There are less than two months left before the start of the Unified State Exam. What can you do in the remaining time to get the highest possible scores for admission to a good university? Many try to earn them through the Unified State Examination in the Russian language. After all, this is the only exam whose results are required for admission to any university for any specialty.
What mistakes are most often made in the Unified State Examination in the Russian language? What to pay attention to when preparing? Roman Doschinsky, teacher of Russian language and literature at school No. 1251, head of the executive committee of the Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature, advises future graduates:
Practice using an open bank of tasks
There is no need to spend money on expensive aids to prepare for the Unified State Exam. Use the open bank of Unified State Examination tasks on the website of the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements. All the first tasks will definitely come from there.
Read more (preferably whole works, not a summary of the contents)
Try to find time to read fiction. In the essay, which is proposed in the last part of the Unified State Exam in the Russian language, you need to confirm your thoughts with examples from the works you read. In addition, reading trains literacy and the ability to express thoughts, and expands vocabulary.
Learn to comment on an issue based on text
Pay attention to working with text and writing. Most often, points are lost due to incorrect commenting and argumentation of the problem stated in the text. Many people begin to get carried away with creativity and lose touch with the supporting text, thinking that they are required to write in the spirit of free thought. This is a fatal mistake! The student read the text, identified the problem, and then put it aside and began composing and creating. Talking “about life”, instead of showing that the problem that he identified is actually present in the text, that it is not made up. Although the assignment description reminds us that work written without reference to the text is not graded, people still forget about it. Addressing this text and the ability to operate with it is an important component when evaluating work.
Make your arguments correctly
It is also worth practicing the ability to argue your position based on literary works. Paradoxical things arise. The text is given, for example, about the years of the Great Patriotic War. It is clear that war seems to be a completely distant phenomenon, and children, instead of giving arguments from works of art, begin to transfer meanings, the theme of feat and heroism to modern life. It turns out to be a humorous story. Even when presenting your own arguments in defense of your point of view, showing your erudition and horizons, you cannot deviate from the content of this text.
Follow the structure and format of the text
Please note that the essay on the Unified State Exam in the Russian language is of a completely different format than the final essay or creative work offered in the All-Russian Test Works. An essay on the Unified State Exam in Russian has a completely clear structure. You must state a problem with the proposed text, write a comment, indicate the author’s position, express your agreement or disagreement with it and give arguments from the literature that answer the given problem. Those who haven't read much will have a hard time with the latter.
Learn to read texts and assignments slowly and thoughtfully
During the exam itself, do not waste time reading the text 2-3 times, even if you spend 15-20 minutes on it. This time will definitely not be in vain. And then it will be justified with high scores. Superficial reading of the text often leads to serious errors. After all, everything is based on the text: both the first tasks after it and the essay. It happens that guys come to appeal, insisting that the assignments for the text were formulated incorrectly. But after a careful reading of the text, it turns out that their claims are unfounded.
Take your time in the exam
During the exam, monitor the accuracy of the answers on the form so that they correspond to the tasks. Many calls to the Public Chamber hotline regarding the Unified State Exam last year were due to errors in registration. Many wrote the correct answers on the draft and did not have time to transfer them to the form. It seemed to them that they would have time to do this 5 minutes before the end of the exam. But they started to hurry. And it turned out that the child, starting, say, from task 6, slid exactly one line down in assigning the correct answers. It's a shame. But, unfortunately, an appeal in such cases is impossible. Even if everything in the draft is correct. Nothing can be fixed.
Unified State Exam. These three letters terrify graduates. If you fail the Unified State Exam, you will not receive a certificate, which means you will not be able to enroll. Therefore, they begin to prepare students for the most important school exam several years before graduation. But every year, high school students fall into the same trap: they get caught cheating, study on their last night, or work themselves up to the point of a nervous breakdown.
Plot
Elementary
- What is GIA, Unified State Exam, OGE: we understand school exams
What is the Unified State Examination?
