The early period of the Unified State Exam has started: there are 6 times fewer people taking the exam

The early period of the Unified State Examination has started. This year it began on March 22 and ends on April 12. It is already clear that in 2024 this first period of passing the state exam will be easier for commissions and observers. Across the country, 2,918 people signed up to take the Unified State Exam early, up from 18,000 last year. Why this happened, as well as what innovations await schoolchildren at state exams, MK found out.

Despite the small number, 118 exam sites in 66 regions of Russia have been prepared for those taking the Unified State Exam early. The most popular subjects for pre-term students are now compulsory Russian language and mathematics (both basic and specialized levels), biology, foreign language and social studies.

The tasks that graduates will receive during the first period of passing the Unified State Exam differ from those that will be given at the main stage. They are of the same level of difficulty and are similar to the options that are posted in the demo bank, which is what everyone is preparing for. The difference in KIMs (testing and measuring materials, or “tickets” in the old way) in different periods of delivery is due to the fact that those who have already passed the exams do not “leak” the assignments to others. During the additional period of delivery there will also be other CIMs, not the same as in the main period.

They take the Unified State Exam in advance, when other schoolchildren have two more months to prepare (the main period begins on May 23). those who “really need it.” These are athletes, military personnel (graduates of previous years, there are no year restrictions for passing the Unified State Exam), who strategically need to move up the exam dates: training camps, competitions… These are Olympiad participants. After all, traditionally the final of the All-Russian School Olympiad, for example, falls in the period of late March – early May. And the schedule of international Olympiads is not checked against exams. Or those children whose parents travel abroad for work and take their family with them.

Experts say that for some time there was a myth that during the early period exams are given simpler tasks, so the “smartest” signed up for the exams “early.” Practice has shown that this is not so. The difficulty level is the same, but there is more attention to the test takers in a half-empty classroom.

The early period also has its own reserve days in April, from the 15th to the 22nd. They are intended for those who, for good reason, could not get to the exam, fell ill or were injured shortly before the Unified State Exam or on the same day. Experts never tire of reminding: if a student has a fever, feels unwell, or something else that prevents them from taking the exam on the day of passing, then they should not start. You must immediately notify the chairman of the examination committee that today is “not your day.” Let them sign up for the “reserve”. If you have already started writing or submitting it, then only an appeal. And everyone now has the opportunity to retake one Unified State Exam in June, at the proposal of the president.

As for the Unified State Exam regulations, they are the same in any period and are adjusted to the minute. Starts at 10 am. The duration of the longest exams (biology, computer science, literature, specialized level mathematics, physics) is 3 hours 55 minutes. However, the shortest basic mathematics and geography are not far behind – they take 3 hours to write.

Foreign languages ​​are taken in two sittings starting from the 2020-2021 academic year. On the first day of the written exam for languages ​​(English, Spanish, German, French), the exam lasts 3 hours 10 minutes and Chinese lasts 3 hours. The second day of “speaking and listening”, also known as the oral part – 17 minutes. And Chinese is again less – 14 minutes. The duration or rules for taking the exam have not changed in any subject compared to 2023.

As for changes in the Unified State Exam in general, the greatest revision was made in social studies, where both questions and topics were changed, shifting the emphasis from everything international to everything Russian. The complexity and number of tasks have not changed – only the content.

Two new questions have been added regarding history. Otherwise, the changes are minor. In physics, 4 tasks were simplified, but the criteria for evaluating answers were tightened. In advanced specialized mathematics, a little geometry was added, but the assessment, on the contrary, was softened. In Russian language and literature, the assessment criteria have been somewhat tightened, etc.

In general, the changes to the Unified State Exam 2024 are minor and not very significant. Everything would have been quiet if not for the renewal of rumors that “they will soon make a third compulsory subject for the Unified State Exam.” Probably starting next year. Along with Russian and mathematics, history is included in the compulsory courses.

“Rumors about a third compulsory Unified State Exam are not new; they have been circulating for a couple of years now,” says education and Unified State Exam expert Maria Bushueva. – And all because the new federal standard allows for a third mandatory language, and this is a foreign language. I would like to reassure everyone – even if there is such a need, the mandatory Unified State Exam will not be done in one year, it is technically impossible. There is a very complex system of multi-stage reconciliations, inspections, expert groups and other manipulations, there are many structures of supervisory and educational departments. For whom such a restructuring of the Unified State Examination will take several years. And in general – it’s unlikely.

But such a sharp decrease in the number of people passing early is interesting. But this is not because we have significantly fewer Olympiad participants or impatient students: last year 18 thousand people signed up, and this year only 3 thousand. Previously, the bulk of the “early-term” students were graduates of previous years. In 2024, for the first time they were separated from the “early-term” students: now graduates of previous years take the Unified State Examination on the reserve dates of the main period (from June 20 to July 1 – Auto.) Now, along with current 11th graders, “last year students” can only come for a good reason.