The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
The Prime Minister, responding to Hon. Manjula Sugath Rathnayaka, provided 2026 A/L candidate and university-qualification figures by stream, stating that 281,810 candidates sat and 176,538 qualified for university admission, with 42,937 expected admissions. She said intake to first degree programmes would remain broadly at recent levels while prioritising improvements to facilities and programme quality. She also announced two new 2025/2026 programmes—Geographic Information Systems at the University of Ruhuna and Electronic and Intelligent Systems Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, each with 50 places—and said courses are expected to begin from the first week of September 2026 after Z-scores and registration lists are issued.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, answers to the questions raised by Hon. Manjula Sugath Rathnayaka are as follows:
¶ 02 01. Number of candidates by stream: - Biology: 56,355 - Physical Science: 37,364 - Commerce: 59,749 - Arts: 91,706 - Common General Test stream: 8,127 - Engineering Technology: 19,908 - Bio Systems Technology: 8,601 - Total: 281,810
¶ 03 02. Number qualified for universities by stream: - Biology: 32,935 - Physical Science: 23,012 - Commerce: 39,608 - Arts: 58,269 - Common General Test stream: 4,199 - Engineering Technology: 12,472 - Bio Systems Technology: 6,043 - Total: 176,538
¶ 04 03. 42,937.
¶ 05 This year, without merely increasing intake numbers to first degree programmes, our aim is to enhance effective and quality education by improving facilities for university students and properly conducting relevant programmes. Therefore, the number admitted to first degree programmes will be maintained at approximately the same level as in recent years.
¶ 06 04. Two new programmes are to be introduced for the 2025/2026 academic year: - Geographic Information Systems at the University of Ruhuna (intake: 50 students). - Electronic and Intelligent Systems Engineering at the University of Peradeniya (intake: 50 students).
¶ 07 05. After releasing university Z-scores and sending all registration lists to universities by 31 August 2026, universities will be able to determine start dates, with programmes expected to begin from the first week of September 2026.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 6 May 2026 ·No. 23541 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 May 2026. No. 23541. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/5453