Georgian Gov’t opens university admissions programme for students from occupied territories

Students living in Georgia's Russian-occupied territories will be able to enrol in Georgian universities without sitting the country's Unified National Examinations and receive full state funding at government-established higher education institutions, the Education Ministry has announced.

Registration for the 2026 admissions programme has now opened and will remain available until 5 September 2026.

Under the programme, eligibility is limited to applicants residing in the occupied territories who studied at a general education school there during the past two years and obtained a secondary school graduation certificate recognised by Georgia's Ministry of Education, Science and Youth under the established recognition procedure.

Applications may be submitted in person to the Office of the State Representative in the municipalities of Gori, Kaspi, Kareli and Khashuri, or electronically through the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.

The initiative forms part of Georgia's policy of expanding access to higher education for residents of the occupied territories.