SNPMB Committee's Response Regarding Complaints About UTBK 2026 Locations
The National Selection Committee for New Student Admissions (SNPMB) is implementing a randomisation system for determining the locations of the 2026 Computer-Based Written Examination (UTBK). This policy aims to anticipate cheating practices discovered in previous implementations, such as the use of proxies in certain centres and sessions.
The General Chairman of the 2026 SNPMB Responsible Team, Eduart Wolok, explained that although UTBK centres are assigned randomly, participants will still be placed in their respective registration regions. For example, participants registering in Lampung will be assigned to Lampung University (Unila) or the Institut Teknologi Sumatera (Itera).
“If not at Unila, then at Itera, and that is still within the chosen region and geographically not far apart,” said Eduart during an online socialisation on Friday, 27 March 2026.
This step is taken as part of the committee’s anticipation of cheating practices found in the previous year’s implementation. “Patterns where proxies are placed in certain UTBK centres, in certain sessions, then similarities in timing and so on, that is a phenomenon or data anomaly that we obtained,” said Eduart.
Eduart added that the exam location for each participant will only be announced 10 days before the UTBK implementation. This is intended so that participants still have sufficient time to prepare. “The location itself will be known by prospective participants 10 days in advance. So there is still plenty of time for us to prepare,” he said.
SNPMB Technology and Information System Coordinator Arif Djunaidy stated that there is no such thing as participants being “thrown” to another city. Participants can only choose from the list of available locations at the time of registration. “There is no term ‘thrown’. Register first, then the desired city will not disappear from the choices,” said Arif in response to concerns from parents of prospective participants.
Arif emphasised that prospective participants should not delay registration, especially those who want to choose locations in Jakarta and surrounding areas because registrations in this region are very high every year. “Register immediately so that the desired city does not disappear from the list and participants do not have to choose another city,” he said.
Based on the official SNPMB website, UTBK SNBT 2026 registration opened on 25 March and will run until 7 April 2026, with the payment deadline on 8 April 2026. Participants who have registered are required to download their participant cards from 11–15 April 2026 as preparation for taking the exam.
The UTBK test implementation is scheduled for 21–30 April 2026, with results announced on 25 May 2026. UTBK certificates can be downloaded from 2 June to 31 July 2026. All activities on the specified dates start and end at 15:00 WIB, and the schedule for document verification and re-registration processes can be viewed on the respective state university websites.