Who Can Take ALES? Eligibility for Turkey’s Graduate Entrance Exam

Contents

1. What is the ALES exam and what is it used for?

2. Who is eligible to take ALES?

3. Do international students need ALES for a master’s or PhD?

4. How do you register for ALES from outside Turkey?

5. When is ALES held and how long are scores valid?

6. Which graduate programs can admit you without ALES?

7. Does ALES eligibility mean you can apply anywhere?

8. What should you do next?

9. Real-World Examples

10. Frequently Asked Questions

11. References

12. Legal Notice

Introduction

ALES can generally be taken by final-year bachelor’s students, bachelor’s graduates and graduates of bachelor’s programs abroad who hold a Certificate of Equivalence, according to the 2026 ALES Application Guide published by the Student Selection and Placement Centre (ÖSYM). Nationality is not among the listed conditions. Whether a Turkish university then asks an international applicant for an ALES score is decided by that university’s senate.

ALES is the graduate entrance exam used across Turkish universities for master’s and PhD admission. Many international students first meet the name on a graduate school application form and are unsure whether the exam applies to them. This article answers that question from official sources: the ÖSYM guide for 2026, the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016, and published admission pages of Middle East Technical University (METU), Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (ÇOMÜ).

In 2026, ÖSYM scheduled three ALES sessions, and 152,449 candidates applied for the August session alone, as reported by Cumhuriyet in late July 2026. Session dates, application windows and university rules change each academic year. Mezun Kampüsü recommends checking the current ÖSYM calendar and your graduate school’s own announcement before you plan around any date in this guide.

What is the ALES exam and what is it used for?

ALES is the centralised examination administered by the Student Selection and Placement Centre (ÖSYM) and used in applications to graduate programs and in academic staff recruitment in Turkey. The name stands for the Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education Entrance Exam. According to the 2026 ALES Application Guide, one paper contains 100 questions and candidates have 150 minutes to answer them.

The paper has two tests. The quantitative test contains 50 questions on numerical and logical reasoning. The verbal test contains 50 questions on verbal reasoning. Results are reported by score type, and each graduate program states which score type it accepts. The Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, in Article 5, refers to a score “in the score type of the program applied to”, so a mechanical engineering master’s and a history master’s may ask for different ALES score types.

ALES is not a language test and not a subject exam. It measures general reasoning, not knowledge of a specific field. Many universities add their own scientific assessment or interview on top of it. A scientific assessment is a written or oral evaluation of subject knowledge administered by a university as part of its graduate admissions; it is not a centralised examination and its scope varies by program.

Section 1.1 of the 2026 ALES Application Guide lists several uses for ALES results:

• Admission to master’s and doctoral programs at Turkish universities

• Selection of candidates sent abroad for graduate study by public bodies

• Recruitment of academic staff, including research assistants

• Admission to engineering completion programs for technical teachers, which use the quantitative score

For international applicants, the first use is the one that matters. The other uses explain why ALES is sometimes described as a Turkish national exam: a large share of candidates are Turkish citizens seeking academic posts or public scholarships. That background does not exclude foreign nationals. The ÖSYM guide includes a registration route for candidates who have no Turkish ID number, which the next section covers.

One point of terminology helps when searching. Some English pages call ALES the “Turkish GRE” or the “graduate admission test for Turkey”. ÖSYM does not use those labels. When you read a program page, look for “ALES”, “ALES or equivalent” or “GRE/GMAT or ALES”.

Who is eligible to take ALES?

Three groups may apply for ALES under Section 1.2 of the 2026 ALES Application Guide published by ÖSYM: students in a position to graduate from a bachelor’s program, graduates of bachelor’s programs, and people who studied for a bachelor’s degree abroad, provided they hold a Certificate of Equivalence. The guide sets no nationality condition. It does set a registration route for foreign nationals without a Turkish ID number.

The condition for foreign degrees carries most weight for international applicants. A Certificate of Equivalence is the Council of Higher Education’s formal determination of which Turkish qualification, in which field and at which level, a diploma obtained abroad corresponds to. The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) issues it through a separate application. The ÖSYM guide links ALES eligibility for foreign bachelor’s holders to that document.

Table 1. ALES eligibility by applicant group, 2026 ALES Application Guide (ÖSYM)

The table compares three things: whether a group appears in the guide, what condition attaches to it, and where the guide says so.

Two observations follow. First, the guide frames eligibility around the bachelor’s degree, not citizenship. A Nigerian, Uzbek or Indonesian graduate falls into the same academic categories as a Turkish graduate. Second, the guide treats a foreign bachelor’s degree differently from a Turkish one. A Turkish diploma needs no further document; a foreign diploma needs YÖK’s equivalence decision.

