in Russia
General framework There were 59,260 general education schools in 2007–2008 school year, an increase from 58,503 in the previous year. However, prior to 2005–2006, the number of schools was steadily decreasing from 65,899 in 2000–2001. The 2007–2008 number includes 4,965 advanced learning schools specializing in foreign languages, mathematics etc.; 2,347 advanced general-purpose schools, and 1,884 schools for all categories of disabled children; According to a 2005
UNESCO report, 96% of the adult population has completed lower secondary schooling and most of them also have an upper secondary education. Nine-year secondary education in Russia is compulsory since September 1, 2007. Until 2007, it was limited to nine years with grades 10-11 optional;
federal subjects of Russia could enforce higher compulsory standard through local legislation within the eleven–year federal programme.
Moscow enacted compulsory eleven–year education in 2005, similar legislation existed in
Altai Krai,
Sakha and
Tyumen Oblast. A student of 15 to 18 years of age
may drop out of school with the approval of their guardian and local authorities, and without their consent upon reaching age of 18. Expulsion from school for multiple violations disrupting school life is possible starting at the age of 15. The eleven-year school term is split into primary (years 1–4), middle (years 5–9), and senior (years 10–11) classes. The absolute majority of children attend full programme schools providing eleven-year education; schools limited to primary or primary and middle classes typically exist in rural areas. Of all the 59,260 schools in Russia, 36,248 provide the full eleven-year programme, 10,833 offer nine-year "basic" (primary and middle) education, and 10,198 only offer primary education. Children of primary classes are normally separated from other classes within their own floor of a school building. They are taught, ideally, by a single teacher through all four primary years (except for physical training and, if available, foreign languages); 98.5% of primary school teachers are women. Their number decreased from 349,000 in 1999 to 317,000 in 2005. Starting from the fifth year, each academic subject is taught by a dedicated subject teacher (80.4% women in 2004, an increase from 75.4% in 1991). Pupil-to-teacher ratio (11:1) is on par with developed European countries. Teachers' average monthly salaries in 2008 range from 6,200 roubles (200 US dollars) in
Mordovia to 21,000 roubles (700 US dollars) in Moscow. The school year extends from September 1 to the end of May and is divided into four terms. Study programme in schools is fixed; unlike in some Western countries, schoolchildren or their parents have no choice of study subjects. Class load per student (638 hours a year for nine-year-olds, 893 for thirteen-year-olds) is lower than in
Chile,
Peru or
Thailand, and slightly lower than in most states of the United States, although official hours are frequently appended with additional class work. Students are graded on a 5-step scale, ranging in practice from 2 ("unacceptable") to 5 ("excellent"); 1 is a rarely used sign of extreme failure. Teachers regularly subdivide these grades (i.e. 4+, 5−) in daily use, but term and year results are graded strictly 2, 3, 4 or 5. Starting from the 1st of September, 2026, "behaviour" will also be graded alongside subjects. Some secondary schools conduct, in addition to the standard programme, an in-depth study of some subjects (schools focused on mathematics, foreign languages, arts,
military-related subjects, etc.). These schools are considered more prestigious than the usual secondary schools.
Vocational training option Upon completion of a nine-year programme the student has a choice of either completing the remaining two years at normal school, or of a transfer to a
specialised professional training school. Historically, those were divided into low-prestige
PTUs and better-regarded
technicums and medical (nurse level) schools; in the 2000s, many such institutions, if operational, have been renamed as
colleges. They provide students with a vocational skill qualification and a high school certificate equivalent to 11-year education in a normal school; the programme, due to its work training component, extends over 3 years. In 2007–08 there were 2,800 such institutions with 2,280,000 students. Russian vocational schools, like the
Tech Prep schools in the USA, fall out of
ISCED classification, the difference is attributed to senior classes of technicums that exceed secondary education standard. All certificates of secondary education (Maturity Certificate, ), regardless of issuing institution, conform to the same national standard and are considered, at least in law, to be fully equivalent. The state prescribes a minimum (and nearly exhaustive) set of study subjects that must appear in each certificate. In practice, extension of study terms to three years slightly disadvantages vocational schools' male students who intend to continue: they reach
conscription age before graduation or immediately after it, and normally must serve in the army before applying to undergraduate-level institutions. Although all male pupils are eligible to postpone their conscription to receive higher education, they must be at least signed-up for the admission tests into the university the moment they get the conscription notice from the army. Most
military commissariat officials are fairly considerate towards the potential recruits on that matter and usually allow graduates enough time to choose the university and sign-up for admission or enrol there on a paid basis despite the fact that the spring recruiting period has not yet ended by the time most students graduate. All those people may legally be commanded to present themselves to the recruitment centres the next day after graduation. Males of conscription age that chose not to continue their education at any stage were usually given notice from the army within half a year after their education ends due to of the periodic nature of recruitment periods in Russian army. However, Russian conscription became year-round in 2026.
Unified state examinations Traditionally, the universities and institutes conducted their own admissions tests regardless of the applicants' school record. There was no uniform measure of graduates' abilities; marks issued by high schools were perceived as incompatible due to grading variances between schools and regions. In 2003 the Ministry of Education launched the
Unified state examination (USE) programme. The set of standardised tests for high school graduates, issued uniformly throughout the country and rated independent of the student's schoolmasters, akin to the North American
SAT, was supposed to replace entrance exams to state universities. Thus, the reformers reasoned, the USE would empower talented graduates from remote locations to compete for admissions at the universities of their choice, at the same time eliminating admission-related bribery, then estimated at 1 billion US dollars annually. In 2003, 858 university and college workers were indicted for bribery; the admission "fee" in
MGIMO allegedly reached 30,000 US dollars. University heads, notably
Moscow State University rector
Viktor Sadovnichiy, resisted the change, arguing that their schools cannot survive without charging the applicants with their own entrance hurdles. Nevertheless, the legislators enacted USE in February 2007. In 2008, it was mandatory for the students and optional for the universities; it is fully mandatory since 2009. A few higher education establishments are still allowed to introduce their own entrance tests in addition to USE scoring; such tests must be publicised in advance. Awarding USE grades involves two stages. In this system, a "primary grade" is the sum of points for completed tasks, with each of the tasks having a maximum number of points allocated to it. The maximum total primary grade varies by subject, so that one might obtain, for instance, a primary grade of 23 out of 37 in mathematics and a primary grade of 43 out of 80 in French. The primary grades are then converted into final or "test grades" by means of a sophisticated statistical calculation, which takes into account the distribution of primary grades among the examinees. This system has been criticised for its lack of transparency. The first nationwide USE session covering all regions of Russia was held in the summer of 2008. 25.3% students failed the literature test, 23.5% failed mathematics; the highest grades were recorded in French, English and social studies. Twenty thousand students filed objections against their grades; one third of objections were settled in the student's favor. The
Basic State Exam is also held after nine years of education, two years before the Unified State Exam. ==Education for the disabled==