Türkiye Scholarships for South African Students

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Türkiye Scholarships (Türkiye Bursları) is the Turkish government’s scholarship programme for international students. It is run by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and is open to citizens of every country, including South Africa. It funds a full degree at a Turkish university, from an associate degree through to a PhD. The award also places the student at a university, pays for a year of Turkish lessons first, and covers accommodation, health insurance, a flight and a monthly stipend. Applications are free and made online once a year. The 2026 round ran from 10 January to 20 February 2026 and is closed.

Age limits and minimum marks by level

YTB first screens every application against two published cut-offs, an age limit and a minimum academic result, both set by level of study:

Final-year students can apply if they will graduate before August of the application year. Turkish citizens and people who have lost Turkish citizenship cannot apply, and neither can anyone already enrolled at a Turkish university at the level they are applying for. Matriculants who took a gap year or repeated a grade should check the under-21 limit carefully before applying for a bachelor’s degree.

What a scholar receives in Türkiye

• Placement and fees: YTB places scholars at a university and department. Applicants list up to 12 choices in the application system, and tuition is paid.
• Monthly stipend: 6,500 Turkish lira at associate and bachelor’s level, 9,500 TL at master’s level and 13,000 TL at PhD level, according to YTB’s website. The stipend is paid into a Turkish bank account opened on arrival. Students with strong academic results can qualify for the Merit Scholarship, which doubles it.
• Accommodation: Undergraduates live in state (KYK) or affiliated dormitories for their whole degree at no cost. Master’s and PhD students get a dormitory place in their first year, then a housing allowance of 6,000 TL in Istanbul and Ankara or 5,000 TL in other cities.
• Turkish course: Scholars without a C1 Turkish certificate take a one-year course at a university language centre (TÖMER) and must reach C1 by the end of it. This applies even to students placed in English-taught programmes.
• Travel and health: a one-off flight to Türkiye at the start and home after graduation, plus general health insurance.

The year of Turkish lessons comes before the degree, so scholars spend a year longer in Türkiye than the programme itself lasts. Many programmes are taught in Turkish. Candidates who want an English-taught programme need an accepted English test result such as TOEFL where the university asks for one, and often an admission test such as SAT, GRE or GMAT.

From online form to interview

Applications go through the Türkiye Scholarships Application System (TBBS). Applicants upload:

• a passport or ID and a photo taken within the last year
• national exam results (for South Africans, the NSC) if they have them
• a diploma or temporary graduation certificate and a transcript
• any international test or language results the chosen programme requires
• for PhD applicants, a research proposal and a sample of their written research

After the preliminary check, an expert committee reviews each file for academic record, career goals, the consistency of the programme choices, the letter of intent and social involvement. Shortlisted undergraduate candidates take a 60-minute, 30-question test of mathematics, geometry and logic, followed by a 15 to 30-minute face-to-face interview on the same day. Tests for health sciences, science and engineering expect enough English to follow the questions. YTB publishes a sample test on its selection process page. Candidates bring their latest educational certificates to the interview.

The yearly calendar

YTB’s application calendar sets out the same cycle each year. Applications open from 10 January to 20 February. Evaluation follows in March and April, and interviews run from April to June. Results come out in early August, with initial procedures in August and scholars moving to Türkiye in September. The 2026 announcement, posted on 29 December 2025, confirmed a single application window from 10 January to 20 February 2026. YTB had not announced the 2027 round by 27 September 2026. The Research and Success scholarships have separate windows.

Other governments also offer full scholarships to South Africans, such as the Chinese Government CSC Scholarship and the Hungarian Government scholarship run through DHET. For study at home, start with the undergraduate bursaries list.

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