Turkiye Burslari Application: How to Prepare a Strong File

A Turkiye Burslari application is a single online file sent to the Turkish government's scholarship agency, the YTB, during one annual window that generally opens between January and February. The programme draws a very large number of candidates worldwide each year, so a file that is complete, consistent and sent early counts for as much as your grades. This guide takes the eligibility conditions, the documents, the online form, the motivation letter, the interview and the calendar in the order you will actually meet them.

What Is the Turkiye Burslari Scholarship?

Turkiye Burslari is the Turkish government's scholarship programme for international students, run by the Yurtdisi Turkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Baskanligi (YTB), the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities. It is a full scholarship, not a tuition discount. As of the time this article is written, it covers university fees, pays a monthly stipend, and generally includes accommodation, health insurance, a return flight and a year of Turkish language classes before degree studies begin.

Places are offered for bachelor's, master's and doctoral study at universities across Turkey, most of them public. The YTB also runs narrower tracks, including a research scholarship for academics, each with its own rules and its own calendar. To see exactly what the award funds and how it is decided, read our article on how the Turkiye Burslari scholarship works.

Knowing how to get the Turkiye Burslari scholarship starts with three facts about the programme. Selection is competitive, applying costs nothing, and the entire process happens on one official website. There is no paper route and no official intermediary.

Who Can Apply for Turkiye Burslari?

You can apply for Turkiye Burslari if you are not a Turkish citizen, have not lost Turkish citizenship, and meet the age and grade conditions the YTB publishes for the round you are entering. Nationality is not a barrier in itself: candidates from every country are considered, and the YTB allocates places by country and region. What does rule you out is already being enrolled at a Turkish university at the same level you are applying for.

As of the time this article is written, the general conditions are these:

• Not be a Turkish citizen, and not have lost Turkish citizenship.
• Age limits: generally under 21 for a bachelor's degree, under 30 for a master's, under 35 for a doctorate and under 45 for the research track.
• A minimum grade level: often around 70 percent for a bachelor's degree, 75 percent for a master's or a doctorate, and up to 90 percent for medical and health science programmes.
• Not already be enrolled in Turkey at the level you are applying for, although students in their final year at home may apply.
• The academic capacity to follow the programme. Candidates with a disability are assessed under the same conditions.

These thresholds move from one round to the next, so read the criteria published for the current year before you write anything. The Turkiye Burslari application for international students is free and runs entirely online, with no agency involved. The table below sets out what each level generally expects.

What Documents Do You Need for Your Application?

Your file rests on a short list of official documents: proof of identity, transcripts, a photograph, any test results your field requires, a motivation letter and, at graduate level, references and a research plan. Gather them before you open the form, because the portal takes them section by section and one missing upload blocks validation. In our experience with international students, the documents hold a file up far more often than the grades do, usually because a scan is unreadable or a translation is missing.

The documents usually requested are:

• A valid passport or national identity document.
• Your transcripts and your diploma, or a certificate of enrolment if you are still finishing the degree.
• A recent passport photograph.
• The examination results your field expects, for example a language test or a standardised score, depending on the programme.
• A motivation letter, and for master's and doctoral applications a research proposal.
• Letters of recommendation from teachers or employers, according to the level you are applying for.

Most foreign documents have to be in English or Turkish, and some universities ask for a sworn translation or an apostille on the diploma. Check that every name, grade and date on the form matches the file you upload, character for character. A mismatch between the two is the easiest problem in the whole process to prevent, and the one a panel notices first.

Scan at a readable resolution, keep each file within the size the portal accepts, and name your files so you can tell them apart at two in the morning on the day you submit. Preparing those documents a month ahead turns the form itself into an hour of typing.

How to Submit a Turkiye Burslari Application

You submit by creating an account on the YTB portal, completing the online form, ranking up to twelve programmes, uploading your documents and sending the file before the window closes. There is no paper route and no fee. The form is available in English and in Turkish, and it saves as you go, so you can fill it in over several sessions.

