Entry scores into Greece's tertiary education system were posted yesterday, ending a three-month wait for nearly 120,000 candidates vying to study at one of the country's university or technical college campuses.

Nearly 14,000 spots at technical colleges (TEI) and another 1,349 spots at universities will go unfilled because students did not make the minimum score of 10 out of 20 that the Education Ministry now requires for matriculation into tertiary institutions.

Before the ministry imposed the minimum pass mark this year, students who failed to make at least a grade of 10 could still enter one of the less popular courses, usually at a regional TEI campus.

The large number of vacancies this year is likely to result in the shutdown or merger of empty TEI faculties or departments, the ministry said.

Opposition parties argue that the conservative government's reforms will result in the complete shutdown of some regional TEIs, a development that would crush local economies.

A reshuffle of tertiary courses is part of the government's plans to reform the higher-education sector. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis says these changes will help Greece's post-secondary education operate more efficiently.

Meanwhile, the scores released yesterday show a drop in the cutoff score for the Athens Medical School for the first time in recent years. Entry scores for law courses rose, as did the criteria for registering at a military school. Scores for information technology courses dropped, especially for entry into the University of the Peloponnese.

Figures from the Education Ministry showed that 119,471 university candidates sat for exams in June. Of those, 64,392 passed, or about 54 percent.

Candidates interested in finding out their scores can visit the Education Ministry's website (www.ypepth.gr) for more information. Students who have got into a TEI or university school can find out their deadline to register at the start of September.