Falkov reports higher entrance scores for pilot university programmes

Average entrance scores for Russia's pilot higher-education programmes rose by 10.5 points compared with 2025, Education and Science Minister Valery Falkov told the Federation Council on October 14.

Falkov cited an increase of 2.5 points for bachelor's programmes. He interpreted the comparison as evidence of applicants' and parents' interest in the revised curricula. The figures describe the ministry's assessment of admissions rather than completed educational outcomes.

The pilot began in 2023 and now involves seventeen universities. Falkov named Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology among the participants.

Basic higher education replaces bachelor's and specialist degrees within the pilot. Falkov said programmes lasting five and a half or six years are intended to provide complete professional training without requiring graduates to pursue a master's degree.

The minister also referred to research conducted with VCIOM since 2025, involving more than sixteen hundred respondents. He said seventy-five percent of those surveyed fully supported the modernisation.

Falkov described the interim results as broadly positive but stressed that the reform should proceed cautiously. He said the first cohort must graduate before the new model can be assessed further.