Yesterday, the second attempt of the admission exam to higher education institutions for I and IV specialty groups was held. During our surveys, some applicants stated that the exam was more difficult compared to the previous attempt.
Is the difficulty level of the exams really increasing, or does the applicants' preparation process affect this assessment?
Speaking to AzEdu.az on the topic, education expert Elchin Afandi noted that although some applicants stated that the exam was easy, the majority noted that the second attempt was more difficult compared to the first attempt:
"Nevertheless, there are also a sufficient number of applicants who have significantly improved their results. For example, some applicants who could not meet the competition condition in the first attempt were able to fulfill this condition in the second attempt.
All this suggests that this year's admission competition will be quite competitive. This will be influenced by both the large number of applicants and the increasing number of candidates who improved their results in the second attempt.
As for the difficulty level of the exam, observations show that in the second attempt, applicants get more tired both psychologically and physically. In addition, some candidates do not prepare as seriously for the second exam as they did for the first, because they are confident in the results they achieved in the first attempt. As a result, some can only increase their scores by one or two points, and some even show lower results. Of course, there are also those among the purposefully preparing applicants who significantly improve their results.
In fact, the difficulty level of the exam questions does not significantly differ compared to the first attempt. Simply, due to the weakening of the preparation level and the fatigue factor in the second attempt, questions of the same level seem more difficult to applicants, and they evaluate this as the exam being difficult".
Compared to last year, this year's situation looks more positive:
"A comparative analysis of our surveys shows that this year, applicants did not massively evaluate all subjects as "difficult" as they did last year. This suggests that the overall results for the second attempt will be higher compared to last year.
I would also like to touch upon one point. In recent years, opinions about the difficulty of exams are more frequently voiced among applicants. However, admission exams mainly test logical thinking, analysis, and application skills. As dependence on technological tools and artificial intelligence tools increases, young people's independent thinking and problem-solving habits may weaken. If this trend continues, it is highly probable that applicants will evaluate exams as more difficult in future years as well".
