For the fifth year in a row, St Petersburg University becomes the most popular university in Russia among international applicants

St Petersburg University is ahead of such universities as: Bauman Moscow State Technical University; I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University; the Higher School of Economics; the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University; the National Research University "Belgorod State University"; ITMO University; and Moscow State Linguistic University.

This year, St Petersburg University has enrolled 1,000 applicants for government-funded places within the quota of the Government of the Russian Federation. In total, more than 5,000 applications were received from foreign nationals, which is almost 20% more than in 2021 and 30% more than in 2020. Citizens of more than 80 foreign countries participated in the competition as part of the selection process at the discretion of the University, and the geography of participants has expanded. This year, for example, among the applicants who sent documents to St Petersburg University were citizens from: the Republic of Austria; Canada; the United Republic of Tanzania; the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; the Republic of Panama; the Republic of Kenya; the Republic of Malawi; the Republic of the Philippines; and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

This year, the most popular fields of study are: clinical medicine; economics and management; informatics and computer engineering; political science and regional studies; linguistics and literature studies; and law.

Throughout the year, the University holds information meetings and a variety of distance learning activities for international applicants. Schoolchildren and students from all over the world can take part in the St Petersburg University International Online Olympiad in Russian as a foreign language, which is being held for the third time. This year’s results will be announced in late November. Those who are just starting to learn Russian or want to improve their knowledge are invited to sign up for online language courses at the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University. Students receive a certificate upon completion of the online course and are then permitted to take the test. Upon passing the exam, participants will receive an internationally recognised certificate certifying the level of proficiency in Russian as a foreign language in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Currently, courses in Russian as a foreign language are offered in Greece, Latvia, Palestine, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Additionally, anyone can take the state test online.

The Online School project helps you study school subjects in Russian anywhere in the world. Students have access to lectures in 11 subjects and a variety of extracurricular activities. A certificate of participation in the online school enables applicants to earn additional points in the portfolio competition for admission to academic programmes of St Petersburg University. In the past academic year, 2,500 students from 12 countries received such certificates.