How to Prepare for the YKS (TYT and AYT) in Turkey

October 2026  ·  10 min read

The YKS (Yükseköğretim Kurumları Sınavı) is the single exam that decides university placement in Turkey. It is run once a year by ÖSYM, and almost every student who wants a place on a lisans (bachelor's) or önlisans (associate) programme sits it. For bilingual students, students returning from abroad, and international families trying to understand the Turkish system, it can look confusing: three sessions, several score types, and a ranking that matters more than the score itself.

This guide explains how the exam is built, how nets and sıralama work, how to use deneme sınavları properly, and gives you a 12-month plan you can adapt. Exam details change from year to year, so treat the structure below as a guide and check ÖSYM's official announcements and kılavuz for the current year before you plan around any number.

What is the YKS and how is it structured?

The YKS is held over one weekend, usually in June, in three sessions (oturum). In recent years ÖSYM has run TYT on the Saturday morning and AYT and YDT on the Sunday. Application normally opens in late winter or early spring, and results are published in the summer, followed by the tercih (preference) period.

Inside TYT, Türkçe and Temel Matematik carry 40 questions each, while Sosyal Bilimler and Fen Bilimleri have 20 each. Half of TYT is Turkish and maths, so those two subjects are your backbone whatever your field.

Which puan türü should I aim for?

Your programme choice decides which score type (puan türü) matters, and that decides which AYT tests you study. The broad pattern is:

• SAY (sayısal): TYT plus AYT Matematik and AYT Fen Bilimleri. Used for medicine, engineering, most science and health programmes.
• EA (eşit ağırlık): TYT plus AYT Matematik and Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı-Sosyal Bilimler-1. Used for law, economics, business, psychology and similar programmes.
• SÖZ (sözel): TYT plus Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı-Sosyal Bilimler-1 and Sosyal Bilimler-2. Used for history, Turkish literature, many teaching and social science programmes.
• DİL: TYT plus YDT. Used for foreign language and translation programmes.
• TYT score alone: used for önlisans programmes.

Decide your puan türü early, ideally by the start of 12. sınıf. Switching later is possible but expensive in time, because each AYT test has its own large syllabus drawn from the 9th to 12th grade curriculum. Use YÖK Atlas to look at the programmes you want and see which puan türü they use.

How do net scores work in the YKS?

The YKS uses negative marking. For each test, your net is your correct answers minus a quarter of your wrong answers: net = doğru − (yanlış ÷ 4). Blank answers count for nothing either way. So four wrong answers cancel one correct answer.

A student who gets 30 correct and 8 wrong in TYT Türkçe has 30 − 2 = 28 net. The same student leaving those 8 questions blank would also have 30 net, two more. That is why guessing strategy matters: blind guessing on five-option questions tends to cost you, while an educated guess after eliminating two or three options is usually worth taking.

ÖSYM then converts nets into standardised scores on a scale running up to 500, weighting each test according to the puan türü. A share of your high school diploma grade, the OBP (ortaöğretim başarı puanı), is added to give your placement score (yerleştirme puanı). The coefficients and minimum thresholds are set in the kılavuz and can change, so check the current one rather than relying on old calculators.

What is sıralama and why does it matter more than the score?

Your başarı sıralaması (success ranking) is your position among all candidates in a given puan türü. Placement works by ranking: programmes are filled from the top of the list down according to students' tercih lists, so the ranking is what really decides where you get in.

Raw scores shift from year to year as papers get easier or harder, but rankings stay comparable. On YÖK Atlas you can see each programme's taban puan (lowest admitted score) and its lowest başarı sırası from previous years. Use the ranking, not the score, to set your target.

Some fields, including medicine, law, engineering and teacher training, have had minimum ranking requirements in recent years. These rules have changed several times, so confirm them in the current kılavuz before you build a plan around a specific programme.

How should I use deneme sınavları?

Deneme sınavları (practice exams) are the heartbeat of YKS preparation. There are three kinds worth knowing:

• Branş denemeleri: one subject only, for example a 40-question Temel Matematik deneme. Use them to drill a weak subject.
• Full TYT and AYT denemeleri: the full session in real time. These train stamina, pacing and question order.
• Türkiye geneli denemeler: large national practice exams run by publishers and dershaneler, which give you an estimated sıralama against a big pool of candidates.

The deneme measures you; the analysis improves you. After every deneme, go through each wrong and blank answer and label why it happened: konu eksiği (a gap in the topic), işlem hatası (a calculation slip), misreading the question, or running out of time. Keep an error notebook (yanlış defteri) and revisit it weekly. Publishers' denemeler vary in difficulty, so watch the trend, not one result. A student who does two denemeler a week and analyses both will improve faster than one who does five and only checks the net.

A 12-month YKS study plan

This plan assumes you start in the summer before 12. sınıf and sit the exam the following June. If you start later, compress phases 1 and 2 and keep the final three months intact.

