Ukrainian university and the Flamingo missile-maker opened an engineering course. On the first try, zero of 150 passed

A Ukrainian university and the company behind the country's Flamingo cruise missile opened a program to train engineers for the country's weapons industry, and on the first try, not a single applicant passed the entrance exams, the Kyiv Aviation Institute (KAI) told LB.ua. The school runs the course with the drone and missile-maker Fire Point.

More than four years of full-scale war have rebuilt Ukraine into what is now one of the world's busiest makers of drones and missiles. The industry has grown roughly tenfold since 2022 and now aims to build millions of drones a year. Scaling it takes engineers, not only money and factories.

Zero out of 150

The 150 candidates were sorted in two stages. First came the math and physics scores on the Ukrainian university entrance exam (NMT). Then a round of exams designed with Fire Point's engineers. Even applicants who scored well on the NMT couldn't clear that second round.

KAI president Kseniia Semenova said the physics proved too hard. The problems sat at the level of national olympiads, far above a normal entrance test. Anyone can learn them, she said, but only with real preparation. Getting in cold is very hard, she added, and candidates should commit a year ahead. From September, KAI and Fire Point will run preparatory courses.

Weak science in the schools

Semenova traced the failure to the classroom. Teaching of the natural sciences in Ukrainian schools is very weak, she said, and few students will even sit physics on the NMT. Those who do tend to score poorly.

Interest in KAI is climbing anyway. First-year enrollment rose 40% this year, KAI says, led by aviation transport and rocket-and-space technology. But the harder tracks, applied mechanics, composite materials, and engines, aren't growing.