1. Step 1: create your account on the YTB's application portal, turkiyeburslari.gov.tr, once the round opens.
2. Step 2: enter your personal details, your academic history and your grades exactly as they appear on your transcripts.
3. Step 3: choose your programmes and universities, up to twelve preferences, ordered from most to least wanted.
4. Step 4: write your motivation letter and, for research-based study, your project proposal.
5. Step 5: upload every required document and open each one again to check it is legible.
6. Step 6: review the whole form, then submit. Once sent, it cannot be changed.

Ranking those twelve preferences deserves real thought. The YTB places successful candidates in one of the programmes they listed, so a list made up only of the most sought-after departments in Istanbul leaves fewer ways for you to be matched. If you are not sure what to aim for, our guidance on Turkish universities helps you build a list that mixes ambition with realistic options.

You can submit one application per round, and the file cannot be reopened afterwards. That is the reason to finish it days before the closing date rather than hours.

How Do You Write the Letter and Pass the Interview?

A strong motivation letter sets out one specific study plan and explains why that programme, in Turkey, is the right place for it. General praise for the country, or a letter rebuilt from a template found online, reads the same way to every panel that has seen a few thousand of them. Write about the subject you want to study, the work you have already done towards it, and what you intend to do with it afterwards.

Shortlisted candidates are invited to an interview, held online or at a centre in their own country, in front of a small panel. Expect questions on your academic record, your choice of programme and your plans after graduation, generally in English. Practise answering out loud and briefly, without reciting a script.

Across the students we guide, the applications that convince are the ones where the letter, the chosen programme and the interview all tell the same story. Applying with an honest, specific letter beats a polished but interchangeable one.

Timeline and Mistakes to Avoid

The round generally opens early in the year, often between January and February, and stays open for a few weeks only, with one session a year. The Turkiye Burslari application deadline is confirmed by the YTB alone, on its official site, and it has shifted by several weeks between rounds, so treat any date you read elsewhere, including on this page, as indicative. Preselection results generally follow in spring and the final decisions in summer.

Work backwards from the closing date instead of forwards from today. A sworn translation, a replacement transcript and a reference letter from a teacher who is away all take longer than candidates expect.

The mistakes that cost places are almost never academic:

• Submitting in the last few days, then meeting a missing document or a slow portal.
• Reusing a motivation letter found online, which a panel recognises at once.
• Listing only the most competitive programmes, or ordering them carelessly.
• Entering grades or dates that do not match the transcripts you uploaded.
• Leaving a required document untranslated into an accepted language.

None of these have anything to do with how good a student you are. A methodical candidate who starts in December is often in a better position than a stronger profile who opens the form in the final week.

What Happens After Your Turkiye Burslari Application?

After you submit, your file goes through a document-based preselection, then an interview for shortlisted candidates, before the final result is published. The YTB weighs the consistency of your record, your grades and your study plan, and announces the preselection generally in spring. Interviews follow online or at a centre, and the awards are usually announced over the summer.

If you are awarded a place, the YTB assigns you to one of the universities and programmes you ranked and issues an acceptance letter. That letter is the basis of the student visa application you make at the Turkish consulate or embassy in your own country, where the exact requirements depend on your nationality. After you arrive, recognition of your diploma falls to the Yuksekogretim Kurulu (YOK), the step known as denklik, and your student residence permit is handled by the Goc Idaresi Baskanligi.

Arrival is a project of its own, from enrolment week to finding a room. Our guide on how to prepare for life as a student in Turkey covers the first few weeks.

A strong Turkiye Burslari application comes down to three things: a complete and accurate file, programme choices you have genuinely thought about, and a letter that reads like a person wrote it. Prepare the documents early, submit well before the closing date, and confirm the current round's conditions with the YTB, whose answer overrides anything written here. Learning how to get the Turkiye Burslari scholarship is less a matter of brilliance than of method.