The knowledge of all 11th graders is tested at the Unified State Exam. Based on its results, the level of preparation of each student is assessed in a point system.
At the exam, high school students receive an individual sealed envelope with a KIM (this is the name of the sheet with tasks). Each CMM contains a unique code, which the student transfers to the answer form. This must be done in order to determine the author of the work after verification.
At KIM, schoolchildren are asked to complete three blocks of tasks: A, B and C. Part A is a multiple-choice test. Of the four options, choose the correct one and mark it with a cross. Part B - tasks that require a short answer. For example, write down a word from a sentence or a number that is the solution to a problem. Part C requires a detailed answer. In the Unified State Examination in the Russian language these are essays, and in mathematics - detailed solutions to problems, often supplemented with drawings. KIMs for individual subjects may have their own characteristics. For example, the Unified State Examination in literature and mathematics does not contain test items. And in KIMs on foreign languages there is a section in which the student needs to listen to an audio recording of a text in a foreign language and answer questions about the content.
On average, four hours are allotted for the entire examination paper.
In order not to lose your certificate, it is enough to score the minimum established number of points, that is, correctly solve the third or fourth (it all depends on the subject) part of all tasks.
How to choose the right subjects for the Unified State Exam?
You can take the Unified State Exam in 14 subjects: Russian language, mathematics, foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish), physics, chemistry, biology, geography, literature, history, social studies and computer science. Two of them are required for graduates: Russian and mathematics. The rest - the student is free to choose himself. Usually, for an 11th grader, points in two subjects are not enough to enter a university, so he takes additional ones.
In order to choose the right subjects for the Unified State Exam, you need to identify the area with which the graduate wants to connect his further education and work activity. It will be better if the student decides on a university. Then he only needs to pass those subjects that are needed for admission to a specific educational institution.
Sometimes students choose one or two subjects “to be on the safe side.” It is important that they are all related. There is no need to “mix” technical disciplines with humanities. So, relying on literature to protect yourself if the main exams - mathematics, physics and computer science - is a bad option.
How to prepare for the Unified State Exam?
Anyone who limits himself to school lessons will never pass the Unified State Exam with 100 points. Self-education using all possible resources is important. Use books to prepare for the Unified State Exam, publications of standard exam options, tables and theoretical collections.
There is an open task bank. This is a special selection on the basis of which real CMMs are compiled. You can also solve Unified State Exam assignments from previous years on the FIPI website. Every year demo versions of the exam are posted there, which reflect the structure of the Unified State Exam.
Free courses on preparation for the Unified State Exam are organized on YouTube and in the public pages of the social network VKontakte. Teachers and successful graduates of past years conduct online classes for 11th graders to discuss the intricacies of the subject, analyze and jointly solve complex problems.
Getting 100 points on the Unified State Exam is not so difficult. I didn’t even hire a tutor; classes with a school teacher were enough. And at home I prepared myself: “I practiced taking tests.” I used textbooks, collections, and websites. I recommend the educational online resource “I will solve the Unified State Exam,” Elena Ivashchenko shares her experience.
The girl received 100 points on the Unified State Exam in physics and entered the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology at the Faculty of General and Applied Physics.
If you can’t prepare for the Unified State Exam on your own, you can find a tutor and negotiate with him about individual lessons or lessons in a group. Paid courses to prepare for the Unified State Exam are also organized in some universities.
I'm not disciplined enough to study on my own, so they hired a tutor for me. During the classes, we wrote a huge number of essays and took many tests,” said Anna Rybalkina, a 100-score student.
A hundred in the Russian language helped the girl get a budget-funded place at VSU in the Faculty of Journalism.
In order to remember everything you learn for a long time, psychologists advise repeating the material according to the following scheme:
1) After reading the information, immediately try to reproduce it. Then repeat everything after 8-9 hours and after 24 hours.
2) Repeat the material 15-20 minutes before bedtime and in the morning, with a fresh mind.
3) Each time, comprehend the mistakes and pay attention to more difficult places.
