency in the languages required for research, dissertations, and participation in international academic exchanges.
External independent testing (EIT) technologies will be used to conduct the test, which guarantees transparency, objectivity and uniform standards of knowledge assessment across the country.
International certificates no longer exempt from the exam
Another innovation is the abolition of exemptions for applicants with international language certificates. Previously, applicants who had, for example, TOEFL or IELTS could not take the entrance exam in a foreign language, but now this requirement must be met by everyone without exception.
This means that all candidates must pass a language test when applying for a postgraduate program, regardless of their previous language skills. This step is intended to ensure a level playing field for all applicants and provide an additional tool for assessing their academic potential.
Why are these changes necessary?
These changes will help to
- improving the overall level of training of scientific personnel;
- reducing subjectivity in the assessment of knowledge;
- strengthening the position of Ukrainian science in the international space.
In addition, the unification of rules will allow higher education institutions to organize the educational process and interaction with postgraduate and doctoral students more effectively.
In 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine introduced new rules for admission to graduate school.
According to them, it was possible to enroll in a contract only for part-time or evening programs, which did not give the right to deferment.
The Ministry of Education also increased the number of state-funded places from 3,200 to 7,000.
According to Education Minister Oksen Lisovyi, this was done in order “not to cut off the possibility of admission for the real, motivated and capable.”
Later, the Ministry of Education suspended the enrollment of students in full-time or dual postgraduate programs at the expense of individuals and legal entities until January 1, 2025. In addition, the renewal of full-time or dual enrollment and transfer of graduate students from other forms of study to full-time will be suspended.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that these admission rules are legal.
