With the announcement of candidates’ scores on the 2026 National Exams last Thursday, and the release of statistics covering not only the scores but also the total number of candidates, it is now possible to estimate how admission thresholds for higher education will trend for the upcoming academic year, 2026–27.
More specifically, according to data from the Ministry of Education, a total of 89,032 candidates competed for one of the 68,788 spots in higher education for the upcoming academic year, 2026–27. Of these, 75,109 candidates came from General Upper Secondary Schools (GELS) and 13,923 from Vocational Upper Secondary Schools (EPALs).
Admission thresholds are expected to remain largely unchanged, according to an assessment by Giorgos Hatzitegas, an educator and analyst, in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).
According to his calculations, the minimum admission scores for each academic field, based on statistics released by the Ministry of Education, are as follows:
- 1st Academic Field (Humanities): 8.91 (slightly lower than last year: 9.04)
- 2nd Academic Field (Natural Sciences): 10.48 (higher than last year: 9.82)
- 3rd Academic Field (Health Sciences): 9.84 (slightly higher than last year: 9.60)
- 4th Scientific Field (Economics and Information Technology): 8.25 (last year: 8.40)
It should be noted that the EBE represents the lowest score threshold, which is calculated as 80% of the candidates’ average performance.
Regarding changes in admission thresholds, Mr. Hatzitegas estimated that there will be a downward trend in the 1st and 4th scientific fields, as candidates’ performance was generally lower than last year.
In the 2nd and 3rd scientific fields, the cutoff scores will rise. “The increase stems from the fact that the number of candidates scoring the highest marks on the 18–20 scale has tripled. Last year, 10% of candidates fell within this range; this year, 30% do, with the Physics course effectively raising the cutoff scores in both scientific fields.”
Specifically regarding medical schools, he estimated that there would be a slight increase, in the range of 200–250 points. For science and engineering schools, he noted that there will “definitely be an increase in admission thresholds,” which, as he mentioned, will result in the most unfilled spots in this field, “as a side effect of the Minimum Admission Threshold.”
Overall, Mr. Hatzitegas estimated that there will be more than 10,000 unfilled spots at public universities as a result of the implementation of the Minimum Admission Threshold measure.
It should be noted that applicants can calculate their total scores, and to assist them in this calculation, they can use the Ministry of Education’s special application, where, by entering their written exam scores, they can automatically view their total scores for each Department/School within their respective Field or Sector, at the following link: https://markcalc.it.minedu.gov.gr/.
The next—and final—step for candidates before the announcement of the final Panhellenic Exam results is the process of completing the Computerized Application Form, for which the relevant announcements from the Ministry of Education are still pending.
Finally, please note that candidates must have already created a personal security code in order to submit a Computerized Application Form and/or a Parallel Computerized Application Form. The deadline for creating a personal security code is next Tuesday, June 30, 2026.