Across the year, aim for steady daily work rather than weekend marathons. A typical school-term day might be one hour of TYT paragraf and problems, one to two hours on AYT topics, and thirty minutes reviewing the error notebook. In the summer and the semester break you can roughly double that.

How should I study each part of TYT and AYT?

TYT Türkçe is dominated by paragraf (reading comprehension) questions, with a smaller number of dil bilgisi and anlam bilgisi questions. Solve a set of paragraf questions every single day, even on deneme days. Speed comes from volume, and bilingual students who read mainly in another language often find this section slower than expected.

TYT Temel Matematik rewards accuracy with basic operations and problem solving. Problemler (word problems), sayılar and fonksiyonlar appear reliably. Many students lose nets to careless arithmetic, so practise writing clean working even under time pressure.

TYT Sosyal and Fen are short tests with 20 questions each. Don't neglect them: each net counts. SAY students often treat TYT Sosyal as an easy place to collect nets with a modest amount of reading, and EA and SÖZ students can do the same with the more conceptual TYT Fen questions.

AYT Matematik is long and cumulative, running from basic algebra through limit, türev and integral, plus geometry. Learn topics in order, because later topics depend on earlier ones. AYT Fen is split between fizik, kimya and biyoloji; many SAY students secure biology and chemistry first and treat the harder physics topics as a later push. AYT Edebiyat-Sosyal leans heavily on memorised knowledge such as literary periods, authors and works, so spaced repetition with flashcards works well.

If you are taking YDT in English, grammar and vocabulary in context make up much of the test, alongside cloze passages, reading, translation and dialogue completion. Build academic vocabulary daily and do timed reading. If you are also applying abroad, our guide to English requirements for studying abroad explains how this fits with tests like IELTS and TOEFL.

What should my weekly YKS routine look like?

Use this checklist to keep a week balanced once you are in the soru çözümü and deneme phases:

1. Do 20–40 paragraf questions every day, timed.
2. Solve at least one set of Temel Matematik problems every day.
3. Give each AYT test in your puan türü at least two focused sessions a week.
4. Sit at least one full, timed deneme, in exam order, with no pauses.
5. Analyse every deneme the same day or next day and update your yanlış defteri.
6. Review the yanlış defteri once a week and re-solve old mistakes.
7. Record nets per test in a simple spreadsheet so you can see the trend.
8. Keep one half-day off for rest, sleep and exercise.

Short, timed daily practice keeps everything warm between longer sessions. Derstina's timed mock exams and daily practice with streaks are one way to keep that habit going, especially for maths, alongside your textbooks and denemeler. The same planning logic appears in other large national entrance exams too; see our JEE Main preparation plan for a comparison.

What are the most common YKS preparation mistakes?

• Postponing TYT. TYT feeds every puan türü. Students who focus only on AYT in 12. sınıf often lose more ranking than they gain.
• Counting denemeler instead of analysing them. A deneme without review is just practice at making the same mistakes.
• Chasing scores instead of sıralama. Compare your estimated ranking with YÖK Atlas data for your target programmes.
• Relying on old rules. Thresholds, OBP coefficients and ranking requirements have changed in recent years. Read the current ÖSYM kılavuz.
• Burning out by spring. A plan you can keep for twelve months beats an intense one you drop in December.

After the results, spend real time on your tercih list. Order it by genuine preference, include realistic and safe options based on previous years' rankings, and read each programme's conditions carefully. For students also weighing options outside Turkey, our SAT study guide covers the main US admissions test.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should I prepare for the YKS?

Most students prepare seriously for around 12 months, starting in the summer before 12. sınıf. Students starting from a strong base can manage in six to eight months if they work consistently. Whatever the length, keep the final two to three months for full timed deneme sınavları and review rather than new topics.

How is net calculated in TYT and AYT?

Net is your correct answers minus one quarter of your wrong answers, so four wrong answers cancel one correct one. Blank answers neither add nor subtract. For example, 30 correct and 8 wrong gives 28 net.

Do I have to take AYT?

TYT is compulsory for everyone, and on its own it is enough for önlisans programmes. For lisans programmes scored with SAY, EA or SÖZ you need the relevant AYT tests, and for DİL programmes you need YDT. Check the score type of each programme you want on YÖK Atlas.

Is sıralama more important than puan in the YKS?

Yes, for placement purposes. Programmes fill places in ranking order, and scores vary from year to year while rankings stay comparable. Use previous years' lowest başarı sırası on YÖK Atlas to set your target.

How many deneme sınavı should I take?

In the main deneme phase, one or two full TYT denemeler and one or two AYT denemeler a week is a common, manageable rhythm. Earlier in the year, branş denemeleri on single subjects are more useful. What matters most is analysing every deneme and fixing the errors before the next one.

Can bilingual or international students take the YKS?

Turkish citizens, including those who studied abroad, generally take the YKS like any other candidate, while foreign nationals usually apply through separate international student routes such as university-run exams. The rules depend on citizenship and schooling, so check ÖSYM and your target university's admissions office. Bilingual students should build extra time into their plan for Turkish reading speed in TYT Türkçe.