Unofficial translation
Under sub-paragraph 24) of Article 5-3 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Education’ and sub-paragraph 80) of paragraph 15 of the Regulations on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 580 of August 19, 2022 “On Certain Issues of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan” I HEREBY ORDER:
Footnote. The preamble - as revised by order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 470 dated 18.09.2023 (shall be enacted after the day of its first official publication).1. That the attached Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programs shall be approved.
2. In the manner prescribed by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Department of Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Toibayev A.Zh.) shall:
1) ensure the state registration of this order with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
2) within ten calendar days from the date of state registration of this order, send its copy in paper and electronic form, both in the Kazakh and Russian languages to the Republican State Enterprise on the Right of Economic Management of the Republican Center of Legal Information for official publication and inclusion into the Reference Control Bank of Regulatory Legal Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
3) place this order on the Internet resource of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan after its official publication;
4) within ten working days after the state registration of this order, submit the information on the implementation of measures provided for in subparagraphs 1), 2) and 3) of this paragraph to the Department of Legal Service and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
3. Control over the execution of this order shall be entrusted to Aimagambetov A. K., Vice-Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
4. This order shall enter into force upon the expiry of ten calendar days after the day of its first official publication.
| Minister of Education and Science | |
| of the Republic of Kazakhstan | Y. Sagadiyev |
| Annex to order № 548 of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan of October 8, 2018 |
Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes
Footnote. The Rules - as revised by order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 470 from 18.09.2023 (shall come into effect after the day of its first official publication).
Chapter 1: General provisions
1. These Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes (hereinafter - the Rules) have been developed under sub-paragraph 24) of Article 5-3 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Education”, sub-paragraph 80) of paragraph 15 of the Regulations on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, approved by Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 580 of August 19, 2022 “On Certain Issues of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan” and establish the procedure for the selection of applicants for participation in scholarship programmes for study in institutions of higher and (or) postgraduate education (hereinafter - IHPE) of foreigners, including persons of Kazakh ethnicity, who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2. Basic concepts used herein are as follows:
1) educational programme is a unified set of basic features of education, including objectives, learning outcomes and content, organisation of the educational process, ways and methods of their implementation, criteria for assessing learning outcomes;
2) competent authority responsible for science and higher education is the central executive body of the Republic of Kazakhstan, exercising leadership and inter-sectoral coordination in the field of higher and postgraduate education;
3) persons of Kazakh ethnicity who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan are ethnic Kazakhs residing outside the Republic of Kazakhstan;
4) Grade Point Average (GPA) is a weighted average assessment of learning achievements of the student, specified for one academic year in the selected programme as a ratio of the sum of the product of credits and the digital equivalent of points of assessment of intermediate certification on disciplines to the total number of credits for disciplines of intermediate certification;
5) scholarship is a sum of money granted to a learner to partially cover the costs of food, accommodation, purchase of educational literature;
6) scholarship programmes are the programmes involving education of foreigners, including persons of Kazakh nationality, who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and financed from the government budget in Kazakhstani IHPE.
Chapter 2: Selection of applicants for scholarship programmes
3. The operator of scholarship programmes shall be the Joint Stock Company “Center for International Programs” (hereinafter referred to as the Operator).
Footnote. Paragraph 3 – as revised by order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 20.05.2024 № 240 (shall come into effect after ten calendar days of its first official publication).4. The Operator shall post on its portal an announcement on the commencement of acceptance of documents from applicants 10 (ten) calendar days prior to the commencement of the deadline for acceptance of documents.
5. The deadline for submitting documents for participation in scholarship programmes shall run from March 30 to May 31 of the calendar year.
6. The Operator shall accept documents from applicants for participation in scholarship programmes via the Operator's portal in online mode.
7. The applicant shall receive higher and (or) postgraduate education under the scholarship programme, if the education of each of these levels is received for the first time.