The guide also places responsibility on the candidate. Section 1.12 states that ÖSYM relies on the information candidates provide, and Section 1.14 states that results are not valid for a candidate who sat the exam without the right to do so. In practice, a candidate with a foreign degree benefits from settling the equivalence question before applying. The equivalence rule for ALES registration and the admission rules of a graduate school are separate matters. A graduate school may accept your foreign diploma for admission under its own procedures even if you never sit ALES.

Do international students need ALES for a master’s or PhD?

An ALES score is not uniformly required from international students in Turkey. Article 35(2) of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016, states that the procedures for foreign nationals, and for applicants who completed their entire bachelor’s degree abroad, are set by university senates. Each university decides whether to ask for ALES, an equivalent score, or neither.

An international student is a person who is not a citizen of the Republic of Turkey and who is admitted to a higher education institution under international student status. Admission for that group is usually handled by a graduate school. A graduate school is the academic unit within a Turkish university that runs graduate education and manages application and enrolment procedures.

Published university rules show how far practice varies. The METU Graduate School of Social Sciences, on a page last updated on 19 August 2025, states: “The criteria for applying to any graduate program do not differ for international applicants.” METU accepts ALES or GRE/GMAT, and it offers a conditional route for international applicants without one of those scores.

International students, who do not have a GRE/GMAT score can still apply as a conditional student.
— METU Graduate School of Social Sciences, Important Note for International Applicants, last updated 19 August 2025

ITU takes a different approach. The ITU Graduate School admissions page lists ALES, GRE or GMAT as accepted score documents. It also states that applications through the international student quota are announced separately by the ITU Registrar’s Office. An international student quota is the application quota reserved for international students in higher education programs, separate from the general quota.

ÇOMÜ uses a dedicated senate directive for foreign nationals applying to graduate programs. The directive’s admission conditions refer to language exams such as the Foreign Language Exam (YDS), TOEFL or IELTS for English-taught master’s programs, and ALES does not appear among its application requirements.

Three universities, three models: the same criteria as Turkish applicants, a separate international quota with score alternatives, and a dedicated directive without an ALES condition. The pattern is consistent with Article 35(2): the regulation delegates the decision, and each senate writes its own rule. For an international applicant, the first document to read is the graduate school’s announcement for the specific semester, not the ALES guide.

How do you register for ALES from outside Turkey?

Candidates outside Turkey can register for ALES through the route set out in Section 2.1 of the 2026 ALES Application Guide by ÖSYM. Candidates who cannot visit an application centre may apply from abroad, but they then sit the exam in Ankara-Çankaya or Istanbul-2. Foreign nationals without a Turkish ID number register with a candidate number that ÖSYM uses in its place.

The sequence below follows the 2026 guide. Each step depends on the one before it, so the order matters.

1. Confirm your eligibility group. Check Table 1 against Section 1.2 of the guide. If your bachelor’s degree is from a university outside Turkey, the guide asks for a Certificate of Equivalence from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

2. Start the equivalence process early if it applies to you. YÖK runs the equivalence application separately from ÖSYM, and the guide gives no shortcut for ALES candidates.

3. Check the application window for your session. For 2026-ALES/3, ÖSYM accepted applications from 7 to 15 October 2026, with a late application day on 21 October 2026.

4. Register with the correct identity number. Section 2.2 of the guide says that TRNC nationals, foreign nationals and stateless candidates without a Turkish ID number use a separate candidate number.

5. Pay the exam fee by the stated deadline. For 2026-ALES/3, the last day for payment was 16 October 2026. Fees are set by ÖSYM and vary by session and year.

6. Note where you will sit the exam. Section 1.4 of the guide lists the 81 provincial centres in Turkey, plus Lefkoşa and Bishkek for ALES/1 only.

7. Plan your travel to Turkey. Candidates who apply from abroad without visiting an application centre sit the exam in Ankara-Çankaya or Istanbul-2, according to Section 2.1(c).

The travel point is the one international applicants most often overlook. ALES is a paper-based exam held in Turkey, the TRNC and, for one session in 2026, Kyrgyzstan. There is no online version described in the 2026 guide.

Your registration details also matter after the exam. ÖSYM states in Section 1.12 that candidates are responsible for errors in the information they enter. Where a graduate school checks an ALES result against your application, matching details help. Use the same name spelling and identity number on the ALES record and on every graduate application.

When is ALES held and how long are scores valid?

ÖSYM scheduled three ALES sessions in 2026, according to the 2026 ALES Application Guide: 10 May, 2 August and 29 November 2026. Each session had its own application window and late application day. ALES results remain valid for five years from the date they are announced, so one sitting can support applications across several semesters.