4) Don't memorize. Try to reproduce the material in your own words close to the text. You can watch it if you can’t remember the material within two minutes.
5) To transfer information into long-term memory, repeat after a day, two, and so on, gradually increasing the time intervals.
Day X has arrived. How not to fail the Unified State Exam?
If you don't want to be kicked out of the exam, don't try to cheat. For the Unified State Exam, you can only take a passport, a black pen, a ruler (if you are taking mathematics), a chocolate bar and water. Don't take your phone with you. It definitely won't be useful. Even if, by a lucky chance, the metal detector does not respond to your mobile phone, you still won’t be able to use it. There is video surveillance in the classrooms, and the organizers monitor discipline. In case of violation of the rules of conduct at the Unified State Exam, the work is confiscated, and the student is sent home “with nothing.” You will be allowed to retake the exam only after a year. You need to write cheat sheets. This promotes better assimilation of the material. You just can’t take them with you either. If they notice, they will remove you from the exam.
The reason for low results on the Unified State Exam may be excessive anxiety. There is always psychological stress during exam periods. Light emotional outbursts are even useful; they have a positive effect on performance and enhance mental activity. But excessive psychological stress has the opposite effect. To calm down, psychologists advise 11th graders:
1) The evening before the Unified State Exam should be devoted to preparing the body. Before going to bed, mentally imagine the exam: you entered in a good mood, carefully filled out the test, completed all the tasks, and enjoyed the exam. Our subconscious has received instructions and will now work to ensure that you get your expected result, provided that you still prepared for the exam.
2) Don’t look at KIMs right away. Focus your attention on filling out the forms. Try to calm down. Relaxed concentration is much more effective than tense or focused attention. Some schoolchildren are in such a stressful state that they cannot write their last name on their own. In such a situation, you will not be able to successfully pass the Unified State Exam.
3) Drink plain or mineral water. The liquid activates the brain.
Who checks the Unified State Exam and assigns scores?
The test part is processed by the computer. It scans the work, recognizes the information, and checks it with the original data. Tasks with detailed answers are checked by two experts. Independently of each other, they assign points and enter the results into the protocol. If the scores of two commission members coincide, the resulting Unified State Examination result is final. If a discrepancy is established, a third expert is appointed. Then the Unified State Exam forms, verified by experts, are sent to the Federal Testing Center. There, all data is processed, summarized and entered into a single database. Only after this the Unified State Exam results are transferred to educational institutions.
You can find out your scores at the school where the exam took place, or on the official Unified State Exam portal. The deadline for announcing results should not exceed 12 days after passing the exam. Unified State Examination scores are valid for four years.
You have the right to appeal if you do not agree with the experts' assessment. This must be done within two working days. It is important to remember that based on the results of the appeal, the number of points may not only remain the same, but also decrease.
How to attract good luck? Advice from those who passed the Unified State Exam and entered
VSU Faculty of Law student Roman Kartashov slept with a chocolate bar before the exam.
Knowledge enters through the head and leaves through the legs. In order not to forget anything, I put a chocolate bar at my feet. In the morning, all the knowledge that could evaporate is in it. “I ate a chocolate bar and immediately remembered everything,” says Roman.
I put on different socks for luck and sewed a yellow button onto my jacket. She looked at herself in the mirror and laughed. I don’t know if it helped me pass the Unified State Exam, but the tension immediately disappeared,” recalls Natalya Kravchenko, a student at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
This year, gold medalist Yana Dobrynina entered the Moscow Aviation Institute on a budget at the Faculty of Social Engineering. Before the exam, the girl advises everyone to pray.
This helped me and my classmates. We successfully passed the Unified State Exam,” Yana sums up.
When preparing the material, we used comments from the finalist of the regional competition “Teacher of the Year 2015”, computer science teacher Zaur Dzantiev, mathematics teacher and tutor Natalya Kurdyukova, English teacher Ekaterina Chatova, psychologist Natalya Derbeko.
