BBC investigation: Russia channels ninth-graders into trade schools and army

Russian authorities have been actively encouraging ninth-grade graduates to enroll in vocational colleges rather than continue to 10th and 11th grades and later university, reports the BBC's Russian service.

According to the Higher School of Economics, 2022 – the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine – was the first year in which more than half (50.4%) of ninth-graders chose college over 10th grade. The share has kept rising since.

Officials are openly promoting this shift. In Moscow, students applying to vocational and technical schools after ninth grade now take only two exams on the OGE – Russian language and math – instead of the usual four. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, and the Labor Ministry have all spoken publicly about the demand for blue-collar workers. Schools themselves increasingly steer teenagers toward colleges and technical schools.

In 2026, for the first time, Russia's social network VKontakte carried more posts promoting college enrollment than those promoting universities. While students can still enter university after two years of vocational college, in practice it is harder than after 11th grade. Since 2025, college graduates can skip the Unified State Exam only if they apply to a similar field of study, and colleges do not prepare students for the exam.

Young men attending college face a higher risk of being drafted. Russian law allows only one educational deferment from military service after high school. Using it during college means it cannot be used again – enrolling in another degree program later offers no protection. Conscripts are often pressured into signing contracts with the Defense Ministry, meaning college graduates can still be sent to war.

Many schools are cutting places in upper grades, though not by choice. Under new standards effective since 2022, schools must open specialized classes based on in-depth study of particular subjects starting in 10th grade. However, this is expensive and difficult; schools often lack enough teachers to run specialized tracks in every subject at once.

As a result, a school may offer several advanced math classes but none in, say, social studies, forcing some students who wanted that specialization to leave after ninth grade. Schools are often vague about how specialized classes are formed and how students are selected, and frequently do not disclose cutoff scores.

In reality, the students who end up in 10th grade are not those set on studying but those whose parents know how to insist, have connections, or can pay a bribe, the BBC writes. One unnamed teacher described the situation: 'We selected the students for the specialized classes, and then the parents started stomping their feet and saying, “We’ll go to the prosecutor’s office.” And the school is forced to take the kids. We ended up with bloated classes: two-thirds of the kids aren’t ready for the track, and the kids who want to learn are the ones who suffer. In the end, it’s impossible to work, impossible to provide a decent level of education.'

Schools are legally allowed to hold entrance exams for 10th grade, but a full secondary education is a guaranteed right for every child, so authorities must find that child a place at another school. Faced with these obstacles, some parents turn to homeschooling or private online schools. Children in these programs have no deferment from military service, though the deferment returns as soon as they enroll in university.