Every year almost 250,000 students sit for their Advanced Level examination in Sri Lanka out of which approximately only 15% are admitted to the state university sector.

The government in a bid to revive state universities has allocated additional funding and proposed many policy changes. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently introduced an online application system which will be in full use for 2016 university admissions to speed up and modernise the local admissions process.

In addition to the regular handbook which has been redesigned this year, the UGC has also compiled an essential user guide to support students applying online.

Speaking on the introduction of the online application system, UGC Chairman Prof. Mohan De Silva said that this step was taken towards ‘reducing issues faced by students and parents – by educating students and changing the mindset of parents’. He also stated that they will strive to solve issues at UGC and university level too in order to attract more students to the state sector.

For more information on the current higher education landscape in Sri Lanka please email,

Chamath Peiris
Manager Higher Education and Education Services
Chamath.Peiris@britishcouncil.org and siemsouthasia@britishcouncil.org