Overview
Georgia's Unified National Exams (ერთიანი ეროვნული გამოცდები), often shortened to UNE, are the centralised exams that secondary-school graduates sit to enter Georgian universities. They are run by the National Assessment and Examinations Center (NAEC), which operates under Georgia's Ministry of Education. An applicant's exam results decide both which university programme they can enter and whether they receive a state-funded tuition grant, replacing the separate entrance tests individual universities used to set before 2005.
Note
NAEC's own sites (naec.ge and the online.naec.ge applicant portal) could not be fetched directly while researching this page, so the facts below are drawn from Georgian and regional news outlets reporting NAEC's and the Ministry's published notices. The exam structure has also changed through several rounds of reform in recent years. Confirm the current year's compulsory subjects, schedule, and grant rules on the official online.naec.ge portal before relying on them.
Who can apply
Current-year secondary-school graduates sit the Unified National Exams to apply to university straight after finishing school. Graduates from earlier years can also register to apply, or re-apply, through the same process. All applicants register online through the online.naec.ge portal during the registration window NAEC announces each year.
Exam pattern
The compulsory subject set depends on the applicant's school-language track and, for some subjects, on the university programme being applied to.
| Part | Subjects | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory for most programmes | Georgian language and literature; a foreign language (English, Russian, German or French) | Required of graduates of Georgian-language schools applying to most programmes. |
| Compulsory for art and sport programmes | Georgian language and literature; General Skills; a foreign language | For the 2026 cycle, these three were the mandatory set specifically for applicants to art and sport programmes. |
| Programme-specific (one or more, set by the university) | Mathematics, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Civic Education, Literature, Fine and Applied Arts | Each university programme publishes which of these subjects an applicant must also sit; a common pattern is a choice between Mathematics or History. |
| Minority-language track | General Skills, sat in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Russian, Ossetian or Abkhazian, plus a foreign language | For graduates of non-Georgian-language secondary schools. Many then enter a one-year Georgian-language preparation programme, commonly called "1+4", before starting their degree. |
For 2026, NAEC's published schedule covered: Georgian language and literature (2-3 July); Ossetian language (2 July); foreign languages - English, Russian, German, French (6-8 July); Mathematics (10 July); History (13-14 July); Chemistry (14 July); Civic Education (15 July); Biology (16 July); General Skills in Armenian and Azerbaijani (17 July); Fine and Applied Arts (17 July); Geography (20 July); Literature (21 July); and Physics (22 July).
Marking and results
Each subject exam is marked on its own points scale, and NAEC sets a minimum passing level for every subject each year. An applicant's scores in the subjects relevant to a given university programme are combined into a single result for that programme, which NAEC uses to rank every applicant against the number of places the programme has. The same combined result is also used to decide which applicants are offered a state-funded ("grant") place rather than a tuition-paying place. Exact passing levels, score thresholds for grants, and the number of state-funded places are set separately for each admission year and have changed under recent reforms, so check the current cycle's figures on the official portal rather than assuming they repeat.
Important dates
For the 2026 cycle, online registration for the Unified National and Common Master's Exams opened on 6 April at 10:00 and closed on 11 May at 18:00, with the exam fee for at least one subject due by 6 May at 18:00, all through online.naec.ge. The exams themselves ran from 2 July to 22 July 2026. Recent cycles have broadly followed a spring-registration, July-exam pattern, but NAEC sets the exact dates each year and announces them on naec.ge and online.naec.ge, so confirm the current year's calendar there before relying on any specific date.
How to apply
Applicants register online at online.naec.ge during the registration window NAEC announces each year, selecting the subjects their target university programmes require and paying the exam fee to complete registration. Both current-year school graduates and earlier-year graduates register through the same portal. After subject results are published, applicants submit their ranked university and programme preferences, which NAEC uses together with the exam results to allocate places.
After the exam
NAEC first publishes each subject's results, then combines an applicant's relevant subject scores into a result for every university programme on their preference list. Places are allocated by ranking applicants' combined results against the number of places each programme has, with the highest-ranked applicants offered the limited state-funded grant places and the rest offered tuition-paying places if their result clears the programme's admission threshold. Admitted graduates of non-Georgian-language secondary schools can also enter the one-year Georgian-language preparation programme ("1+4") before starting their bachelor's programme. Recent education reforms have also changed how many programmes and places are offered and how grant funding is distributed, so the share of applicants who receive a grant varies from year to year.
Preparation tips
Check the specific subject requirements published by the university programmes you are interested in before registering, since the programme-specific subject (for example, Mathematics or History) is set by each university, not by NAEC alone.
Practise past papers for your compulsory subjects and your chosen foreign language, since these carry the most weight for almost every programme.
If you attended a non-Georgian-language school, plan for the General Skills test in your own language and look into the "1+4" Georgian-language preparation programme in case you need it after admission.
Track the registration window on online.naec.ge closely, since both registration and the exam fee payment have separate, short deadlines each year.
FAQs
Who runs Georgia's Unified National Exams?
The National Assessment and Examinations Center (NAEC), which operates under Georgia's Ministry of Education, sets, administers and scores the Unified National Exams, and publishes the results and the admission rankings.
Which subjects are compulsory in the Unified National Exams?
Most applicants from Georgian-language schools sit Georgian language and literature and a foreign language as compulsory subjects, plus one or more programme-specific subjects their target university sets. Graduates of non-Georgian-language schools instead sit a General Skills test in their own language, alongside a foreign language. Art and sport programme applicants sit Georgian language and literature, General Skills, and a foreign language.
Do my exam scores decide whether I get a state-funded place?
Yes. Your combined subject scores are used both to rank you for admission to a university programme and to decide whether you are offered one of the limited state-funded ("grant") places for that programme, rather than a tuition-paying place. Exact score thresholds for grants are set separately each year.
What if I did not attend a Georgian-language school?
Graduates of non-Georgian-language secondary schools sit a General Skills test in their own language (Armenian, Azerbaijani, Russian, Ossetian or Abkhazian) instead of the standard Georgian-literature compulsory subject. Many then join a one-year Georgian-language preparation programme, commonly called "1+4", before starting their bachelor's degree.