Talk to Campus Turquie about your studies

Campus Turquie is an educational and cultural institution based in Istanbul. Since 2020 we have guided international students through admission to Turkish universities and taught Turkish at every level. To talk about your own plans, call or message us on WhatsApp at +90 532 431 80 50, write to contact@campusturquie.org, or visit us at Sisli Merkez Mahallesi, Hasat Sokak No:12A, 34384 Sisli, Istanbul. Our offices are open Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00. You can also see our Turkish language courses and our university admission support, or reach us through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Should You Submit Your Application?

Submit during the annual application window, which generally opens between January and February and stays open for a few weeks. The Turkiye Burslari application deadline is set each year by the YTB and published on its official website, so check it rather than trusting last year's dates. Send your file in the first half of the window, not on the closing day.

Is the Turkiye Burslari Application Free?

Yes, a Turkiye Burslari application is free from start to finish. There is no application fee and no agency to pay, because the whole process runs on the programme's official portal. Treat any intermediary who asks for money to submit it for you as a warning sign.

Do You Need to Speak Turkish to Apply?

No, you can apply for Turkiye Burslari without speaking any Turkish, because the form is completed in English or Turkish and many degree programmes are taught in English. Scholars placed on a Turkish-taught programme take a year of language classes, funded by the scholarship, before the degree begins. Some programmes still ask for a specific language or standardised test score, which their own announcement states. That makes the Turkiye Burslari application for international students workable with no Turkish at all.

Can You Apply Without Taking the YOS Exam?

Yes, the YOS, the entrance examination some Turkish universities set for international applicants, is not part of this selection. The scholarship runs its own process, and the YOS is used mainly for fee-paying admissions at the universities that require it. If a particular programme does ask for an examination score, its announcement says so.

How Long Does the Scholarship Last?

The scholarship lasts for the normal length of your programme, plus the preparatory year of Turkish classes. That generally means four to six years for a bachelor's degree depending on the field, around two years for a master's and four years for a doctorate. Funding continues while you keep passing your academic years, under the rules the YTB sets.

What Does the Scholarship Cover Once You Receive It?

It covers tuition fees, a monthly stipend, accommodation, health insurance and a return flight, on top of the preparatory year of Turkish classes. As of the time this article is written, the stipend amounts are set annually by the YTB and differ by study level. Check the figures published for the current round before you make any financial plans.

How Do You Get the Turkiye Burslari Scholarship?

You get the Turkiye Burslari scholarship by sending a complete, accurate file with realistic programme choices and a personal motivation letter, then convincing the panel at the interview. No approach guarantees selection, because the programme is heavily oversubscribed every year. What a careful file sent early does is remove the reasons a panel would set yours aside.

About Campus Turquie

Campus Turquie is an educational and cultural institution based in Istanbul, founded in 2020. We provide Turkish language courses at every level and end-to-end support for admission to Turkish universities: choosing the university and the programme, preparing the application file, diploma equivalence, entrance examinations, enrolment and the residence formalities that follow. The institution is led by Burak Unal, its founder, who holds an MSc in Finance from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Business Management from Bogazici University, is a Chevening alumnus and a Congress Member of Galatasaray Sports Club. He has worked in education consulting since 2020. Campus Turquie is an education services provider: we are not a law firm and we do not represent any government authority.

Disclaimer

This article is published as general information. It is not legal advice, not immigration advice, and not advice tailored to your circumstances. Campus Turquie is an education services provider: we are not a law firm and we do not represent any government authority.

Visa, residence permit and admission requirements in Turkey change, sometimes without notice. An article that was accurate when written can go out of date. Before you file an application, spend money or book travel, confirm the details with the official source that applies to you: the migration authority for residence permits, the Turkish consulate or embassy in your country for visas, and the university itself for admission. What the authority tells you always overrides what you read here.

Campus Turquie accepts no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of this content, or for the consequences of those decisions, including a refused application, fees you cannot recover, or delays. Our full editorial policy is on the Disclaimer and editorial policy page.