The educational system in Russia

Abstract

The Soviet educational system was considerably different from the educational sy stem in Western Europe. In recent years, however, much has changed in the Russian edu cational system, especially after Russia joined the Bologna process in 2003. These changes are being ref lected in different ways. On the one hand, the unification of Russian and European educational systems provides better opportunities for students. On the other hand, keeping track of all these newly introduced changes is not an easy task.

Over the course of the last two decades, new types of educational institutions have been introduced in Russia (lyceums, gymnasiums, colleges etc.). The period of compulsory education has been extended to eleven years, and many institutions for higher education have introduced bachelor's and master's degrees.

In this paper the main stages and the length of formal education in Russia are presented.