Golikova spoke about the development of changes to the Unified State Exam – Kommersant

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, at a meeting of the Council for Science and Education with the participation of President Vladimir Putin, spoke about the development of changes to the Unified State Exam (USE). She noted that there is no point in “getting ahead of ourselves” yet, since the issue is still being discussed.

“We just talked about physics, mathematics and other natural sciences, which are decisive for training and the challenges that we now face in the labor market. Now we have these areas that we talked about in very serious study, including some approaches to changing the Unified State Examination. I won’t get ahead of myself for now, we are now discussing them with experts,” said Mrs. Golikova.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the feasibility of additional tests for admission to higher education institutions is also being discussed with experts. “University rectors probably won’t like it, but we have repeatedly said that we have additional tests in higher educational institutions along with the Unified State Examination results, which do not always include the subjects that are needed for students to focus on the natural sciences and for those professions that we need in the future,” she said and added that this topic is “very delicate.”

The Unified State Exam has become mandatory in Russia since 2009. In March 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin statedthat the abolition of the Unified State Exam “requires a very serious discussion.” According to him, the exam has become a “social elevator”, since it allows residents of “far corners” to enter leading Russian universities.

Since 2024, tasks on the topic of the Russian military operation in Ukraine have been added to the Unified State Examination in history. The blocks of questions dedicated to the Great Patriotic War were also expanded. The changes also affected the literature exam program: texts created before the mid-19th century were excluded from the codifier, and the literature block of the Soviet period, on the contrary, was expanded.

Read more about the changes in the Kommersant article. “Society changes the subject”.