Special Education Teaching in Turkey

Special Education Teaching (Özel Eğitim Öğretmenliği) in Turkey is a four-year, Turkish-taught teacher-education degree that prepares you to teach children and young people with intellectual disabilities, autism, hearing or visual impairments and other special needs. For 2026/27, Okan lists it at $4,500 a year, Biruni at $5,000 (or $4,500 paid in advance) and Medipol at $5,500. Expect a Turkish preparatory year unless you already hold the Turkish level the university requires.

The programme sits in a faculty of education. It combines general teacher training (child development, learning theory, classroom management) with methods for specific groups of learners, individualised education planning and a long period of supervised teaching practice in schools and special-education centres.

Language is the deciding factor for international students. You will assess children, talk to families and write education plans in Turkish, and most programmes include Turkish Sign Language. Choose this degree only if you are ready to work in Turkish at a high level.

Teacher-education programmes in Turkey follow a national framework set by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), so curricula at different universities look similar. Differences appear in electives, practice sites and specialist staff.

Ask how many hours of the final-year teaching practice take place with learners who have special needs and whether you will work with more than one group, for example both autism and hearing impairment. Broad practice makes you employable in more settings.

• a completed secondary-school certificate and transcript meeting the university's minimum grade;
• proof of Turkish at the level the university sets, or its Turkish proficiency exam; otherwise a Turkish preparatory year comes first;
• a passport and translated school documents, followed after admission by the equivalence certificate (denklik) for your diploma;
• for the master's, a bachelor's diploma, usually in education or psychology, and the university's Turkish requirement.

Some universities also interview applicants to teacher-education programmes. A short statement about why you want to work with children with special needs, and any volunteering you have done, helps in that conversation.

1. A year before. Assess your Turkish honestly; if it is below upper-intermediate, budget for a preparatory year before the four programme years.
2. Six months before. Collect and translate your school certificate and transcript and, if possible, gain volunteering experience with children.
3. Application. Apply through each university's international portal and wait for the acceptance letter.
4. After acceptance. Pay any deposit the letter requires and apply for a student visa; the Turkish consulate decides.
5. On arrival. Register, sit the Turkish placement test, apply for denklik and for the student residence permit, which the migration authority decides.

• Practice sites. Ask which state schools, special-education schools and rehabilitation centres take trainees.
• Specialist staff. Look for lecturers in autism, hearing impairment and learning disabilities, not only general educators.
• Sign-language teaching. Check how many semesters of Turkish Sign Language are compulsory.
• Payment terms. Biruni quotes a lower price for payment in advance; compare the price you will actually pay, not only the list figure.
• Graduate route. Biruni runs a master's in special education with and without a thesis.

A common mistake is to choose this degree as a route to a state-school teaching post in Turkey. Those posts are civil-service positions, and Turkish civil-service law lists citizenship among the general conditions, so most international graduates work in private schools and centres or in their home country.

Sources: İstanbul Okan University, Biruni University, İstanbul Medipol University. Medipol's list also shows a lower advance-payment price ($4,950 for this programme); the table keeps the list fee.

If you need Turkish preparation, Medipol's 2026/27 list charges $1,390 for its Turkish foundation school. Also budget for housing, transport to practice schools, health insurance and the residence permit.

Graduates teach in special-education schools and classes, private special-education and rehabilitation centres, inclusive classrooms in private schools, early-intervention programmes and family-support services. Experience in autism and behaviour support is in demand.

If you plan to teach in your home country, check early how its education ministry recognises a Turkish teaching degree: many countries require diploma recognition, a record of supervised teaching practice and sometimes a local qualification test. Keep your practice records, course descriptions and supervisor evaluations from the start.