06 - Hungary - Admission requirements
General admission requirements to an institution of tertiary education
are laid down in the Act on Higher Education, and in a government
decree regulating the admission procedure on the basis of the Act.
Higher vocational training and initial training in tertiary education
may be applied for in possession of an érettségi vizsga.
Applications for second and further courses are conditional on the
degree obtained in the first course. Doctoral courses aim at a
scientific grade, requiring a university ( egyetem) or master degree.
Citizens
of the European Economic Area, and foreign nationals enjoying the same
rights as Hungarian citizens may be accepted to higher education within
the state financed quota for bachelor (undergraduate) studies.
One
governmental decree regulates admission requisites of tertiary
education regarding bachelor (undergraduate) studies, one long cycle
education and vocational training.
Applications are judged on
the basis of a score limit and in the order the applicant had marked
the institutions and study programmes. Upon the decision the state
financed quota defined by the government and the capacity of tertiary
institutions as defined by legislation. ( 2006/79 governmental decree; on the modification of some regulations of the Act CXXXIX of 2005)
The judgment criteria for applicants are the academic performance at upper- secondary-school (
középiskola) and the points (converted into percentage) of one or two subjects that the applicant achieved at school leaving exam (
érettségi vizsga).
In other fields of training the conditions of admission are defined by tertiary institutions.
According
to the Act on Higher Education, the principle of positive
discrimination can be applied at admission. It means, that applicants,
who are socially disadvantaged, look after their children at home, live
with an impairment gain extra points in order to help their admission
into a tertiary institute.
The Act CXXXIX of 2005 on Higher
Education decided upon the establishment of a central tertiary
information system. In part, it is the central admission database,
which is established by the National Higher Education Information
Centre, data are served by tertiary institutions.
Admission to an initial training course, and to higher vocational training
Following the
érettségi vizsga,
admission to the first course is conditional upon successfully passing
an entrance examination for the last time in the 2004/2005 academic
year.
Candidates may apply simultaneously for several institutions of
tertiary education, indicating the order in which they prefer to have
their applications assessed. The application form issued in 1997
contains a checkbox for candidates to indicate that – if they are not
admitted to a course where their studies are funded by the state – they
are ready to cover the costs of a fee-paying course (
költségtérítéses képzés
).
Each year government specifies the admission count , which is the number of new students whose university (
egyetem) and
főiskola
level studies and higher vocational training the state can afford to
cover. The allocation of the state funded number among areas of
training and institutions of tertiary education is the task of the
Minister of Education and Culture, who makes that decision in the light
of the training profile of institutions of tertiary education, the
number of students they would like to admit, and social as well as
economic demand for the individual professions in question.
The Government specifies the number of students
admissible to the first year of state-funded programmes. The quota for
newly admitted students shall encompass the number of admissible
students to higher-level vocational training, the number of admissible
students to bachelor (undergraduate) courses, and the number of
admissible students to the long course programmes. The number of
state-funded students admissible to master (graduate) courses shall
equal thirty-five percent of the quota for newly admitted students as
of the third year before the due year. The number of students
admissible to doctorate courses and postgraduate specialist training
courses can equal ten percent of the quota for students admissible to
the master (graduate) course.
From statistics supplied by
institutions of tertiary education the Minister of Education and
Culture annually publishes a booklet that contains all the information
and admission requirements necessary for candidates to each course of
each institution of tertiary education. There are two admission
periods., Every year the first application deadline is 15 November for
trainings that start in February. The second is 15 February in the case
of trainings that begin in September. Decisions are made till 15
January and 1 August, respectively.
In the summer period a second admission can be held.
The
score at the entrance examination is computed by the institution of
tertiary education from the candidate’s academic achievement in the
upper secondary school középiskola plus
his/her results at the entrance examination, which may amount to a
maximum of 60+60, i.e. 120 points. The results from upper secondary
school középiskola are
computed from marks achieved in five subjects (Hungarian language and
literature, mathematics, history, foreign language, and a subject
chosen by the candidate) plus the marks obtained at the érettségi vizsga In the fields of Arts and Sports science the points are computed based on a practical examination.
The
candidate may be given extra points for showing up a certificate of
proficiency in a foreign language, a vocational qualification, or if
he/she has achieved an outstanding result in an Olympic branch of
sport. Candidates having one of the first three places in the upper
secondary school középiskola study contest and Olympic champions are entitled to full exemption from under entrance examinations.
Other foreign students may only apply for fee-paying training
(költségtérítéses képzés
),
but if they wish to hand in their applications to a course of Hungarian
teaching language, their chances will be equal to candidates of
Hungarian citizenship. Successful candidates who belong to the
Hungarian minority of a neighbouring country, but legally reside in
Hungary on the basis of an international agreement are granted the
right to study on state funding.
For foreign citizens wishing to apply for training in
a foreign (non-Hungarian) language, the admission requirements and all
other standards are fully determined by the institution of tertiary
education.
The entire admissions procedure is facilitated and
coordinated by a computer system that stores all personal data of all
candidates, their relevant results of upper secondary school középiskola, and
their scores/results at the entrance examination, and it ranks
candidates under every target institution, and in a given point in time
it specifies the institution of tertiary education, and course to which
he/she has been admitted.
One third of the knowledge acquired under higher vocational training may be credited in university
(
egyetemi képzés
)and
főiskolastudies.
The candidate will have the avarage of their marks in higher vocational
training multiplied by 24 to arrive at his/her entrance examination
results.
In the multi-cycle education and training structure
the completion of higher-level vocational courses may count up to 60
credit points in any bachelor courses.
Specialised further training
In post-graduate training
- issuing a degree
- announcing the course and
- determining all other conditions
are
the exclusive competency of the institution of tertiary education
although the regulations on admission procedure stipulate obligation to
provide information for applicants ( 2006/237 governmental decree; on the admission procedure of tertiary institutions).
Doctoral training
According
to the Act on Higher Education the applicant to doctoral courses can be
admitted if he holds a university degree or in a multi-cycle training
structure with a Master’s degree. Further conditions of the admission
are defined by the higher education institutions in their rules and
regulations of doctoral training. Admission requirements and the terms
of assessment are published in the Doctoral admissions information
booklet which comes out until 15 December each year, and on the website
of the university ( egyetem), as
well. A committee authorized by the Doctoral Council conducts
interviews with the candidates, within which they examine the
professional preparedness and foreign language competence/knowledge of
the applicants.
The terms of assessment are generally the following:
1. Preparedness, professional intelligence;
2. The grading of the qualification/degree obtained at the end of (
egyetemi képzés)
or master course, acknowledged activities in student circle (e.g.
positions 1-3. in the Conference of the National Student Circle), and
the documentation of those already having experience in research;
3. Level of foreign language knowledge (the good
command of one foreign language in order to be able to do research in
the field is inevitable, obtaining the same level of knowledge of
another modern language is the condition of issuing the Doctoral
degree);
4. Scientific project plan verified by the consultant/theses superviso.
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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