The Ministry of Education and Science has changed the procedure for admission to universities in 2026

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has made changes to the rules for admission to universities in 2026. The adjustments affected the procedure for submitting documents, targeted admission and admission of college graduates, the ministry noted.

“The changes are aimed at bringing the procedure for admission to universities in line with the changes made to the legislation on education in 2025. In addition, the adjustments are related to the results of the analysis of the admissions campaign for 2025-2026,” the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation reported. Their data is provided by RIA Novosti.

A key innovation will be the unification of the application submission platform. Starting this year, universities will not be able to accept documents from applicants through their information systems. Applicants will be able to submit an application in one of three ways: through the State Services portal, in person at the admissions office, or by mail.

The quota will be detailed indicating the specific customer, organization, program and number of places. Vacant targeted places in bachelor's and specialty programs will be transferred to a separate quota, and in master's programs – immediately into the main budget ones. College graduates will be able to enroll without the Unified State Exam only in specialties that correspond to the profile of their secondary vocational education. Compliance will be determined by the universities themselves.

Russian citizens who took exams in Belarus will be able to use their results when applying to Russian universities. Foreign applicants will take internal university exams only if they do not have valid Unified State Examination results.

Earlier it became known that Russia is abandoning the Bologna education system adopted in Europe. In accordance with it, from September 1, 2026, in Russia there will be basic higher education from four to six years (specialty degrees only, without bachelor's degrees), special higher education (master's programs), and professional education (postgraduate programs).

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