This week, schoolchildren will write their first exams - in literature and geography. Gazeta.Ru decided to help 11th graders and conducted a survey among students who passed the Unified State Exam with 100 points and entered leading Russian universities on a budget. Survey participants shared the recipe for their success and told whether it is possible to cheat on an exam.
(100 points for the Unified State Examination in mathematics and physics)
I took the Unified State Exam myself, without tutors or any cheating. The Unified State Exam in physics and mathematics cannot be difficult, all the tasks are in the style of “read the condition and do not make a mistake in one formula,” but in the Russian language it was not possible to pass with 100 points. I lost a couple of primary points somewhere in the area of “logic and coherence of the text” in part C. Here it already depends on the evaluator, that is, if in physics or mathematics you can get 100 points, guided by one formula (again, read the condition and not make a mistake, and, of course, format it carefully), then in Russian half of the success of part C depends on the examiner.
Write off for the Unified State Exam? I don't know, I haven't tried it. They say it's quite easy. I don't know if this is true, but it's probably possible. One of my students (I tutor here a little) stopped preparing altogether, she says she doesn’t need more than 60 points, and she’ll write something off at 60. Yes, there are so many ways to deceive a theoretically honest system.
I heard from friends that their friend’s dad, a stern businessman, the thunder of the district, came to the director of the school where his daughter was supposed to take an exam, laid out a large sum on the table and said: “She will write what she knows, and let your people there write down the correct answers.” "
Thank God, everything ended relatively well: she wrote what she knew, but they couldn’t finish it. The money was returned to my father, he did not cause any consequences to anyone, but the fact is clear: whoever wants to write it off will write it off.
It's still more fun in English. Teachers I know who have been assigned as supervisors say that the quality of the microphones into which text must be dictated is, frankly speaking, not very good. That is, the recording may turn out to be so clumsy that half of the words will be impossible to understand. I don’t know whether it was an accident or not, but I didn’t want to take the test myself, fortunately I didn’t need it for admission. I’m not even talking about the situation of past years, when everyone was cut off on one task in order to reduce the number of 100-point students in the country. No one was able to prove anything later, although people swore that they had written the problem perfectly.
Daria Titova (100 points for the Unified State Exam in Literature)
“Six months before taking the exams, I suddenly decided that I definitely needed to take literature. Partly because, frankly, no one else was renting it out, and I wanted to stand out.
And also because I firmly decided to enroll in the Faculty of Journalism, which greatly surprised my family of doctors.
Based on this crazy desire, at first I crammed primary sources myself and read criticism.
But my real preparation began the moment I found a tutor - a university teacher who was once directly involved in the development of literature tests. She knew the kitchen itself: how things are assessed, what is and is not worth writing in essays. With her, my absolutely unsystematized knowledge of the subject was completely washed away from unnecessary tinsel and worries - there were clear plans for analyzing the works and the final answer. Nothing extra.
There was some luck: I knew all the works on my ticket well.
I didn’t even try to copy: I didn’t have enough time to think about it, plus it was my first exam, and I was scared by the strict environment.
Remembering this whole process now, I think that it is impossible to pass all subjects with 100 points. This exam does not test knowledge, well, or not only knowledge. Such a system requires a mechanical approach. It’s worth at least a little deciding on your future studies, choosing the exams you will take, and focusing on them. Five or six 100-point Unified State Examinations do not provide any guarantees of a future happy life.”
Alexey Kubarev (100 points for the Unified State Exam in mathematics)
“I passed the Unified State Exam with 100 points simply because of my abilities (both parents graduated from Mechanics and Mathematics; there were no problems with mathematics even in one of the best physics and mathematics schools in Moscow). I prepared for the Unified State Exam only at school during test exams, and I was also helped by a teacher who sometimes gave home problems from the former part C. I didn’t have any tutors - I just came and wrote. I didn’t worry about the complexity, I was only worried about the short amount of time (besides, I write slowly), so during the exam I tried to quickly assess how the problems were solved and write the solutions straight away.
I wrote practically nothing on the draft, except perhaps some calculations.
