Mandatory 10th Grade: Enough Spaces in Chelyabinsk Schools?

Every graduate of 9th grade must be provided a place in 10th grade, the Russian Ministry of Education (Minprosveshcheniya Rossii) stated. Meanwhile, in recent years, this seemingly routine process has turned into almost a university admissions campaign. We found out how it is going in Chelyabinsk schools and asked parents about it.

Must Provide Place

The Ministry of Education published clarifications regarding admission to 10th grade. A place must be provided even if the student did not pass the selection for a class with advanced study of certain subjects or a specialized class.

“If a 9th-grade graduate does not successfully pass the individual selection, the executive authority of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation that carries out state management in the field of education, or the local government body that manages in the field of education, is obliged to provide him with a place in that educational organization in a universal profile class,” the ministry noted.

Admission can be refused if there are no places in the universal profile class. But in that case, they are obliged to either enroll the student in a specialized class or find another place in the same school or another geographically accessible one.

Half Not Taken

Practice shows that so far schools are far from taking everyone who wants to enter 10th grade.

“At our school there were six ninth-grade classes, they opened three tenth-grade classes, so they didn’t take half, but not everyone wanted to go, of course,” a parent of a graduate told 74.RU.

Another parent reported that at their school they planned to recruit one tenth-grade class, but there were more applicants, so they will open an additional second one — a universal class.

How Many Places Are There in Total

The Committee for Education of the Chelyabinsk City Administration reported that they opened more places in 10th grades for the new school year than originally planned.

“At the beginning of the school year, schools conduct a survey of 9th graders and their parents to clarify the further educational path after finishing 9th grade. Based on the survey results, a forecast plan for opening 10th grades is approved, which is published in January,” the committee explained. “For the 2026/2027 academic year, a forecast plan of 6,157 places was approved in January. At the same time, at the start of the admissions campaign for 10th grades, 6,921 places were opened.”

The authorities also noted that schools can open additional classes until the end of the admissions campaign, which will last until September 5.