Table 2. 2026 ALES session calendar and exam locations (ÖSYM 2026 ALES Application Guide)

The table compares the three sessions on timing and location. Only ALES/1 was held outside Turkey in 2026.

As of 28 October 2026, the ALES/3 application and late application days have passed. The next opportunity after ALES/3 depends on ÖSYM’s calendar for 2027, which ÖSYM publishes separately.

Timing matters because graduate admissions in Turkey usually run twice a year, for the fall and spring semesters. The ITU Graduate School and the METU Graduate School of Social Sciences both describe two application periods per year. A score from the November session may arrive after some spring deadlines close. For the August 2026 session, Cumhuriyet reported in late July 2026 that ÖSYM planned to announce results on 21 August 2026.

The five-year validity rule appears in Section 1.5 of the ÖSYM guide. ITU repeats it on its admissions page, stating that ALES and GRE score reports are valid for five years. To check whether an older score still counts, use this order:

1. Find the announcement date printed on your ÖSYM result document.

2. Add five years to that date.

3. Compare the result with the graduate school’s application deadline, not the semester start date.

What the result depends on: the announcement date of your session and the deadline your graduate school uses. Some universities may apply their own validity rules for equivalent scores such as GRE or GMAT, so read the program announcement for each semester.

Which graduate programs can admit you without ALES?

Several graduate program types in Turkey may admit students without an ALES score. The Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016 and amended seven times up to 15 January 2023, lists exemptions in Articles 5 and 16. Article 35(2) separately lets each university senate set the rules for foreign nationals.

The regulation’s exemptions fall into four groups. Each group is defined in the regulation itself; how a university applies it appears in that university’s own rules.

Non-thesis master’s programs. Article 5(2) states that universities may choose not to require an ALES score for master’s programs without thesis. A master’s without thesis is a coursework-focused graduate program completed with a term project instead of a thesis. If a non-thesis program does ask for ALES, the senate sets the minimum score.

Arts programs admitting by special talent exam. Article 5(1)(a) exempts master’s programs of conservatories and fine arts faculties that admit students only through a special talent exam. Article 16(4) applies a similar exemption at doctoral level.

Applicants who already hold a higher qualification. Article 5(1)(b) states that ALES is not required for master’s applicants who hold a doctorate, a proficiency in art, or a specialization in medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine.

Foreign nationals and graduates who studied entirely abroad. Under Article 35(2), procedures for these applicants are set by university senates. ÇOMÜ’s directive for foreign nationals, for example, lists language exam conditions for English-taught master’s programs and no ALES condition.

The difference between a rule and a practice is worth keeping in view. The regulation permits these exemptions; it does not oblige any university to use them. A non-thesis program at one university may ask for ALES while a similar program elsewhere does not. A foreign national may be asked for ALES at one university and only for a language score at another. The deciding source is always the graduate school announcement for the semester in question.

Does ALES eligibility mean you can apply anywhere?

ALES eligibility and graduate program eligibility are separate decisions. ÖSYM decides who may sit ALES, under the 2026 ALES Application Guide. Each graduate school decides who may apply to its programs, under the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training and its own senate rules. Holding a valid ALES score meets one admission condition; it does not replace the others.

A common reading of ALES treats it as a gateway exam, as if a score opens every graduate program. The ÖSYM guide does not describe it that way. Section 1.7 states that programs requiring an ALES score expect a minimum standard score in the program’s score type, and that university senates may set stricter conditions. Language proficiency, grade point average, interviews and scientific assessments are added by graduate schools on top of ALES.

The bachelor’s-to-doctorate route shows the gap clearly. An integrated doctorate is a route allowing admission directly into a doctoral program with a bachelor’s degree, without a master’s degree. Article 16(1)(c) of the regulation sets a higher ALES score and a minimum bachelor’s grade point average for this route than for standard doctoral entry. A candidate eligible to sit ALES may still fall outside the integrated doctorate route.

A second confusion concerns studying abroad. Section 1.8 of the ÖSYM guide states that candidates who fund their own graduate study abroad, without a public service obligation, are not required to take ALES. That rule concerns students leaving Turkey for study elsewhere. It does not describe international students coming to Turkey.

A third confusion concerns nationality. Some applicants assume that a foreign passport bars them from ALES, while others assume that a foreign passport exempts them. Neither reading matches the sources. The ÖSYM guide provides a registration route for foreign nationals, and Article 35(2) of the regulation lets each senate decide whether to ask them for ALES.

The candidate’s own responsibility runs through all of this. ÖSYM’s guide states in Section 1.12 that the information candidates provide is taken as the basis, and Section 1.14 states that results are not valid for a candidate who sat the exam without the right to do so. Checking eligibility before registering protects the value of the score you earn.

