Striving for accuracy: why have schoolchildren started taking the Unified State Exam in mathematics more often?

The main period for taking the Unified State Exam began in Russia on May 23: graduates wrote papers on chemistry, literature, and history today. And on May 27, the math exam will begin, and interest in taking it has noticeably increased this year.

As the head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education Anzor Muzaev told journalists, a total of 335.2 thousand people, or 47.04% of all graduates, will take the specialized mathematics exam. Almost 47%, or 334.6 thousand people, chose basic mathematics.

“This cannot but please, because now all the attention of the government, the administration, and all experts in general is focused on engineering education,” noted the head of Rosobrnadzor.

He called the training of engineering personnel "a matter of survival" for our country. Due to the increased importance of engineering education, schoolchildren's interest in choosing natural science subjects is growing. And, although social science remains the leader among elective subjects, its share has decreased from 44 to 42.43%. Children increasingly choose physics (+2.7%), computer science (+2.8%) and biology (+2.2%) for in-depth study and passing. They have become more likely to pass chemistry (+1.5%) than history and English.

According to Rosobrnadzor, more than 712 thousand people across the country plan to take the Unified State Exam, of which 637.5 thousand are this year's graduates. The authorities have prepared about 6 thousand points to conduct the exams.

The second most popular subject after social studies among schoolchildren is computer science (21% of children decided to take it). It is followed by biology (19%), physics (16.5%), chemistry, history (14.3% each) and English (13.11%). The least interesting subjects among graduates are literature (7.5%) and geography (3.8%).

Experts call the redistribution of interest of Russian schoolchildren in favor of natural and exact sciences a completely understandable trend. Schoolchildren begin to calculate in advance the chances of successful employment after graduation.

As Oleg Abelev , PhD in Economics and head of the analytical department of the investment company Rikom-Trust, told NI, the peculiarity of the labor market in the Russian Federation is of a specific nature.

“With a relatively low unemployment rate, there is a huge nominal increase in wages, especially in areas related to computer science, cybersecurity, and IT,” the expert explains.

According to his observations, systematic educational training in these areas is not yet being conducted at universities.

"There are separate study profiles in different universities, but these are programs that appear sporadically. Therefore, good IT specialists are highly valued, they receive a higher level of nominal salary in the industry and in the economy as a whole. Applicants see this and go into this field," the economist notes.

According to him, the increased interest of graduates in new areas is caused by the statements of the head of state, as well as initiatives from the Ministry of Education, thanks to which the number of budget places in universities in the natural sciences is growing.

According to Alexey Postrigailo , senior partner at the IT integrator Ensign, the increase in schoolchildren’s interest in the exact sciences is a very positive signal.

"In our industry, where we create digital products and IT solutions, there has long been a serious shortage of specialists. Competition for people is high, salaries are growing, and we see how difficult it is to form a strong team. Therefore, the fact that schoolchildren are increasingly choosing specialized mathematics and computer science gives hope," the expert notes.

Alexey Postrigailo emphasizes that the role of humans in IT is changing. Routine programming and typical tasks are often solved with the help of artificial intelligence.

"But the real value is the ability to come up with an idea, analyze the situation, and package it into a working product. This is what the exact sciences are for: they develop an analytical mind, teach you to see the essence and build logical solutions," says the expert.

He believes that analytics and the ability to think systems-wise will determine who will create the products of the future. And here a strong foundation in mathematics becomes key.

"Interest in IT is connected with the attractive image of IT leaders - Durov, Bukhman and so on. Young, successful, involved - all this corresponds to the values ​​of youth. As well as the psychotype of youth - great introversion, independence. In addition, the IT sphere itself - young people live in software, it is a familiar environment in which they feel comfortable and which they do not want to leave," explains the reasons for this, head of the Department of Digital Profiling, member of the Academic Council of the Academy of Social Technologies, candidate of psychological sciences, doctor of philosophy (PhD) Igor Niesov .

"I want to enroll in the Information Technology program, following in the footsteps of my older sister. She graduated from university just last year, got a job at a good IT company, and already earns twice as much as my mother, who has two degrees in the humanities. Technology is the future, so I also plan to go into this field," 11th-grader Marina V. told NI.

According to Rosobrnadzor, 1.8 thousand people from the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions have signed up to take the Unified State Exam this year. Their share is growing, despite the fact that the opportunity for residents of the new regions to enter a university without the results of the Unified State Exam, based on internal exams at universities, has been extended.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science , 619 thousand budget places have been allocated in higher education institutions of the country for 2025. The number of those taking the Unified State Exam already exceeds this figure by almost 100 thousand. Additional competition for ordinary schoolchildren will be provided by an army of graduates of secondary vocational education programs and numerous beneficiaries who have the right to enter universities without the results of the Unified State Exam.

To get ahead in the competition, many schoolchildren use the services of tutors. According to surveys by the SuperJob company, parents of high school students spend an average of 5,800 rubles on tutors every week, 60% of 10th-11th grade students take additional paid lessons, while 15% of parents give tutors more than 10,000 rubles per week . The number of Russian high school students using the services of paid teachers has increased by 12 percentage points over the year.

As NI previously reported, if in 2013 29% of applicants entered universities from colleges, then by 2024 their number had grown to 42%. This is almost every second, or 424,442 people . Of the 2024 graduates who entered universities last year, 195,225 had SPO diplomas. Thus, it is easy to calculate that at least a third of school graduates aiming to enter higher education institutions will be left out of free higher education.

But the problem is that many risk losing the right to study at a university even for money. Let us recall that on May 14, the State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the Law "On Education", which give the Cabinet the right to regulate paid admission to universities.

It is expected that as early as 2026, applicants' access to humanities education will be restricted . Thus, this year is becoming critically important for today's school graduates and their families. Those who fail to pass the Unified State Exam well and get into the student bench this summer may lose their chance to take their chosen educational route next year. Therefore, the stakes in passing the Unified State Exam are higher than ever.

According to Rosobrnadzor , the main campaign for taking the Unified State Exam will end by July 4. After exams in history, literature, and chemistry scheduled for May 23, and tests in mathematics on May 27, schoolchildren will take the Russian language on May 30, social science and physics on June 2, and biology, geography, and the written part of a foreign language on June 5.

The oral part of a foreign language exam, as well as an exam in computer science, is scheduled for June 10 and 11. Those who missed the main dates due to illness or another valid reason, as well as those whose exam dates for one of the subjects coincided, will be given reserve days to retake the Unified State Exam from June 16 to 26, as well as July 3 and 4.

The results of all exams will be ready by July 15.