Access to higher education
Every student with a secondary school maturity exam or a certificate equivalent to it has the right to apply to any higher education institute (university, college, higher accredited special course). Both types of secondary schools: grammar schools and secondary modern schools end with a maturity exam at the end of the 12th year.
The higher education institutes provide regular information about the courses going on in the institutes; they publish the admission requirements annually, at the appropriate time, generally before Christmas, in the form of a book. The written material of the admission examinations of the earlier year(s) is also published to help the applicants.
Apart from the general prescriptions the higher education institutes may determine other prescriptions in connection with the admission, and the majority of the higher education institutes use this possibility. Among these further requirements first of all the admission examination needs to be mentioned which is obviously organised by measuring the skills and preliminary knowledge needed for the accomplishment of the given degree course. The institutes must publish the requirements of the admission examination at least two years before they are introduced. Further conditions, requirements and allowances may also be prescribed, with special respect to the qualification of the maturity examination certificate, results achieved in academic competitions, and aptitude tests. Several higher education institutes give preference to applicants with examination certificates attesting their knowledge of a foreign language. When judging the admission the institutes of higher education may also take into consideration the results achieved in the course of accredited school system higher special courses.
The admission examination is evaluated on the basis of a points system. Although the institutes may choose their method independently, generally they use the admission calculation system based on the total number of points of 120 used for several decades. In this calculation system half of the applicants’ points, a maximum of 60 points, are constituted by the points calculated on the basis of the results achieved at secondary school (the so-called “brought” points), while the other 60 points can be obtained on the admission examination, written and oral, (the so-called “obtained” points) and possibly a few separate premium points can be added to these points, or automatic partial results may be considered as maximum results, for example, by taking into consideration the applicants’ foreign language examination or good results achieved at academic competitions by converting them into points. In the case of applying to so-called paying courses, which are not financed by the state, a similar points system is used, but the applicants are evaluated separately.
In earlier years entrance exams were general, but an increasing percentage of students are admitted to higher education institutions solely on the basis of secondary school results. Nevertheless, there are certain higher education programmes where students are admitted on the basis of selection. The higher education institutions may also link admission to additional criteria. In the latter case, the higher education institution must announce the admission criteria before their introduction (e.g. possessing foreign language examination certificate, previous specialised education or qualification, result of the maturity exam, etc.).
For foreign students proof of a secondary school final examination, for example a European twelve-year general education certificate, an English A-level certificate etc., is required for admission into Hungary’s higher education system in all cases. Foreign students can pursue their studies in Hungarian, English, German, French or Russian. Before beginning their studies, foreign students applying for a study programme held in Hungarian must attend a preparatory course lasting one year. At the end of this year, they must sit an examination in Hungarian and in two other subjects depending on the discipline they have applied for e.g. Mathematics and Physics for technical disciplines. Evaluation of the above-mentioned examinations is determined by the regulations set by the individual higher education institution concern. Students failing these examinations are not entitled to begin their studies.
Admissions procedures are organised by the individual higher education institutions. The general deadline for application is 1 March.
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