Russian school students' strategy has radically changed

Only 42.5% of 9th-graders moved on to 10th grade in 2024, with others preferring education alternative paths to than university education

Professional strategies among Russian youth have undergone notable changes, according to a new edition of the “Education Indicators” compendium prepared by HSE University (Higher School of Economics) together with the relevant ministries and Rosstat. Although the statistics are published with a time lag and cover only 2024, experts say they point to a steady long-term shift.

According to HSE data, in 2024, 42.5% of ninth-grade graduates – about 708,000 students – moved on to the 10th grade. Taking into account roughly another 30,000 pupils who returned to school after a break, the share continuing into upper secondary school is about 45%. This is the lowest figure in the past 25 years: in the early 2000s it reached 65–67%.

Progressing to the upper grades has traditionally been seen as a track oriented toward subsequent university admission. However, that model is increasingly giving way to an alternative strategy. In 2024, about 51% of ninth-grade graduates chose secondary vocational education (SVE) programs, while another roughly 6% entered the labor market immediately.

Russia’s SVE system is heterogeneous. After vocational-technical schools were abolished in 2013, two formal levels of training remained: programs for skilled workers and employees, focused on practical skills and a short cycle of study, and programs for training mid-level specialists, which involve longer, more theory-intensive instruction. Most ninth-grade graduates opt for the latter.

In 2024, 158,500 people (9.5% of graduates) enrolled in programs for skilled workers, while 695,600 (42%) entered mid-level specialist programs. According to Irina Abankina, a professor at HSE’s Institute of Education, the trend has strengthened for at least the past five years, aided by large-scale investment in colleges, the development of the “Professionalitet” initiative, and active cooperation with employers. She made these remarks on Business FM radio.

Experts also point to distortions in the Russian labor market as a contributing factor. In recent years, a university diploma has in many cases lost its former value, becoming a formal box-ticking requirement not always linked to real skills and professional competence. In analysts’ view, this is pushing young people toward more pragmatic, applied educational pathways.