The results of this year’s university admission testing in Tajikistan (which, like in many other former Soviet countries, is now centralized) are now in. Over 100,000 higher education hopefuls took entrance exams in 2019, most for entrance to university. Around 10% were seeking admission to college i.e. the final two years of secondary education (usually ages 16-18).

This year’s top courses are in the social sciences, for which there were over 1.7 applications for each place available. This continues a trend seen in Tajikistan since the fall of the Soviet Union as students have increasingly turned to subjects such as management, banking and law.

Closely following demand for social sciences were courses in medicine, biology and sport. Across these subjects (which are grouped by the National Testing Centre into clusters), the overall number of applications to places available was 1.7.

The most popular courses based on the highest number of applications received were:

1. Medicine at Tajik State Medical University – over 14,000 applications for state-funded full-time places
2. Pediatrics at Tajik State Medical University – over 11,000 applications for state-funded full-time places
3. Pediatrics at Tajik State Medical University – over 7,500 applications for tuition paying full-time places

So, lots of young Tajikistanis want to be doctors – and many are prepared to pay if they don’t get a free ride from the state.

In terms of highest competition per place (places are capped by the state), the top three looks quite different:

1. Judicial/Forensic Expertise (help me out here Russian speakers – the original is Судебная экспертиза) at Tajik National University – over 500 applications per place
2. Structural Engineering at Tajik Technical University – nearly 450 applications per place
3. Chemistry and Biology at Tajik State Pedagogical University – over 400 applications per place