Naturally, no matter how capable you are, you cannot guarantee writing the Unified State Exam with 100 points, but you can guarantee 90+. Personally, when I went to the Unified State Exam, I hoped that I would be lucky with two problems from part C, but otherwise I was confident.
I can advise today's 11th graders to worry less during the exam itself and before it. Personally, I performed a lot on stage, so I got out of the habit of being nervous. Also, under no circumstances should you study all night long, especially before an exam. At least a couple of days before it, you need to start going to bed on time: it is absolutely necessary to be well-rested during the exam.
Regarding cheating: I have not encountered this, but I heard from friends from other schools that in principle it is possible to cheat.
For example, they say that people smuggled crib sheets by pinning them to their clothes: the pins are too small for a metal detector to sense them.
But this, of course, is not at all for those who are aiming for 100 points: they simply have no time to copy from somewhere, just have time to solve the problems.
Achieving 100 points on all Unified State Examinations is quite possible, although difficult. Firstly, of course, nothing will come of it without luck, and being lucky in three exams is not the same as being lucky in one. Secondly, we must not forget about the human factor. Here is an inspector sitting, your work is his hundredth, he is already tired, and you, let’s say, have bad handwriting. Naturally, he gets a negative impression, and the likelihood of getting a hundred drops significantly. In mathematics this is not so scary, but, say, in Russian you can easily get a decrease in the score in an essay on some point like “expressiveness of speech.” And then go prove that you should have the maximum score for this item!
In general, I advise you to worry less, get enough sleep before the exam, and also not tear your hair out after writing for discovered errors or unfinished assignments.
You’ll ruin your nerves (and your hair) but won’t raise your score.”
Ekaterina Kartseva (100 points for the Unified State Exam in History)
“I prepared for the Unified State Exam a year in advance; before that I had not studied history at all, I only knew the date of the Battle of Kulikovo. But it helped that the school treated me well, and in the 11th grade I, one might say, did not attend school. Instead, from eleven to eight in the evening, I hung out with a tutor several days a week, who, seeing my zeal, took surprisingly little money from me. Social contacts, of course, suffered during the year because I didn’t leave the house.
It is possible to prepare well for the Unified State Exam in a short period of time, you just need to sacrifice something (time, parties, other subjects). Well, the system is important.
I prepared like this: I started every day by taking notes from a textbook, then studied the notes. Then I solved +10 tests, flipped through the public pages on VK, sorted out all the mistakes and wrote them down in separate notebooks, which I re-read before going to bed. In the evening I asked my mother to check the dates (in both directions), about 25 of them. Closer to the exam, I already abandoned the textbooks, and mostly rewrote and re-read the collection of assignments for Part C (over the course of a year I collected a large Word file). In general, this whole thing usually took almost the whole day.
In my opinion, you can get 100 points in several subjects if you met the educational standard at school, and in the 11th grade you practiced taking tests, plus you were lucky in the exam. But for this, all teachers must be strong subject specialists, and the student must have stable motivation throughout high school. In general, in practice it is almost impossible to implement, I think. She herself sacrificed mathematics for the sake of the subjects that were needed for admission (it seemed like 49 points). But in Russian you can always get 100 points, the subject is easy.
It was possible to cheat on exams, people took out their phones, I had cheat sheets with me.”
Anna Landau (100 points for the Unified State Exam in Russian)
I studied with a tutor for two years, but I was also quite lucky at the Unified State Examination. I came across a good text with a clear problem, and it was easy enough to pick up the arguments. I believe that it is quite possible to pass the Unified State Exam in Russian with 100 points; you just need to memorize a certain set of rules, solve tasks, select a sufficient number of arguments for different topics and write several dozen essays - so to speak, to get better at it.
To write off, as for me, it was impossible, because there was strict supervision and control at the entrance.
From my point of view, to pass the Unified State Exam with 100 points, you need luck rather than knowledge. I have also had cases where a person who wrote samples for 60 points scored 90+ on the exam itself and vice versa. So the result rather depends on luck and which option you come across.
