What ALES is
ALES, the Akademik Personel ve Lisansustu Egitimi Giris Sinavi (Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education Entrance Examination), is the standard academic aptitude test used across the Turkish higher education system. It is the score every yuksek lisans (master’s) and doktora (doctoral) programme in Turkey asks for at the application stage, and it is also one of the required inputs when a university recruits an arastirma gorevlisi (research assistant) or ogretim gorevlisi (teaching staff member) on the academic ladder governed by Law 2547.
The exam sits alongside KPSS in the OSYM calendar but plays a very different role. KPSS routes bachelor’s graduates into civilian public sector cadres; ALES routes them into graduate school and into academic staff positions. A candidate targeting both paths sits both exams in the same cycle.
The role of OSYM
ALES is written and scored by OSYM, the Olcme, Secme ve Yerlestirme Merkezi (Assessment, Selection and Placement Centre), the same national assessment body that runs YKS for university admission and KPSS for public sector recruitment. OSYM sets the questions, holds the exam across every province listed in the current basvuru kilavuzu (guide), publishes scores through the Aday Islemleri Sistemi (AIS) candidate portal at ais.osym.gov.tr, and archives the guide PDFs on dokuman.osym.gov.tr. OSYM does not admit anyone. Universities and graduate institutes are the ones that read the ALES score, combine it with the applicant’s other inputs and make the admission or appointment decision.
Who takes it
Two audiences sit ALES in the same session. The first is graduate school applicants, from candidates seeking a tezli or tezsiz yuksek lisans place through to doctoral applicants. The second is people applying for academic staff positions, most commonly the arastirma gorevlisi and ogretim gorevlisi cadres advertised by individual universities under Law 2547 and the associated Ogretim Uyesi Disindaki Ogretim Elemani Kadrolarina Yapilacak Atamalarda Uygulanacak Merkezi Sinav ile Giris Sinavlarina Iliskin Usul ve Esaslar Hakkinda Yonetmelik. Eligibility is anchored to a bachelor’s degree from a Turkish institution or a foreign degree recognised as equivalent by YOK, the Council of Higher Education, and final year students inside the graduation window given in the current ALES kilavuzu may apply too.
The two sections and how the score is built
ALES is a single session OMR paper with two blocks: the Sayisal Bolum (quantitative, mathematics and numerical reasoning) and the Sozel Bolum (verbal, Turkish reasoning and comprehension). From the same raw answers OSYM computes three separate scaled scores. The Sayisal puan weights the quantitative section more heavily. The Sozel puan weights the verbal section more heavily. The Esit Agirlik (equal weight) puan blends the two. Each graduate programme or university notice specifies which of the three puan turu it will read, so a candidate applying to a mathematics doctorate is judged on Sayisal, an edebiyat programme on Sozel, and a hukuk or iktisat programme typically on Esit Agirlik.
How the score is used
For graduate admission, universities and graduate institutes combine the ALES score with the applicant’s mezuniyet notu (undergraduate GPA) and, where required, a YDS or equivalent foreign language score, using weightings each institute publishes in its own kontenjan ilani. A common shape is ALES fifty percent, GPA around twenty to thirty percent and a language score making up the balance, though weightings vary by programme. For academic staff recruitment, the governing regulation sets a minimum ALES score of 70 for most cadres and combines ALES with the SGS (or mezuniyet notu, per the ilan) and YDS in a giris sinavi that the recruiting university then runs on top.
The cycle
OSYM runs multiple ALES cycles a year on the sinav takvimi at osym.gov.tr/Sayfa/SinavTakvimi. In 2026 the calendar published on that page schedules 2026-ALES/1 for 10 May 2026, 2026-ALES/2 for 2 August 2026 with applications open from 10 to 18 June, and 2026-ALES/3 for 29 November 2026, and every cycle follows the same pattern of a basvuru kilavuzu window, the exam day itself, then scores through AIS. An ALES score is valid for five years, so candidates typically pick the cycle that best fits the graduate or cadre deadline they are aiming for rather than sitting every one.
How ALES differs from KPSS
Both exams are OSYM aptitude tests taken by bachelor’s graduates and both feed downstream selections rather than hiring anyone directly, but the resemblance ends there. KPSS Genel Yetenek and Genel Kultur carries a Genel Kultur block on history, geography, citizenship and current affairs, and the wider KPSS cycle adds Egitim Bilimleri, OABT and Alan Bilgisi sessions layered on top for teaching and A group cadres. ALES has none of that. It is a pure academic aptitude paper in two sections whose only purpose is to produce Sayisal, Sozel and Esit Agirlik scores for graduate schools and universities to read. KPSS ends in a tercih round that places a candidate in a kamu cadre; ALES ends when the score lands in AIS, and it is the individual university that uses it.
On exam day
Candidates print the Sinava Giris Belgesi from the OSYM AIS portal and arrive at the assigned centre with valid photo identification accepted by OSYM, following the reporting time and prohibited items list in the current ALES basvuru kilavuzu linked above. Mobile phones, smartwatches, notes, books and calculators are not permitted inside the exam room. As with every OSYM exam, the rules and timings that actually apply on the day are the ones in the guide for that specific cycle, published on osym.gov.tr.