What should you do next?

The next step depends on your target programs, not on ALES itself. Start by reading the international admission announcement of each graduate school you are considering for the semester you plan to apply. Then decide whether an ALES score, a GRE or GMAT score, or neither is needed, and plan around ÖSYM’s session calendar and the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) equivalence process.

The checklist below turns the earlier sections into actions. It assumes you have shortlisted programs and know your target semester.

• List your target graduate programs and the semester you plan to start

• Download each graduate school’s international admission announcement for that semester

• Note whether each program asks for ALES, accepts GRE or GMAT, or sets no exam condition

• Check which ALES score type each program uses

• Find out whether your foreign bachelor’s degree needs a YÖK Certificate of Equivalence for ALES registration

• Compare the next ÖSYM session dates with each program’s application deadline

• Plan travel to Ankara or Istanbul if you will apply for ALES from abroad

• Record the announcement date of any ALES score you already hold

Two sources change on a fixed rhythm. ÖSYM publishes a new ALES guide and calendar for each year; the 2026 guide covered three sessions. Graduate schools publish new announcements for every fall and spring intake. ITU, for example, states that quotas and deadlines are announced each term by its Registrar’s Office.

Three points deserve a direct question to the institution if your situation is unusual. If you hold dual citizenship, ask the graduate school whether you apply as an international student or under the general quota; ÇOMÜ’s directive, for example, sets specific rules for applicants who acquired Turkish citizenship. If your degree is from a university abroad, ask ÖSYM or YÖK how the Certificate of Equivalence condition applies to your ALES registration. If you hold only a GRE or GMAT score, ask the program which score type and conversion it uses.

Plan with dates, not assumptions. The 2026 sessions are set; the 2027 sessions will follow ÖSYM’s next annual calendar. Check both sources again before you register.

Real-World Examples

The examples in this section are illustrative scenarios created to explain situations applicants may encounter.

Amina, a final-year student abroad

Amina is completing a bachelor’s degree in economics in Morocco and plans a master’s in Turkey. She assumed she had to sit ALES before applying anywhere. After reading the graduate school announcements, she found that two of her three target programs accepted international applicants without ALES, under rules set by their senates. The third accepted ALES or GRE. Because the ALES guide links foreign bachelor’s degrees to a Certificate of Equivalence, she decided to take the GRE in Morocco for the third program instead. She tracks one score and three deadlines, and she has kept the option of ALES open for a later semester.

Daniyar, applying from Kazakhstan

Daniyar holds an engineering degree and already has a Certificate of Equivalence from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). His target program asks for an ALES quantitative score. He applies for ALES from abroad, without visiting an application centre, and registers with the candidate number for foreign nationals. The guide tells him he will sit the exam in Ankara-Çankaya or Istanbul-2. He books travel for the exam weekend and checks the expected results date against the program’s spring deadline. The timing works for the following fall intake, so he plans for that semester.

Lucía, a non-thesis master’s applicant

Lucía wants a non-thesis master’s in business administration in Istanbul. She knew that the regulation allows universities to skip ALES for non-thesis programs and assumed every such program would. When she compared two universities, one asked for no exam score, while the other asked for ALES or GMAT with a senate-set minimum. Lucía applied to the first program for its fall intake. She also registered her interest in the second university’s next announcement, so she can decide later whether a GMAT sitting is worth the time.

Kerem, a dual citizen

Kerem holds Turkish and German citizenship and studied entirely in Germany. He was unsure whether he counted as an international applicant. The directive of one target university set specific rules for applicants holding Turkish citizenship, so he wrote to its graduate school before applying. The graduate school told him which quota he belonged to and confirmed that ALES applied to his application. Because he has a Turkish ID number, he registered for ALES with it, and he started his equivalence application with YÖK at the same time.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Mezun Kampüsü
Mezun Kampüsü is a platform that brings together the graduate programs, application calendars and academic announcements of universities in Turkey. International applicants can check which programs ask for ALES or accept GRE and GMAT, compare program conditions side by side through Atlas, follow application periods for the fall and spring semesters, track university announcements as they are published, and start a free application through the Universities section.

Legal Notice

This article provides general information about who can take ALES and how international applicants in Turkey use ALES scores. It is not personal academic, legal or financial advice. ALES eligibility is governed by the annual ALES Application Guide published by the Student Selection and Placement Centre (ÖSYM), and graduate admission is governed by the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training (Official Gazette, 20 April 2016, No. 29690) together with each university senate’s own rules. Regulation, exam calendars and university practice can change over time, and program conditions vary by semester. Please confirm details with ÖSYM, the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and the graduate school you are applying to before making decisions. Sources in this article were last checked on 28 October 2026.