8. To participate in the bachelor's degree programme via the Operator's portal, the applicant shall file the following documents:
1) a copy of an identity document, including a refugee certificate as per sub-paragraph 7) of paragraph 1 of Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Identity Documents”;
2) a copy of the document on the previous level of educational attainment with a transcript and attachment (if any) and a notarised translation into Kazakh or Russian, or English. For applicants for a bachelor's degree - the average grade point of the document confirming secondary education with a grade of not less than “good” (excluding persons holding a refugee certificate). If they are not available, a certificate shall be provided from the institution where the applicant is studying, with information on grades for the current period, with a notarised translation into Kazakh, Russian or English languages;
3) a motivational essay in Kazakh or Russian or English;
4) a letter of recommendation in Kazakh or Russian or English from the educational organisation where the applicant studied or from the employer;
5) a health certificate for travellers to study abroad, as well as a health certificate on the absence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-infection) and AIDS disease, issued by the official health authority of the applicant's country of residence;
6) a completed questionnaire in the form as per Appendix 1 hereto;
7) an invitation letter from the Kazakhstani IHPE (if any).
9. The applicant for participation in the competitive selection for the Master's Programme via the Operator's portal shall file the following documents:
1) a copy of the identity document;
2) a copy of the document on the previous level of education with transcript and enclosure (if any) and notarised translation into Kazakh or Russian or English languages (Bachelor's or Specialist's diploma with an average score of at least 3.0 (out of 4.0) GPA or its equivalent obtained in educational institutions;
3) a motivational essay in Kazakh or Russian or English;
4) 2 letters of recommendation in Kazakh or Russian or English from the educational organisation where the applicant studied or from the employer;
5) a health certificate for travellers to study abroad, as well as a health certificate on the absence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-infection) and AIDS disease, issued by the official health authority of the applicant's country of residence;
6) a completed questionnaire in the form as per Appendix 1 hereto;
7) an invitation letter from the Kazakhstani IHPE (if any);
8) an international certificate of foreign language proficiency:
for proficiency in English language:
Test of English as a Foreign Language Institutional Testing Programme, Internet-based Test, (TOEFL IBT), the threshold score is at least 46 points,
Test of English as a Foreign Language Paper-based testing (TOEFL PBT) the threshold score is at least 453 points,
International English Language Tests System Academic (IELTS Academic), the threshold score is at least 5.5;
for German language proficiency:
Deutsche Sprachpruеfung fuеr den Hochschulzugang (DSH, Niveau В2/level В2),
TestDaF-Prufung (Niveau В2/level В2);
for French language proficiency:
Test de Français International (TFI) – at least level B2 in reading and listening sections;
Diplome d’Etudes en Langue français (DELF), level B2),
Diplome Approfondi de Langue français (DALF), level B2),
Test de connaissance du français (TCF) – at least 400 points.
For proficiency in the Chinese language HSK – Hanyu Shuiping Kaushi, at least level 4.
An international certificate confirming proficiency in a foreign language shall not be required for persons in whose country of residence the language chosen by the applicant is the official language or the language of instruction at previous levels of education, if the completion of the educational institution is not more than 5 years old.
10.The applicant for participation in the competitive selection for the PhD doctoral programme via the Operator's portal shall submit the following documents:
1) a copy of the identity document;
2) a copy of the document on the previous level of education with a transcript and attachment (if any) and a notarised translation into Kazakh or Russian or English (Bachelor's or Specialist's diploma with an average score of at least 3.0 (out of 4.0) GPA or its equivalent, obtained in educational institutions;
3) a motivational essay in Kazakh or Russian or English;
4) 2 letters of recommendation in Kazakh or Russian or English from the educational institution where the applicant studied or from the employer;
5) a health certificate for travellers to study abroad, as well as a health certificate on the absence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-infection) and AIDS disease, issued by the official health authority of the applicant's country of residence;
6) a completed questionnaire in the form as per Appendix 1 hereto;
7) an invitation letter from the Kazakhstani IHPE (if any);
8) an international certificate confirming the foreign language proficiency:
for proficiency in English language:
Test of English as a Foreign Language Institutional Testing Programme, Internet-based Test (TOEFL IBT), the threshold score is at least 46 points,
Test of English as a Foreign Language Paper-based testing (TOEFL PBT) the threshold score is at least 453 points,
International English Language Tests System Academic (IELTS Academic), the threshold score is at least 5.5;
for German language proficiency:
Deutsche Sprachpruеfung fuеr den Hochschulzugang (DSH, Niveau В2/level В2),
TestDaF-Prufung (Niveau В2/level В2);
for French language proficiency:
Test de Français International (TFI) – at least level B2 in reading and listening sections;
Diplome d’Etudes en Langue français (DELF), level B2),
Diplome Approfondi de Langue français (DALF), level B2),
Test de connaissance du français (TCF) – at least 400 points.
