The education system in Russia

If your schooling system is different from the Russian schooling system it may be different for you to choose the right option for your kid. But if you do a little research and some preparation it maybe a more or less simple process.

This guide is made for you to avoid some difficulties on enrolling your kid in Russian school and it includes the following:

• the education system in Russia;

• the three stages of education in Russia;

• subjects and grades;

• the school year and holidays in Russia;

• preschool education in Russia;

• primary education in Russia;

• public primary schools in Russia;

• private primary schools in Russia;

• secondary education in Russia;

• public secondary schools in Russia;

• vocational schools in Russia;

• private secondary schools in Russia;

• the International Baccalaureate (IB) in Russia;

• graduating in Russia;

• educational support for expat students in Russia;

• changing schools in Russia;

• homeschooling in Russia.

The education system in Russia

Luckily, Russia is considered to having the best education system worldwide that has the 43^rd rank in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017. Moreover, the country’s adult literacy rate was 99.73% in 2018, which is the fourth-highest in Europe.

There is the government who rules the education system in Russia and the public schools are free to attend. Thus, state schools offer the different quality of education and this depends on the city and a school. There are a lot of private schools like international schools to cater to kids with different nationalities. These private schools are widespread among the foreigners because they have a multicultural environment and help kids to study the same curriculum like in their home and in their first language. They require to get high tuition fees and long waiting lists that do not give you a study place for your child.

The three stages of education in Russia

Education in Russia is divided into three stages: primary, basic general, and secondary. Primary education begins at the age of six or seven and lasts for four years. Then the next education is basic general education and the last one is two years of secondary education. Kids have two options like complete secondary education at a regular school or attend a training college for that time.

Subjects and grades

If the kids want to have higher education they need to pass the Unified State Examination. It offers two mandatory exams like Russian language and mathematics but the other subjects like foreign languages and humanities are optional. When it comes to the grades of students there is a five-step scale when 5 is considered to be excellent and 1 is considered to be failure. 1 is a rare grade in Russia and most of all students get grades between 2 and 5.

The school year and holidays in Russia

The Russian school year has time to be on September 1 that is called like Knowledge Day. This day also means the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. A usual First Bell ceremony normally starts for kids coming to school for the first time. Kids and their parents present flowers to teachers.

The school year in Russia is on May 25 when children participate in the Last Bell ceremony. There they put traditional school uniform on and give flowers to the teachers and say goodbye to their classmates in this year. Usually on that day girls wear white bows in their hair. In Russia the school year consists of 4 parts and has some weeks holidays:

• the first week in November;
• the second two weeks in January;
• the third one week in March.

Like in the other countries the summer holidays in Russia lasts for three months – June, July, and August.

Preschool education in Russia

Russian children often attend kindergarten from as early as 18 months old, up until they begin primary school at six or seven years old. There are 48 000 kindergartens In Russia to study there in Russian or international languages. Thus, Russia has a lot of preschool options for the foreigners.

There is a plenty of kindergartens in Russia and normally they charge parents 20% of the total cost of childcare. Although there are a lot of kindergartens in Russia, the places stay limited. Therefore, parents usually add their kid to a waiting list after they have given birth. Also, it is offered private preschools in Russian big cities. Sometimes you have a choice like international schools with facilities for preschool-aged kids with studying firstly in English. But fees to international schools are quite high.

Primary education in Russia

The Russian Minitry of Education is controlling the primary schools and they are compulsory for all kids in Russia. If your kids’ age is 6 or 7 years then it is time for them to go to primary school and continue it for 4 years. That time is perfect for them to start read and write and learn basic mathematics. Also you can learn there a foreign language where is mostly English or German. Kids also study music, physical education and okruzhayushchy mir. This subject includes the basics of geography, history and social studies.

Public primary schools in Russia

Although Russian public primary schools are free but parents must pay for books, sportswear, uniform, and so many items. Russia offers different quality of education. When it comes to the big cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg the quality of education is quite higher than in towns. Moscow and Saint Petersburg also have many primary schools when small towns have only one.

