Reflections of the 800.000-success rank in the Basic Proficiency Test (TYT)

Abstract

In the talent exams applied to student applications to the fine arts departments of education faculties, as of 2020, the condition of ‘having at least 800 thousand success ranks in the TYT exam’ has been introduced. This research aims to examine the reflections of this threshold condition applied to teacher training programs accepting students with a special talent exam on the department quota, special talent selection exam, student records and student profile of the Department of Art Education of the Faculty of Education of Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University. The research was conducted with 60 students registered in the department at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. A case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The data obtained from the semi-structured interview forms applied to the research group were evaluated by the researcher using the descriptive analysis technique. As a result of the research, it was found that after the introduction of the TYT 800 thousand success rank threshold, the number of applications to the department decreased significantly, the department quota numbers decreased, the majority of students coming from within the field could not pass this threshold, and the number of students coming from outside the field increased considerably (by ¾ rate) compared to the number of students coming from within the field. As a result of the research, it was suggested that additional points could be added for students coming from fine arts high schools, students should be made more aware of the 800 thousand success rank threshold, and updates could be made to the TYT exam in the fine arts high school curriculum programs.