The KPSS for middle and high school graduates and associate degree holders was originally scheduled for Sept. 26, while the TUS was set to take place on Sept. 18-19.
The ÖSYM recently drew much criticism over a KPSS taken by hundreds of thousands of people on July 10-11. The fact that around 3,200 people answered most or all of the questions on the test correctly -- a first in Turkey -- led to allegations that some of the candidates cheated during the test or obtained the questions ahead of the exam. Some of the most successful test takers were either married to each other or were friends sharing the same house, which some argue increases the likelihood that they cheated.
The ÖSYM officials announced yesterday that the questions of the postponed examinations will be prepared again because the confidentiality of the tests was compromised in an investigation initiated after allegations of cheating were first brought up. “The postponed exams will take place in 2010, and the new exam dates will be announced soon publicly,” the announcement read.
‘No evidence of cheating on YGS has been found’
The investigation launched into the allegations of cheating on the KPSS has been expanded to cover allegations that students cheated on the Transition to Higher Education Examination (YGS), taken by 1.5 million students last year.
A written statement the ÖSYM released yesterday notes that no evidence of cheating on the YGS has been found. ÖSYM Executive Council member Professor Abdullah Çavuşoğlu says it is not necessary to cancel the exam and claimed that it is not possible that for the test questions to have been distributed ahead of the YGS. “There are allegations that some test takers cheated through SMS messages. We will cancel the tests of the cheaters if the allegations are proven true,” he said.
Çavuşoğlu explained that they found a number of test takers cheating by using their wrist watches which also function as mobile phones and said that the ÖSYM will be more careful about admitting such devices in future examinations.