For proficiency in the Chinese language HSK – Hanyu Shuiping Kaushi, at least level 4.
An international certificate confirming proficiency in a foreign language shall not be required for persons in whose country of residence the language chosen by the applicant is the official language or the language of instruction at previous levels of education with no more than 5 years of graduation;
9) justification of the topic of the thesis research in the language of instruction (Kazakh or Russian or English);
11. The educational document shall be evaluated at the selection of applicants for Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral studies based on the criteria in the form as per Appendix 2 hereto.
12. Educational documents issued by foreign educational institutions shall undergo the recognition procedure pursuant to the Rules of Recognition of Educational Documents approved by order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 268 dated June 12, 2023, (recorded in the Register of State Registration of Regulatory Legal Acts under № 32800), as well as under the Standard Rules for Admission to Training in Educational Organisations Implementing Educational Programmes of Higher and Postgraduate Education, approved by Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 600 of October 31, 2018, (recorded in the Register of State Registration of Regulatory Legal Acts under № 17650), after the enrolment of persons.
13.The documents filed by the applicants shall be verified by the Operator within 5 (five) working days from the date of their registration for the existence of the documents referred to in paragraphs 8 or 9 or 10 hereof.
14. Should the filed documents meet the requirements stated in paragraphs 8 or 9 or 10 hereof, within 5 (five) working days from the date of registration of the documents, the applicants shall be granted access to the online test to identify their adaptive potential.
In the event of non-compliance of the documents referred to in paragraphs 8 or 9 or 10 hereof, the applicant shall be sent a notification with a motivated response on the reasons for refusal to register the documents.
However, the applicant shall be given an opportunity to register again for the scholarship programmes upon full compliance with these Rules.
15. The Operator shall forward to the applicant a link to take an online test to reveal the applicant's adaptation potential (hereinafter referred to as the online test).
The online test shall consist of 80 questions, the time of passing shall be 120 minutes, the deadline for passing shall be 10 calendar days from the date of accessing the online test.
The results shall be evaluated using the form as per Appendix 3 hereto.
The result of the online test shall appear on the portal in the Testing section, stating the name, type of test, score, time spent, date of taking the test.
16. An applicant who has obtained a score of medium or high stress tolerance in the online test as per Appendix 3 hereof shall be admitted to the online interview.
The online interview shall be held to ascertain the applicant's general level of proficiency in the language chosen by the applicant for further study, the applicant's study objectives for the chosen educational programme and to clarify the applicant's details.
After passing the online test, the Operator shall forward to the applicant a letter about the online interview with the date and time to the mail specified by the applicant.
An applicant who has scored with medium or high level of stress tolerance as per Appendices 2 and 3 hereof shall be admitted for online interview.
The online interview shall be held on the operator's portal in the Webinar section, as well as via videoconference.
The results of the online interview shall be evaluated in the form as per Appendix 4 hereto.
The online interview shall be held in the language chosen by the applicant at the application stage for further studies. If the applicant makes a mistake when choosing the language at the stage of application, the online interview shall be held in the language chosen by the applicant at the commencement of the online interview.
17. Under paragraph 3 of Article 26, paragraph 3 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Education” to hold a competition to select applicants for scholarship programmes for foreign citizens, including persons of Kazakh nationality, who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a Competition Commission for the selection of scholarship holders (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) shall be established by order of the competent authority in the field of science and higher education).
18. The Commission shall be formed from the staff of the competent authority on science and higher education, interested public authorities and departments, representatives of civil society institutions, Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Association of Higher Education Institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Chairman of the Commission shall be the supervising Vice-Minister of the competent authority in the field of science and higher education.
