---
title: "Raising the NMT Threshold: How One Point Changed University Admissions in Ukraine"
description: "🇺🇦 In 2026, the NMT threshold for the Ukrainian language and history was raised for the first time — by 1 point. But 85% of participants coped! 📚✨ Now universities will receive better-prepared applicants. #NMT2026 #EducationUkraine"
date: 2026-07-10T14:56:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/raising-the-nmt-threshold-how-one-point-changed-university-admissions-in-ukraine
tags: []
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Raising the NMT Threshold: How One Point Changed University Admissions in Ukraine

![Female students working on laptops and taking notes in a classroom — illustration for an article on raising the NMT threshold and its impact on university admissions in Ukraine](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/10/povyshenie-poroga-nmt-kak-odin-ball-izmenil-otbor-v-vuzy-ukrainy/povyshenie-poroga-nmt-kak-odin-ball-izmenil-otbor-v-vuzy-ukrainy-1.webp)

In 2026, the National Multidisciplinary Testing (NMT) system in Ukraine underwent a significant change: for the first time, the minimum passing threshold for the Ukrainian language and the history of Ukraine was raised. The decision was made by the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA) with the aim of raising the standards for applicant preparation.

### New Requirements: +1 Point to the Minimum

According to the new rules, to be eligible for admission to higher education institutions, applicants must now score a minimum of 8 points out of 45 possible for the Ukrainian language and 9 points out of 54 for the history of Ukraine. Previously, the threshold was set at around 15% of the maximum possible score, which, according to experts, corresponded only to basic knowledge at the 5th–7th grade level.

Tatyana Vakulenko, Head of UCEQA, emphasized in a comment to RBC-Ukraine that increasing the requirement by just one point became an effective filtering tool without creating insurmountable barriers for motivated students.

### Results: Almost 86% Overcame the New Threshold

Practice has shown that the change did not become a critical obstacle. Of all participants in the main session of NMT-2026, 275,934 people passed the threshold for four subjects — this is 85.09% of the total number of test takers.

The results for individual subjects deserve special attention: 266 applicants scored the maximum 200 points in the Ukrainian language, and 364 in the history of Ukraine. This indicates that there is a significant number of well-prepared candidates among the participants.

### The Goal is Quality of Education, Not Restricting Access

At UCEQA, they emphasize that raising the threshold is aimed at maintaining high standards of higher education in the country. As Vakulenko noted, this step makes it possible to exclude the possibility of admission to universities for persons with a critically low level of preparation, while not restricting access to education for those who are truly ready to study.

All participants of the main session of NMT-2026 have already received their results — they were sent to the applicants' personal accounts. Experts remind that the final score for admission depends not only on the test results but also on other factors, including university competitive scores and additional selection criteria.