Natalya Kirasheva (100 points for the Unified State Exam in geography and Russian language)
“It so happened that I passed two Unified State Examinations - in Russian language and geography - with 100 points. To be honest, I didn't expect it. Like everyone else, I strived for high results, but the number 100 was never cherished. I didn’t study with tutors: schoolwork and self-study were enough. There was still time left for dancing, friends and hiking. I believe that high results are the merit of teachers. They were wonderful: they didn’t scare me with “this Unified State Exam on which our whole life depends,” but calmly, lesson by lesson, they put knowledge into our heads.
Was it difficult? To be honest, I don’t remember much excitement. Regarding the possibility of cheating: the most cunning ones will probably always find one, but for me it’s easier to prepare and be confident in your knowledge than to worry and be afraid that you will be “spotted.”
Although I had cheat sheets for almost all exams - not for cheating, but solely for confidence.
I think that it is possible to pass the Unified State Exam in both Russian and mathematics with 100 points; there are probably such guys. Although I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like that.”
Olga Zinchenko (100 points for the Unified State Exam in social studies and Russian language)
“I received 100 points for social studies and Russian language. I studied with tutors (I don’t remember exactly, but, in my opinion, every time a week), in social studies and history I also took additional group courses (at the Siberian Federal University and preparatory courses). At the gymnasium we had very strong teachers, so, in fact, the preparation was multifaceted, so to speak. I also studied history, but at the last moment I didn’t take it (because I became an All-Russian winner in English, which was enough for the universities I wanted to go to), although, according to the teacher, I could pass with 100 points (this, of course, already from the category of the subjunctive mood, but still).
As for the recipe for success, I can say that I reached this milestone only through hard work. I took three or four tests a week (in each subject, including Part C), and also listened to audiobooks for history (on the way to courses/tutors). Without tutors it would be difficult, since the Unified State Exam is still a certain format, you can be amazingly literate, but if you do not write an essay according to a certain template, then the points will be reduced.
I didn’t cheat on the Unified State Exam, but I know that many were on their phones.
Some took pictures of the assignments and sent them, and then tutors/senior friends or someone else sent them answers. Now, probably, such a system will not work, I heard that they are installing jammers, although they scared us with them.”
Kolya was the happy owner of an FCE certificate (Grade A), which objectively confirmed his level B2+. As you know, the stated level of the Unified State Exam is B1–B2, so Kolya felt calm and was confident that he would pass 100 points easily and simply, especially since he had also been preparing for the Unified State Exam for a whole year in the 11th grade. However, he passed with 97, and not 100. And these three points were not enough for him to enter the faculty of his dreams.
Can we say that Kolya was not ready and that’s why he lost 3 points? No, you can't say that. The score of 97 points shows that he was very ready. It’s not that easy to pass the Unified State Exam at 90+. Where did the points go? One was lost during listening: poor sound quality, it was not possible to hear a certain nuance. The second one is in the “Grammar and Vocabulary” section: I came across an unfamiliar preposition. The third point is the written part, where Kolya added a couple of extra commas.
Unified State Exam scores in English above 95 are a matter of chance and have nothing to do with knowledge. There is no fundamental difference in the knowledge of people who scored 95, 97 and 100 points. It cannot be said that someone who passed with a score of 95 knows English worse than someone with a score of 100. If you don’t take my word for it, then take three USE tests in a row and see what the spread of scores turns out to be. You can guarantee that you will not get the same result, despite the fact that your level of knowledge does not change from test to test. In other words, a difference within 5 points cannot be eliminated by intensive training methods.
However, there is a method that with a high degree of probability gives strong students 100 points on the Unified State Exam, bypassing all chance. This method is the Olympics. To understand how it works, let's use the experience of Vasya's triangle.
Happy story
Vasya also had an FCE certificate (Grade A). But Vasya, unlike Kolya, knew that the Unified State Exam in English was unpredictable, so he replaced preparation for the exam with preparation for the Olympiads. During the academic year, he took part in 12 qualifying rounds of various English language Olympiads and passed half of them. At two out of six (RANEPA and “Highest Standard”) he became a prize-winner. As for the Unified State Exam itself, Vasya passed it with 94 points.
