The Kankor is the exam that decides which public university faculty a school leaver in Afghanistan can enter. It is run once a year by the National Examination Authority, and the result is a single score that is compared against the score each department needs.
This page sets out what the paper looks like and how it is marked. Each figure carries its source. Where no official document exists that we can point to, we say so instead of guessing.
The Kankor at a glance
- Run by
- National Examination AuthoritySource: Pajhwok Afghan News, 12 July 2024
- Questions
- 160 multiple-choice questionsSource: Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
- Options per question
- 4Source: Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
- Sections
- 4Source: Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
- Score scale
- 0 to 360Source: Booklet «بلندترین و پایینترین نمرات کانکور ۱۴۰۵» (highest and lowest Kankor 1405 scores)
- Marks per correct answer
- 2.25 (360 ÷ 160)Source: Calculated from the figures in this table
- Time allowed
- 4 hours (240 minutes)Source: National Examination Authority annual report, as reported by RTA; we could not find the original online
- Field choices on the answer sheet
- 5, rankedSource: Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
The four sections and the twelve subjects
The answer sheet numbers the questions from 1 to 160 and groups them into four sections. Within each section the number of questions per subject is fixed, so a subject’s share of the paper is known in advance. The marks column is the question count multiplied by 2.25.
| Section | Subject | Questions | Question numbers | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | Mathematics | 43 | 1–43 | 96.75 |
| Natural sciences | Physics | 15 | 44–83 | 33.75 |
| Chemistry | 13 | 29.25 | ||
| Biology | 12 | 27 | ||
| Religious and social sciences | Islamic Studies | 14 | 84–120 | 31.5 |
| History | 9 | 20.25 | ||
| Civics | 7 | 15.75 | ||
| Geography | 7 | 15.75 | ||
| Languages and geology | Dari | 15 | 121–160 | 33.75 |
| Pashto | 12 | 27 | ||
| English | 6 | 13.5 | ||
| Geology | 7 | 15.75 | ||
| Total | 160 | 1–160 | 360 | |
How the paper is marked
Scores are published on a scale that ends at 360: every figure in the 1405 score booklet, from the strongest department to the weakest, sits between 0 and 360.Source: Booklet «بلندترین و پایینترین نمرات کانکور ۱۴۰۵» (highest and lowest Kankor 1405 scores)
With 160 questions on that scale, each correct answer is worth 2.25 marks.Source: Calculated from the figures in this table
A wrong answer is generally understood to cost nothing, so an unanswered question and a wrong one score the same. We have not found this rule in an official document online, so treat it as the common understanding rather than a published rule.Source: No official document online
How long the exam lasts
The paper allows 4 hours. The National Examination Authority raised the time from 160 minutes, one minute per question, to four hours starting with the 1403 cycle.Source: National Examination Authority annual report, as reported by RTA; we could not find the original online
Choosing fields on the answer sheet
The same sheet that records your answers has room for 5 field and university choices, ranked from first to fifth. The sheet also carries a commitment that the choices you mark are binding, so they have to be decided before the exam, not after.Source: Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
In 1405 the capacity booklet listed departments and places at 40 public universities. The score each department needed that year is shown on the field pages.Source: Booklet «کودرشته ها و ظرفیت جذب پوهنتون ها در سال ۱۴۰۵» (field codes and university capacities, 1405)
See the score each field needed in 1405When the exam is held
The exam is not held on one day across the country. In 1403 it was held in five phases, province by province.Source: Pajhwok Afghan News, 12 July 2024
The date of the next Kankor has not been officially announced at the time of writing. We will add it here, with its source, once the National Examination Authority publishes it.Source: No official document online
Who can sit the Kankor
The conditions for registering are set by the National Examination Authority each year. We have no official document we can link to, so we do not list them here: check the announcement for your year, or ask your school.Source: No official document online
What the mathematics section covers
Mathematics is the largest section. A widely used Kabul prep guide quotes its exam description as covering six areas:Source: «همه چیز در مورد کانکور» guide, Abar Science centre, c. 1400 (unofficial)
- Algebra
- Advanced mathematics
- Geometry
- Trigonometry
- Statistics
- Probability
Practise on the real format
See sample questions for each subject with the answer and the working, or sit a full 160-question mock on the same scale as the real paper.
Sources
Every source cited on this page. Two are paper documents with no online copy, and one is a report we know only through a broadcaster; they are marked as such.
- Pajhwok Afghan News, 12 July 2024
- Kankor 1405 answer sheet, National Examination Authority (paper document, not published online)
- Booklet «بلندترین و پایینترین نمرات کانکور ۱۴۰۵» (highest and lowest Kankor 1405 scores)
- National Examination Authority annual report, as reported by RTA; we could not find the original online
- No official document online
- Booklet «کودرشته ها و ظرفیت جذب پوهنتون ها در سال ۱۴۰۵» (field codes and university capacities, 1405)
- «همه چیز در مورد کانکور» guide, Abar Science centre, c. 1400 (unofficial)