New Admission Rules for Graduate School: Mandatory Foreign Language Exam

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved significant changes to the rules for training graduate and doctoral students. From now on, applicants to graduate school are required to take a foreign language exam, which will become a new mandatory step in the admission process.

This is reported by AgroReview

This information was confirmed by Member of Parliament Oleksiy Honcharenko. He noted that students in their third year of graduate and doctoral studies will have to pass a state exam in Ukrainian and foreign languages, which will be conducted using external independent assessment technologies (ZNO).

Changes in Requirements for Applicants

Previously, applicants who held an international certificate such as TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge, or a similar qualification were exempt from taking this exam. However, the new changes abolish this provision, requiring all applicants to take the foreign language exam.

Honcharenko emphasized that such innovations are necessary to “improve the quality of education and unify the requirements.”

Additional Innovations in Admission Rules

In 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine also introduced new rules that limited admission to graduate school on a contract basis only for part-time or evening forms of study, excluding the possibility of deferral. The number of state-funded places for graduate students has also increased from 3,200 to 7,000, which, according to Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi, aims to “not cut off the opportunity for genuine, motivated, and talented individuals.”

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education has suspended the enrollment of students in full-time or dual forms of graduate studies funded by individuals and legal entities until January 1, 2025, and has also suspended the reinstatement of graduate students and their transfer to full-time study.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed the legality of the new admission rules.