How to Apply for Türkiye Bursları 2027

The Five Steps

Follow these steps in order. The online application itself takes 2–4 hours if your documents are ready. Everything happens on the official portal, tbbs.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr, and applying is free.

1. 1
   Register

   Create your TBBS account.

2. 2
   Personal info

   Identity, contacts, education history, languages.

3. 3
   Documents

   Upload every required file.

4. 4
   Preferences

   Rank up to 12 university programmes.

5. 5
   Submit

   Review, then submit before 20 February 2027.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to the official portal. Visit tbbs.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr and click "Register". Do NOT use any third-party website claiming to submit applications for you — those are scams.

Use a reliable email. Use Gmail or Outlook. Some local email providers don't receive the verification email. Check your spam folder if you don't see it within 10 minutes.

Set a strong password. You'll log in many times over several months, so write down your credentials. The password reset can take hours during peak periods.

Step 2: Fill in Personal Information

Accuracy is critical here.

• Name exactly as on your passport. If your passport says "MOHAMMED", don't type "Muhammad". A mismatch causes visa issues later.
• Contact information. Give a phone number that can receive international calls, with country code. Interview invitations sometimes come by phone.
• Education history. Enter every institution you attended and your grade as a percentage (out of 100). As a rough rule, on a 4.0 scale multiply by 25 (3.0 = 75%) and on a 5.0 scale multiply by 20, unless your university gives an official conversion.
• Language skills. Be honest about your Turkish (likely "None" or "Beginner"). Mention IELTS/TOEFL if you have them; they're only required if your chosen English-taught programme asks for them. Overstating your languages can backfire in the interview.

Step 3: Upload Documents

This is where most applications fail. Tick off each item as you get it ready.

File format. Upload PDF or JPEG files under 2MB each. The portal can reject oversized files silently, without an error message, so compress your PDFs first. See the full document guide.

Step 4: Select University Preferences

You can select up to 12 university-programme combinations. Order matters — your first choice gets priority. But don't only pick Istanbul universities; read the university placement guide for strategy.

1. Mix big and small cities — Istanbul and Ankara places are extremely competitive.
2. Check whether your programme is available in English before selecting it.
3. Research the university's strength in your field, not just its city.
4. Include at least 3–4 universities in smaller cities as "safety" picks.
5. Your 5th or 6th choice might actually give you the best experience.

If all 12 of your choices are big-city universities, your chance of placement drops dramatically.

That's the "big city quota" trap: everyone picks Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, and those quotas fill instantly. Diversify your list.

Step 5: Review and Submit

Pre-submission checklist

• All documents uploaded and visible in preview
• Name matches your passport exactly
• Motivation letter within 1,500–4,000 characters
• University preferences ordered strategically
• Grade correctly calculated and entered
• Contact information (phone and email) correct

After submission: save your application reference number, take a screenshot of the confirmation page and keep the confirmation email. Then the 6–7 month wait begins — see the timeline page for what happens next.

Common Application Mistakes

These errors cause more rejections than low grades.

Submitting on the last day

The portal struggles in the last 2–3 days every year. Applicants lose their applications when the system times out during upload. Submit at least one week before the deadline.

Copy-pasting motivation letters from the internet

YTB checks letters for plagiarism. If yours matches other submissions or online templates, you'll be rejected — they've seen every YouTube template a thousand times. Write your own; see our motivation letter guide.

Uploading blurry or incomplete documents

Phone photos with shadows, missing pages or illegible text get rejected before they reach a reviewer. Use a proper scanner or a high-quality scanning app, and make sure every page is complete.

Not converting your grade correctly

The system expects a percentage (out of 100). A 3.2/4.0 is 80%, not 3.2. A B+ average is roughly 78–82% depending on your country's scale. Double-check, or your application might be filtered out automatically.

Choosing the wrong programme type

Applying for a master's before finishing your bachelor's, or choosing the Research Scholarship as a fresh graduate, means instant disqualification. Apply for the programme that matches your current education level.

Ignoring the motivation letter character limit

The 1,500–4,000 character limit is enforced by the system. At 4,001 characters your letter gets cut off; at 1,499 it may not save. Count characters (not words), including spaces, in a text editor first. The motivation letter guide has a live counter.

Portal Survival Tips

Next: Write a Winning Motivation Letter

Your motivation letter is the most important part of the application. Learn the SPARK framework and the strict character limits in the motivation letter guide, or go back to the document details.