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Judul
Changes to university admissions worry students
Media
The Jakarta Post
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20 November 2019
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Netral
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https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/11/20/changes- university-admissions-worry-students.html
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Rp 60.000.000
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Ardila
Changes to university admissions worry students
Ardila Syakriah The Jakarta Post
Jakarta / Wed, November 20 2019 / 12:36 am
Planned changes to the state university entrance test (SBMPTN) for next year are worrying many students, including 18-year-old Cholidiyyah Salsabilla, or Billa.
Billa is currently taking a gap year after failing to enroll at a state university earlier this year. Like more than 500,000 other test-takers, Billa is determined to do better next year. She has vowed to get at least 600 points in next year’s exam, a figure she thought would be enough to get her into the psychology department at a state university in Surabaya, East Java. The planned procedural changes in the entrance test, however, have her worried.
The government announced on Friday that students would only be given one chance to take the computer-based exam (UTBK) next year, instead of two times like in 2019. The UTBK score determines which universities and majors the test-takers can apply to.
Previously, the UTBK was carried out in two phases at different times or sessions over a period of 1.5 months. Students could choose whether to join the first phase only or go for a second attempt.
In each phase, they had to choose whether to take the science and technology exam or the social and humanities exam, depending on their desired majors. This meant students could sit the same exam twice or take a different exam in each phase. They were given 3.5 hours to finish the exam. In 2020, UTBK test-takers will no longer have the opportunity to take two tests on two different dates. They can, however, still pick either the science and technology exam, the social and humanities exam or both of them on the same day. The sessions will be reduced to only 14 and the duration of the exam will be cut to 3 hours, plus an additional 75 minutes for those taking both exams.
Billa, who this year only participated in the first phase and took the science and technology exam, said she had been hoping for the UTBK to be held in two phases again next year, as she was planning to try her luck in the social