YDS and e-YDS explained: Turkey's 80-question language exam, no penalty for wrong answers, 55 for a doctorate, and the 2026 dates and fees

In English, German, French, Arabic and Russian (and the e-YDS languages Persian, Greek, Bulgarian, Spanish and Italian), the YDS is 80 multiple-choice questions with five options each: vocabulary, grammar, translation and reading comprehension. It lasts 180 minutes. There is no listening, no speaking and no writing.

Wrong answers cost nothing. ÖSYM's guide says only correct answers are counted and wrong answers are ignored, and the score out of 100 comes from the number of correct answers.

Our reading: with 80 questions on a 100-point scale, each correct answer is worth 1.25 points, so 55 means 44 correct answers, and an unanswered question is always a lost chance. Leaving blanks only makes sense on an exam that penalises guessing, and the YDS does not.

In the less common languages ÖSYM offered in the April 2026 sitting (among them Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian), the exam is instead a written translation, from the language into Turkish and back, marked by an ÖSYM jury out of 100.

ÖSYM's guide converts the score to five levels: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, E 50–59. These levels decide the foreign-language allowance for public employees; how much each level pays is set by other legislation.

Doctoral and art-proficiency programmes and associate-professorship candidates need at least 55; a university senate may set a higher minimum for its own programmes. For a master's, ÖSYM tells candidates to check with the university whether it accepts the YDS at all.

TUS and DUS (medical and dental specialty) placement needs at least 50, in English, French or German; the EUS (pharmacy) needs English. For these, a result is valid for five years, counted to the application date of the professional exam.

There is no single validity period. ÖSYM's guide says the score is valid for as long as the institution's own rules say, and institutions may set their own term.

For the language allowance, the law (Decree-Law 375, article 2) makes results valid for five years. If you do not sit again within that time, your level is treated as one level lower, and at level C the allowance stops.

YDS on paper: 1,200 TL. 2026-YDS/1 was held on 5 April 2026 in 20 languages; 2026-YDS/2 is on 22 November 2026, 10:15, in English, German, French, Arabic and Russian only. Its applications ran from 30 September to 8 October 2026. You can sit only one language per sitting.

e-YDS on computer: 2,150 TL, at ÖSYM's e-exam centres in Adana, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, starting at 13:45 and lasting 180 minutes. English runs most often: the 2026 calendar lists eight English sittings, and the last of the year is e-YDS 2026/12 on 19 December 2026, with applications from 2 to 10 December.

Results are published on ÖSYM's results site; no result document is posted to you. Institutions can check a result with the control code printed on the result document.

Fees are not refunded or transferred if your application is invalid or cancelled, if you do not sit or are not admitted, if you do not reach a score, or if your exam is declared invalid.