Overview
- The parliamentary ombudsperson Dmytro Lubinets formally asked the government and the Ministry of Education on Thursday to lower the minimum competitive NMT score from 150 to 130 and to restore the right to appeal test items and publish correct answers after testing.
- The Ministry of Education responded that it will not make ad hoc changes without expert review and said it will support students by guaranteeing an additional NMT session while keeping rules predictable.
- Officials and Lubinets cited operational failures driving the request, including 21 complaints filed in June, cases of long waits during air‑raid alerts in Odesa where pupils spent more than 13 hours in a test center, widespread shelter shortfalls, technical failures that blocked some candidates, and about 152 applicants held in places of detention who need clearer rules.
- The Union of Rectors earlier asked the ministry to lower thresholds for specific in‑demand fields such as law, public administration, international relations and several medical specialties, arguing higher cutoffs would unfairly exclude students given wartime disruptions.
- Key next steps are publication of individual NMT results by July 3 and an additional testing window set for July 17–24, outcomes that will shape whether the ministry pursues a formal review and how admissions lists and quality standards are affected.