She will study in Poland: A schoolgirl who scored the maximum 800 points on the national multi-subject test was not offered a state-funded place at Ukrainian universities

A high school student from Zhytomyr, Sofia Tarnavska, who achieved the maximum score of 800 points on the National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT), did not receive any offers for free education from Ukrainian universities and is leaving to study in Poland.

Local media published a report about the top student.

“We must not forget that the war is ongoing in Ukraine, and living in many cities, including Kyiv, is quite dangerous,” Sofia’s father noted in a comment to Zhytomyr media.

Among the Polish institutions, Sofia chose Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she will study for free because she and her father hold Polish heritage cards. She won’t have any issues with the language, as she has been studying Polish since childhood. In Kraków, she will study molecular and cellular biophysics.

“My choice was also influenced by the fact that in 2022, during the war, my mother and I spent some time in the Netherlands, where I chose a science-oriented track in high school. I’m interested in scientific research,” Sofia explained.

This year, only seven students in Ukraine scored 800 points on the NMT, meaning they did not make a single mistake across all four subjects. Sofia’s test subjects were mathematics, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian history, and biology.