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4 August 2026, 14:00
2026-08-04
Over 160,000 IT applications: applicants increasingly interested in cybersecurity, robotics, and data analysis
The admission campaign showed a five-year high — applicants submitted over a million applications, which is almost a quarter of a million more than last year's figures. The IT sector remains one of the main drivers of admission: "Computer Science", "Cybersecurity" and "Software Engineering" confidently maintain their places in the TOP-20 most popular directions. At the same time, the market of educational preferences is changing, and the first signal of this was the departure of "Computer Engineering" from the top twenty.
The admission campaign showed a five-year high — applicants submitted over a million applications, which is almost a quarter of a million more than last year's figures. The IT sector remains one of the main drivers of admission: "Computer Science", "Cybersecurity" and "Software Engineering" confidently maintain their places in the TOP-20 most popular directions. At the same time, the market of educational preferences is changing, and the first signal of this was the departure of "Computer Engineering" from the top twenty.
Reference
The number of submitted applications exceeds the actual number of applicants, since one applicant had the right to submit up to 10 applications (maximum 5 per budget and up to 5 per contract).
The unchanging three
The top three most popular fields were again led by "Management" (104,281 applications), "Psychology" (66,011 applications), and "Philology" - 61,212 applications, DOU reports . "Marketing" took fourth place - 48,993 applications, and "Economics" - fifth (42,621).
This year, the general geography of the distribution of applications clearly outlined four main educational hubs in Ukraine, which together collected more than half of all submitted documents:
Kyiv — over 278,266 applications (compared to 215,000 last year);
Lviv region — 155,038 applications (113,200 in 2025);
Odesa region — 88,191 applications;
Kharkiv region — 73,895 applications.
Despite the difference in the number of applications by region, the highest average competitive score among applicants was demonstrated by Kharkiv region (150.97 points). The top five in this indicator also included Odesa (148.97), Zaporizhia (146.97), Lviv (144.78) regions, and Kyiv (144.76).
The most popular IT specialties and demand dynamics
In total, 161.6 thousand applications were submitted for IT specialties in 2026, which is 41.5% more than in 2025 (114.2 thousand). This jump is primarily due to the increase in the total number of applicants, as the share of IT applications among all areas has practically not changed: 15.7% this year versus 14.5% in 2025.
In terms of the absolute number of applications submitted, Computer Science remains the undisputed leader, having collected 40,525 applications, which is 29.4% (or 9,200) more than last year's figure.
The second place is occupied by "Cybersecurity", for which 30,174 applications were recorded, demonstrating an increase of 47.6% (plus 9.7 thousand).
Software Engineering rounds out the top three with 27,634 applications, which is an increase of 24.3% (an additional 5.4 thousand).
It is this triad of specialties that traditionally generates the greatest demand among applicants.
If we evaluate the dynamics by growth rates, then the real breakthrough was shown by "Statistics", where the number of applications increased by an impressive 631.7% - from 410 to 3,000.
A significant jump was also recorded in the direction of "Automation and Robotics", which increased by 106.2% (over 7.8 thousand new applications).
High positive dynamics are demonstrated by "Aviation Engineering" with an increase of 103.8%, "Electronics", where the increase was 79%, as well as "System Analysis", whose indicators increased by 62.7%.
Source: DOU
Where are the future IT professionals concentrated?
The undisputed leader in overall admissions was Lviv, but 4 Kyiv universities were in the top ten most popular institutions:
Lviv Polytechnic National University — almost 59.6 thousand applications;
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv — 46.4 thousand applications;
Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute — 39.1 thousand applications;
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv — 34 thousand applications;
State University of Trade and Economics — 26.2 thousand applications.
Despite the fact that Lviv Polytechnic University topped the overall rating, the main center of attraction for IT specialists remains Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
At KPI, 20,226 applications are submitted to IT programs — this is more than half (over 51%) of the total number of applications submitted to this university.
At Lviv Polytechnic University, the share of IT applications is about 23%, which in absolute figures is 13,684 applications.
Thus, in 2026, a clear trend has persisted: the overall interest in the IT industry remains consistently high, and the focus of applicants is gradually shifting towards cybersecurity, robotics, and data analysis.
Професії у геймдеві. Хто такий левел-дизайнер і як ним стати?
Ми продовжуємо нашу рубрику, присвячену професіям у геймдеві. Тема нового матеріалу в ній — левел-дизайн. Його вважають підвидом геймдизайну, але все-таки практично кожна студія хоче окрему людину на позицію левел-дизайнера. Адже у цій спеціальності вистачає своїх нюансів та особливостей.
Розібратися з ними всіма нам допоміг досвідчений левел-дизайнер зі студії Fractured Byte Дмитро Нестеренко. Також він веде свій блог Game Designer Notes про геймдизайн в цілому, в якому розбирає багато цікавих нюансів розробки ігор.
