A SWOT Analysis on the University Entrance Examination in Turkey: A Case Study

Strategic planning focusing on the university entrance examination is mainly built on
analyzing the characteristics of the secondary education period and on pointing the changes in this
period. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is a commonly employed
method for analyzing those changes and for reaching systematic decisions. This paper, as an attempt
to depict changes in the secondary education period in Turkey and thus to attain reasonable decisions,
describes a study of the SWOT analysis set in the context of university entrance examination in
Turkey. The study is based on the remarks of the graduate students in a class discussion. At the end of
the analysis, 16 strengths, 24 weaknesses, 18 opportunities, and 15 threats are generated. The most
important 7 opportunities not to be missed and the most alarming 7 threats not to be neglected are
selected to build two strategies and related missions. At the end of the study, the suggestions for a
new university entrance examination in Turkey are presented.