University Entrance Exam Students' Protests: Year of Destiny, War, and Crisis

Several students in Tehran staged a large-scale protest in front of the Ministry of Education building on Tuesday, June 2. They were protesting a mandate by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution regarding the definitive impact of academic records (GPA) on the Konkur (national university entrance exam), under conditions where remote and online schooling over the past few months had been delivered at the worst possible quality. Speaking to IranWire, several protesters pointed out that under wartime conditions, they lacked the opportunity for regular study and adequate preparation for final exams and that, therefore, enforcing a definitive GPA impact could diminish their chances of success in the entrance exam.

The student protests in Tehran took place following similar demonstrations over the past two weeks in other provinces, including Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, North Khorasan, Hamadan, Lorestan, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. However, in most of those instances, suppression was what awaited the protesters.

"This is my year of destiny. Through all the hardships and high prices, I did everything I could, but what did it amount to in the end? The state of schooling was such that, I swear to God, not a single day was I able to listen to a class from beginning to end. It was either disconnecting and reconnecting, or there was no connection at all, or it was slow, or the power was out. To whom should we take this complaint, that nothing was normal, yet the test, the Konkur, and everything else are expected to be normal?"

This is part of the anguish borne by "Armita," a 12th-grade pre-medical (experimental sciences) student in Tehran. Armita attended the gathering in front of the Ministry of Education alongside her parents. "Almost everyone had come with their families. Every 11th- and 12th-grader's heart is in their throat. Since these ladies and gentlemen in authority had their own privileges and never understood the agony and stress of the Konkur, how could they understand how we feel?"

Armita says she worked hard throughout her high school years to stand proud during the year of the Konkur, which she describes as the "year of destiny." "I promised my parents and myself that I would definitely be accepted into a public university and study medicine. This was my dream. For its sake, I gave up fun and many things I wanted. I'm not doing anyone a favor, but it's not right that no one even asked why we are protesting. We didn't get an answer from the Ministry of Education today, so we went and chanted slogans in front of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, but there, too, instead of giving answers, they suppressed us."

What Does the Mandate of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution State?

According to the mandate of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the academic records of students in the main testing tracks (Mathematics, Experimental Sciences, and Humanities) account for 60 percent of the total score and have a definitive impact on Konkur results, while the share for the Art and Foreign Language tracks stands at 40 percent. The remaining percentage of the overall score is determined by the national entrance exam itself. This academic record is calculated based on final exam grades from the 11th and 12th grades - a factor that has elevated the importance of final exams in recent years to match that of the Konkur itself.

"Roya" is an 11th-grade student in the Humanities track. She tells IranWire: "The problem with this mandate is that if your GPA is good, this impact is very helpful for your Konkur rank, but if your GPA is ruined, this 60 percent, for instance, will harm your rank. If we had been taught under normal conditions, if the syllabi had been taught completely as in previous years, no one would be protesting. How is it possible that we studied in such a low-quality and incomplete manner, yet the administration of the in-person final exams is expected to be just like under normal conditions?"

The mother of a 12th-grade student living in Isfahan echoes the statements of other witnesses present at the Tehran protest, saying, "Last week, the children in Isfahan protested as well. The children's plea is for an exception to be made at least for this year's Konkur and for the final exam grades of the 11th and 12th grades to be calculated as a positive-only impact. These children, like everyone else, were under pressure, stress, and uncertainty due to wartime conditions, and on top of that, they experienced double the anxiety because up until just one or two weeks ago, neither the Konkur schedule nor the administration of the final exams was clear."

According to this citizen, another issue worrying 11th-graders is that the results of this year's final exams will also affect their Konkur next year. "My daughter can't sleep at night. She says if she doesn't get the grades she should on this year's final exams, even if she does well next year, the negative effect of the 11th-grade marks will still impact her Konkur next year. That's why they are protesting so that the exams at least match the level of education provided, and for the 11th-grade children, the result should apply only as a positive impact, not a definitive one."

"I Planned So Much, and in the End, My Future Was Ruined"

"Roozbeh" is a 12th-grade student in Rasht. He tells IranWire: "Our family has had no luck with the Konkur. My older sister passed the Konkur in 2022, but before she could set foot in the university, Mahsa Amini was killed. From that day on, she kept telling me, 'I hope you experience good days at university.' Now, the entire future I had planned is up in the air."

Roozbeh says that to afford an academic counselor for university admission and buy supplementary educational books, he spent a portion of his free time and rest hours doing graphic design for advertising companies. "I went to a public school, but if we want to study a good major, we have to spend money. It's impossible without money. I slept less and spent my rest hours designing websites and posters, only for everything to turn into smoke and blow away in the end."

What Do the Officials Say?

In addition to Tehran, students took to the streets today in the cities of Mashhad and Hamadan with similar demands, gathering in front of the provincial directorates of the Ministry of Education. In previous weeks, videos were published showing student protests in the cities of Khorramabad, Yasuj, and Doroud, right at the time when some education officials announced that high school final exams must be held in person.

The Ministry of Education has announced that it is not the decision-maker regarding the manner of the academic record's impact and is merely the executor of the mandates passed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Therefore, any change in the method of applying the GPA must be approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Alireza Kazemi, the Minister of Education, responding to questions from domestic media regarding the demands of the protesters, stated that the mandate for the definitive impact of academic records has undergone no changes so far, and the ministry under his command is obligated to implement it until the regulations are amended.

Saeed Reza Ameli, a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, had previously emphasized on May 29 that no changes would be made to the mandate, even as an exception for this year's Konkur, and that the definitive impact of 11th- and 12th-grade GPAs remains in place.

Nonetheless, Abdulvahid Fayazi, a member of the Education and Research Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament), announced in reaction to the student gatherings that Parliament is pursuing the matter and that discussions have been held with the Minister of Education in this regard.

This member of Parliament also identified the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution as the final decision-maker in this field, stating: "Members of the Education Commission believe that under the current circumstances, continuing the definitive impact of the GPA is not in the best interest of the students and must be reviewed."

In 2026, the number of participants in the national university entrance exam and the specialized student-teacher exam was announced as 965,000, based on statistics provided by the National Organization for Educational Testing.

The entrance exams are scheduled to be held on August 20 and 21, potentially marking one of the most challenging university admission tests for Iranian students.

The mandate of the Cultural Revolution Council regarding the effect of school final GPAs on Konkur results was implemented with the goal of putting an end to protests and controversies surrounding the "multiple-choice testing" method of the university exam. Many citizens used to describe relying solely on multiple-choice testing to obtain a Konkur rank as "unfair," yet this new method also has its critics due to the risk of stratifying the educational system along class lines. On the other hand, cheating on the Konkur has been a serious challenge for the Sanjesh Organization for years. The organization had previously announced that over a period of 17 years, it had identified 9,000 individuals accused of cheating.