Muscat: The Higher Education Admission Centre (HEAC) released the results of the first sorting of candidates competing for places in higher education institutions for the next Academic Year (2025/2026) on Tuesday.
Following the sorting of candidates with the 2024/2025 General Education Diploma (GED) and similar credentials, up to 27,537 male and female students were admitted.
According to Ahmed Mohammed Al Azri, Director General of the HEAC (Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation), government higher education institutions housed the most students who were admitted, accounting for 56.3% of total admissions.
The percentage of people who were admitted for internal scholarships and study grants in private higher education institutions was 41. 4%, but 2. 3% of the competing students got admission for scholarships and study grants overseas.
Al Azri noted that the majority of the places (95%) were filled during the first round, with just 5% remaining empty owing to a lack of students who met the admission criteria.
Al Azri noted that the overall number of successful candidates was 43,145, with 9,432 students having a general average of 90% or higher and 20,383 students having a general average of 80% or higher.
He noted that educational specialisations had significant competition, with the average of the most recent scores in Sultan Qaboos University's educational specialisations reaching 92.3 percent among males and 97.5 percent among females.
The University of Technology and Applied Sciences had an average competitive score of 93% for males and 97.5% for females in educational specialisations.
The most recent average competitive rates for educational majors at private higher education institutions were 91.2 for men and 97.4 for women, excluding seats set aside for the "programme for localizing teaching places in distant communities. "
As for "flexible programmes for scholarships abroad", the most recent acceptance rate for the STEM program was 98.2%, compared to 97.25% for the ESAM program.
Al Azri said that students accepted into the "flexible programs in internal scholarships" are free to pick the private higher education institution they wish to attend, as well as the subsections from among the specializations listed in the student handbook.
The "flexible programs in internal scholarships" are scholarships awarded for study at private higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman.
During working hours from August 19 to 21, 2025, students can find information about the mechanism for selecting the desired institutions and the specializations offered on their registration pages in the Admission System.
He stated that, following the first round, the HEAC would implement the PrivateFunded Admission System, which governs the admission of students seeking to study at their own expense at Sultan Qaboos University and in educational specialisation programmes at private higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman (including Sohar University, Nizwa University, Dhofar University, and Al Sharqiyah University).
He stated that registration in the system would be open from August 25 to September 3. The names of the students shortlisted for admission tests will be revealed on August 31, 2025, and the sorting results will be announced on September 1, 2025.
Al Azri said that the HEAC will provide a choice amendment service to students who challenge unfilled seats after the initial round of admissions, from September 15 to 16, 2025.
This service is available to all students, regardless of whether they received a study offer in the first round, whether they have a study opportunity, or whether they were previously registered through the system.
Al Azri encouraged individuals who wanted to file a complaint to do so via the government services portal.
