The Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA) has officially stated that there are no plans to reduce the difficulty level of the national multidisciplinary test (NMT) tasks. This clarification was provided by UCEQA Director Tetiana Vakulenko in response to numerous discussions within the educational community and among future applicants.
Psychometric Indicators and Difficulty Balance
According to UCEQA management, the analysis of psychometric indicators of test forms fully corresponds to the real sample of participants from previous years. Despite the fact that certain disciplines traditionally cause difficulties for graduates — particularly mathematics — artificial simplification of tasks will not bring the desired positive effect. An overly easy test format would deprive the exam of its main differentiation tool, making it impossible to qualitatively separate students with different levels of academic preparation.
This is why the agency's specialists carefully maintain a balance of difficulty when compiling test versions. This allows both highly motivated and strong students, as well as those whose preparation is somewhat weaker, to demonstrate their real knowledge. The content of the assessment itself also remains stable: current programs continue to serve as the fundamental basis for the formation of examination materials.
Contradictory Data
Despite UCEQA's position on the immutability of the tasks, the general discussion around the exam format continues. At the end of summer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the Ministry of Education and Science to review the NMT-2027 format in order to reduce the stress load on graduates continuing their studies in the context of a full-scale war. At the same time, statistics show serious problems with passing the tests: more than 48,500 NMT participants failed to overcome the minimum threshold score in at least one subject, with mathematics being the absolute leader in failures, failing nearly 40,000 people. In parallel, relevant agencies are considering options for changing the organization of the process itself, including the possible introduction of two-day testing and the right to retake.
Expert Assessments and Prospects
The issue of fairness and objectivity of testing standards remains in the spotlight of experts. Analysis of past campaigns shows that every tenth applicant faces critical difficulties when passing specialized subjects. Nevertheless, the expert community agrees that a sharp departure from established psychometric standards could undermine confidence in the results of the admission campaign to higher education institutions in the country.
