OPEN THE SOURCE · CHECK THE DATE
Verifying Official Sources
A verification centre teaching where and in what order to check official information about schools, examinations, quotas, scholarships and programmes.
The first search result, a social-media post or a screenshot from an adviser is not an official rule. Reliable work identifies the responsible authority, opens the current guide, checks publication and update dates and compares programme codes or school information with a second official source.
Where can you go from here?
Annual Guides
See which academic year the source applies to.
Open guide → 02LGS Sources
Separate the roles of the MEB guide, e-School and Rota Maarif.
Open guide → 03YKS and YÖK Atlas
Read rules, current quotas and historical data from the correct sources.
Open guide → 04Opportunity Sources
Check the official provider on competition and free-resource cards.
Open guide →Source priority
- Current official guide or regulation
- Official application or preference system
- Announcement from the responsible authority
- Official school or university page
- Authorised delivery partner
- Informational secondary source
Main official systems
MEB and e-School: basic-education registration, LGS, school and quota information.
Rota Maarif: researching schools by type, field, boarding and facilities.
ÖSYM: YKS guides, programmes, quotas, special conditions and preferences.
YÖK Atlas: historical quotas, rankings and admitted-student profiles.
Common verification errors
- Treating an old guide as current
- Treating a preliminary guide as the final preference guide
- Confusing a school’s field label with branches that actually open
- Reading an entry score as a guaranteed threshold
- Considering only one year of fees or scholarships
- Treating unofficial school rankings as objective quality measures
Questions that arise while deciding
These answers provide general guidance; check the official document for the relevant year for rules that can change.
01Is a school’s social-media account an official source?
A verified institutional account can provide current announcements, but MEB/e-School and official guides control registration and preference rules.
02How can a PDF be checked as current?
Check publication date, version, correction notices and whether the link uses the official domain.
03Why use YÖK Atlas and the ÖSYM guide together?
ÖSYM provides current programmes, quotas and special conditions, while YÖK Atlas supports analysis of historical trends and programme data.
04Is information from an open day sufficient?
It is useful, but field openings, curriculum, fees and registration conditions should be confirmed in writing or through official sources.
05Is a screenshot evidence?
It is weak on its own because date, context and source may be missing. Open the original page or document wherever possible.
06Should the site copy all official data into its own database?
For rapidly changing details, teaching use of the official tool is safer. Any stored summary needs a source and last-verification date.
07How can a fake official-looking link be recognised?
Check the domain character by character, navigate from the authority’s home page and respect browser warnings. Shortened links or file-sharing sites are not proof of an official document.
08Can a news article replace the official guide?
It can alert readers to a change, but the original authority document must be opened for dates, exceptions and procedures. Headlines can omit or distort detail.
09How should information received by phone be verified?
Record the unit, date and answer, but request a written notice, email or official document for critical action. Verbal information alone is not durable evidence.
10What if an official source link breaks?
Search the authority site using document title and date. An archive copy should not be the sole source for current action, and the record can be marked unverified until restored.
Where should you verify the information?
2026 Secondary Education Transition Preference and Placement Guide
Open official source ↗MEBRota Maarif school information and preference platform
Open official source ↗e-Devlet / MEBAddress-based school registration lookup
Open official source ↗MEBe-School Management Information System
Open official source ↗MEBMesleğim Hayatım vocational education portal
Open official source ↗ÖSYMÖSYM 2026 YKS Guide
Open official source ↗ÖSYM2026 Higher Education Programmes and Quotas Guide
Open official source ↗YÖKYÖK Atlas
Open official source ↗Examination, registration, preference, quota, scholarship and curriculum rules can change. Open the current official document for the relevant academic year before acting.
Verifying Official Sources: turn information into a decision
Completing this page does not mean that every decision about verifying official sources is settled. To make the information usable, the learner should bring personal circumstances and current official evidence into one decision file. The plan below turns general guidance into observable evidence, uncertainty into a verification question and a first reading into a record that can be revisited.
Begin by examining “Where can you go from here?” beside “Annual Guides”. For each heading, record one real situation, one unknown and one question to verify through a reliable source. Then test the suggestion under “LGS Sources” on a small scale. Do not record only success or failure; note time used, support needed, the error encountered and what would change in a second attempt.
The third layer is comparison. Evaluate the focus “YKS and YÖK Atlas” against at least two alternatives using the same criteria. Criteria should not be the title, institution name or first impression alone; use everyday practice, accessibility, time and cost, safety, source freshness and the learner’s own view. Do not assign a guessed score to missing information. Mark it clearly as “to be verified” and name the responsible source.
For dates, conditions, fees, quotas, rules or application details that can change, do not rely only on the page’s review date. Open the primary official notice, record its date and scope, and preserve the earlier value in a version history when information changes. This makes it possible to see which decision relied on which evidence at a particular time.
The final step belongs to the learner. Answer: what did I understand, what remains doubtful, what support do I need and what is my next small action? Keep parent or teacher observations in a separate row rather than replacing the learner’s view. Reopen the same record after one week or one month and compare changed evidence with needs that remain.
| Focus | Evidence to produce | Closing question |
|---|---|---|
| Where can you go from here? | One real situation + one verification question | What changes in my own context? |
| Annual Guides | Source, date and scope record | Is the source current and direct? |
| LGS Sources | Small trial + error log | What will change in version two? |
| YKS and YÖK Atlas | Two-alternative comparison | Which difference genuinely affects the decision? |
Suggested return: a short check seven days after the first record; whenever an official change is published; and a full reread before an important decision.