Private primary schools in Russia

If you want your kid gets a high standard of education then you may enroll him to a private school. It is possible that you can find a lot of them in large cities. Fees in those schools are very high. For instance, primary school classes at Moscow’s Zhukovka Gymnasium cost ₽63,000 per month, while the Aristos Lyceum in St. Petersburg charges ₽20,000 per month. Many foreigners want to see that their kid gets the same level of education like in their home country. Therefore you may send your kid to an international school where the curriculum is like from the UK, the US, France, Germany, and Italy. A lot of international schools in Russia offer both primary and secondary education.

Secondary education in Russia

Secondary education in Russia consists of two parts. Basic general education lasts for four years and ends with the Basic State Examination. This is slightly before the final two years of their education.

After taking this exam, students who received high enough marks can continue on to secondary general education, which lasts for two years and culminates with the Unified State Examination (EGE). Other pupils may decide to spend those two years in vocational education.

Public secondary schools in Russia

Public secondary schools are similar to the public primary schools and they are controlled by the Ministry of Education. The quality of education there is different depending on the schools and their locations.

All children must attend school until the age of 15, at which time they may leave with their parents’ consent. For the first four years of secondary school, they will study Russian language, literature, a foreign language, mathematics, IT, history, social studies, geography, physics, biology, chemistry, music, art, design & technology, and physical education.

This period ends with students taking the Basic State Examination. After doing so, they can choose to either continue studying for another two years and take the Unified State Examination, switch to a vocational school, or leave education altogether.

Vocational schools in Russia

Russia offers two types of vocational schools in Russia like college and technical school. Those schools can prepare kids for a range of careers like aviation and pharmacy to economics and engineering.

But colleges offer a more in-depth education and more advanced qualifications than technical schools. When it comes to the first year at a vocational school kids will study common disciplines like Russian language, mathematics, and history. Starting from the second study year kids will study a vast majority of subjects that are relevant to their chosen profession.

Private secondary schools in Russia

Russia offers a variety of private secondary schools that are also in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.

These schools usually offer a higher standard of education than public secondary schools, but charge higher fees than private primary schools. The fees for those schools normally depend on location.

For example, the First Moscow Gymnasium charges ₽150,000 per month for education, while the charges ₽240,000 per year.

If you prefer your child to receive their education in their native language, there are also a number of international schools in Russia that teach in English and other languages. Please take into consideration  that the majority of these are based in Moscow.

Graduating in Russia

If someone wants to be graduated from school they need to pass the Unified State Examination. It consists of the mandatory exams in the Russian and mathematics and also additional subjects to choose from:

• foreign language one from the others like English, German, French, Spanish, and Chinese;
• physics;
• chemistry;
• biology;
• geography;
• literature;
• history;
• social sciences;
• computer science.

Students who receive high enough grades in their exams will be able to go on to study at university.

Educational support for expat students in Russia

Unfortunately, the Russian educational curriculum does not make any allowances for children who do not speak Russian, and the majority of public schools don’t offer additional language classes or support for non-Russian-speaking pupils. That said, many private schools provide additional Russian lessons at an extra cost.

Changing schools in Russia

Due to the Russian law, parents of the kid may transfer them to another school always with no need to say a reason. But they also need to follow the special procedure like parents need to file a special notice to withdraw their kid from the school.

The school will then provide them with all documentation relating to their child, which the parents must then submit to the new school, together with an application for their child to study there.

Homeschooling in Russia

Homeschooling in Russia is still rare for Russian families.

For instance, in 2015/16 only 8,200 Russian children were being taught at home. However, by 2018/19, this number had grown to over 20,000.

According to Russian law, families have the right to withdraw their children from mainstream schooling and teach them at home. However, they must provide advance notice to their regional education ministry in order to do so. If you choose to homeschool your child, then you might want to consider hiring private tutors for them. Depending on the subject and the individual tutor’s level of experience, you should expect to pay between ₽1,500 and ₽4,000 per 45-minute lesson.