The number of members of the Commission shall be odd. The meeting of the Commission shall be considered competent with the participation of at least two thirds of its members and shall be held until July 30 of the calendar year.
19. The Commission shall review the documents submitted by the Operator as described in paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 here of and draw up the main and reserve lists of scholarship holders based on the criteria as per Appendices 2, 3 and 4 hereof.
Footnote. Paragraph 19 – as revised by order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 20.05.2024 № 240 (shall come into effect after ten calendar days of its first official publication).20. Should the scores of applicants in the competitive selection for bachelor's degree programmes be equal, the average grade point of the document confirming secondary education shall be counted.
Should the scores of applicants in the competitive selection for Master's and Doctoral educational programmes be equal, the results of an international certificate confirming foreign language proficiency shall be considered, followed by the GPA in the diploma appendix (of the previous level of education).
21. Based on the Commission's decision, the list of scholarship holders shall be forwarded to the IHPE and posted on the Operator's portal by August 5 of the calendar year.
IHPE shall send scholarship holders an electronic notification of the selection results by August 5 of the calendar year.
22. IHPE shall issue an order on enrolment of foreign citizens and persons of Kazakh nationality who are not citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, specifying the educational programme and term of study by August 20 of the calendar year.
23. Should a scholarship holder refuse the scholarship, the Operator shall replace him/her as per the order of the reserve list.
In the absence of feedback from the scholarship holder to the IHPE within 15 calendar days from the date of receipt by the scholarship holder of an electronic notification under paragraph 22 hereof, the IHPE shall remove the scholarship holder from the list of students, and the Operator shall replace the scholarship holder pursuant to the order of the reserve list.
| Appendix 1 to the Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes |
Document form
Application form for participation in scholarship programmes
Surname | Nationality | ||
Name | International passport number | ||
Patronymic (if any) | Issued by | ||
Date of birth | Date of issues | ||
Place of birth | Date of expiry | ||
Residential address | |||
Contact number | |||
Place of employment | |||
Year of completion of last educational attainment | |||
Name of previous educational institution, its location | |||
Details of previous level of education:
Previously studied foreign language/level thereof:
Other _________________________.
I kindly ask you to accept my application to study at:
Level of education |
|
Major |
_____________________
(Applicant's signature)
I agree to the processing of my personal data in the following manner, established by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Personal Data and their Protection”.
| Appendix 2 to the Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes |
Document form
Criteria for selection of applicants for Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral studies
Evaluation of the educational document
GPA | 4-3.75 | 3.74-3.50 | 3.49-3.25 | 3.24-3.00 |
Score | 100-95 | 94-88 | 87-81 | 80-75 |
Average score | 5.0-4.75 | 4.74-4.50 | 4.49-4.25 | 4.24-4.00 |
Assignable score | 20 | 15 | 10 | 5 |
Mark | ||||
| Appendix 3 to the Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes |
Document form
Evaluation of the results of the online adaptive capacity test
Indicators | High stress resistance | Average stress resistance | Low stress resistance | ||
Test result | 0-30 scores | 31-60 scores | 61-85 scores | 86-110 scores | 111-160 scores |
Assignable score | 20 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
Mark | |||||
| Appendix 4 to the Rules for the Selection of Applicants for Participation in Scholarship Programmes |
Document form
Evaluation of the results of the online interview
Indicators | Completeness of answers, knowledge of speciality | Evidence, reasoning of arguments, justifications and conclusions | ||
Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | |
5 | 5 | |||
4 | 4 | |||
3 | 3 | |||
2 | 2 | |||
1 | 1 | |||
Mark | ||||
Evaluation of the motivational essay
Indicators | Completeness of answers | Evidence, reasoning of arguments, justifications and conclusions | Autonomy and personal position of the author | Semantic coherence, cohesion and consistency of presentation | ||||
Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | |
5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
Mark | ||||||||
Evaluation of the justification of the thesis research topic (for applicants at the doctoral level)
Indicators | Relevance of the research topic, degree of scientific novelty | Degree of validity of the research topic, objectives set | Practical relevance of the study | Availability of publications | ||||
Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | Score | Expert judgement | |
5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
Mark | ||||||||
