Deferral for students: Council prepares changes for men over 25

Discussions about new mobilisation rules in Ukraine are reaching a new level: parliament is preparing changes that could alter the usual deferral mechanism for students. This concerns men over the age of 25, for whom enrolment in educational institutions will no longer automatically mean protection from conscription. Find out who will be affected by the new rules, when they may be adopted, and how they will affect the right to education

Legal advice for Ukrainians

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Ukraine is preparing changes to the rules for granting deferrals from mobilisation for students. The Verkhovna Rada is discussing an initiative that could abolish the right to deferral for men over 25 who enrol in higher, pre-higher and vocational education institutions.

Serhiy Babak, MP and head of the parliamentary committee on education, science and innovation, announced the preparation of the relevant changes. According to him, the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence already has a bill that is being prepared for its second reading. The document does not restrict the constitutional right to education, but introduces restrictions specifically regarding deferrals from mobilisation.

What awaits students over 25 years of age?

As the MP explained, the proposed regulations stipulate that men aged 25 and older who decide to enrol in universities or vocational training institutions will no longer be able to automatically receive a deferral on the basis of their student status. The initiative is considered harsh, but according to parliamentarians, it is dictated by national security considerations.

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Will students face strict checks?

Lawmakers are paying particular attention to the sharp increase in the number of students over the age of 25 since the start of the full-scale war. While there were about 30,000 such men enrolled in higher and vocational education in 2022, by 1 September 2025, their number had grown almost 8.5 times to approximately 250,000.

At the same time, as Babak notes, the state has already begun active checks on the actual education of such students. The State Service for Quality of Education conducted large-scale inspections, as a result of which almost 50,000 people were expelled because they did not actually study, but used enrolment solely as a formal way to avoid mobilisation.

The checks also affected the management of educational institutions. According to the deputy, eight criminal proceedings have been opened to date on the facts of mass fictitious enrolment of men of conscription age in educational institutions.

Final decisions on changes to the deferral rules will be made after the bill is considered in the second reading in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. If the document is adopted, the new rules may significantly affect the conditions for obtaining a deferral for men over 25 who are planning to study.

Reminder! In Ukraine, the functionality of the Reserve+ application has been expanded with the addition of a new format for informing conscripts. Users can now receive advance notifications about the actions of the Territorial Recruitment Centre related to the sending of summonses by post. Find out what the new notification means and whether it is considered to be the delivery of a summons.

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