The Cabinet has approved the procedure for the state final certification of university graduates and vocational educational institutions. The document has been published on Lex.uz.
Starting from 2025, alongside universities, final exams may also be conducted at enterprises and organizations—employers. The choice of location remains with the certification commission and depends on the specifics of the field and specialty.
Certification in universities may take one of the following forms:
- foreign language exam (based on the university council's resolution);
- exam on specialized subjects (professionally applied subjects; in medical universities—two-stage preclinical and clinical subjects);
- defense of the final qualification work;
- defense of the diploma project;
- defense of the master's thesis;
- presentation of a startup project or an innovative idea related to the field and specialty.
The author or co-author of the startup must be recognized as the winner based on the results of a competition conducted by a government body. For the innovative idea, documentation of its implementation by at least three enterprises and organizations during the author's study period is required.
Each year by October 31, universities must approve the list of subjects for which exams will be held and the locations for these exams. At least six months before the exams, the list of mandatory subjects for each field must be published. Three months prior, certification programs need to be submitted, and one month before the start of the graduation semester, the composition of the commission must be approved.
The commission may include specialists from enterprises and organizations that are employers, as well as leading industry professionals and scientists. However, up to 40% of the commission's members must be academic and teaching staff from the university where the certification takes place.
Technical schools may conduct certifications in the form of tests on professional subjects (in the case of initial vocational education—also on the history of Uzbekistan) and demonstration exams.
The demonstration for students in dual education programs is conducted by the partner organization of the educational institution. Representatives from enterprises and organizations must make up at least 50% of the certification commission members.
Graduates must receive their higher education diploma within a month after successfully passing the exam. Requirements for obtaining a diploma with honors include:
- in the university—grade "5" (90−100 points) in at least 75% of subjects, grade "4" (70−89.9) in the remaining subjects, and grade "5" based on certification results;
- in the technical school—grade "5" in at least 86% of subjects, grade "4" in the remaining subjects, and grade "5" based on certification results, good behavior, and participation in public events.
Previously, Spot reported that 3,500 grant places would be allocated for children from low-income families in universities for the 2025-2026 academic year.