At first glance, Vasya's result is lower than Kolya's. But in practice, it turns out that when entering a university, his Olympiad diplomas magically turn into 100 Unified State Exam points, or even into a BVI benefit (admission without entrance exams, without competition). The faculty of his dreams has opened its doors to him, and Vasya is already looking forward to gnawing on granite in the near future.
Even if Vasya had passed the Unified State Exam with an 85, he would still have been given a score of 100. The only case in which the value of the Olympiad diplomas would have been zero is if Vasya had passed the Unified State Exam with less than 75 points. However, such cases are extremely rare for the simple reason that with the correct process of preparation for the Olympiads, the level of language proficiency increases so much that the Unified State Exam ceases to pose any difficulty.
Olympic path
As a rule, the word “Olympiad” evokes in most students and their parents the associations “very difficult”, “it’s only for the gifted”, “it’s impossible to get a diploma”. So, taking a diploma at a listed Olympiad (at least one) is easier than getting 100 points at the Unified State Exam, despite the fact that the level of difficulty at the Olympiads is indeed higher than at the state exam. How so? And like this.
First, let's look at the criteria for determining the winners. To become a winner at the “Highest Test” in 2017, you had to score 60 points out of 100. To become a 100-point student on the Unified State Exam, you need to do all the tasks correctly, without exception. Do you feel the difference? Just in case, let me explain: having completed a little more than half of the Olympiad tasks correctly, you will receive a diploma that is equivalent to a perfectly written Unified State Examination. There are Olympiads in which you need to score more than 80% of points to become a prize-winner, but there are none where 100% completion of all tasks is required to win a prize. Thus, the “payback” for mistakes is significantly lower than on the Unified State Exam.
Secondly, all Olympiads are different, and you can show your talents at them, turning them into valuable points. Can you write well? The share of the written assignment on the “Highest Test” is more than half the points. Are you deeply interested in linguistic phenomena? There will be an advantage at the Eurasian Olympiad. The Unified State Exam does not take into account the specifics of your development, and there will be no place to show your talents, if any.
Thirdly, do not forget about nerves and physical condition. You're worried, you have a headache, you didn't get enough sleep, you ate too much chocolate, you happened to fall in love, you're tired, you caught a cold on the eve of the exam - and you end up with 10-15 points less than you really can. This factor also affects the Olympiad results, but is offset by the fact that there are a dozen Olympiads, while the Unified State Exam is taken only once.
The conclusion is obvious: the Unified State Examination with one hundred points is an unrealistic task, but a diploma at one of the listed Olympiads is quite achievable. This conclusion is confirmed by statistics.
“Highest test” in English 2017 (I level Olympiad): about 4 thousand participants in the qualifying stage, of which approximately 500 reached the finals. The winners and runners-up of the finals are 77 people.
RANEPA 2017 (level II Olympiad): 652 participants won the qualifying round. Of these, 45 became final winners, and 109 became prize-winners.
Unified State Exam 2017: 59 hundred points for 64.5 thousand participants. This is less than one tenth of a percent.
Underwater rocks
So what, the Olympics mean a guaranteed hundred points? Not really. Much depends on the university and the field for which you want to apply. For example, if your goal is MGIMO, then not a single listed Olympiad will give you 100 Unified State Exam points; only a diploma from the All-Russian Olympiad can do this. However, it is worth saying that this is the exception, not the rule, and for the most part, universities generously provide benefits to prize-winners and winners of listed Olympiads. To find out whether a diploma in your chosen field will be useful to you, you need to look at the official document on the university website (usually it is called something like this: “Special rights granted to winners and prize-winners of school Olympiads included in the List of Olympiads”).
I would also like to emphasize that the statement “it is easier to get a diploma at a listed Olympiad than to get 100 points on the Unified State Exam” does not mean that anyone can take a diploma at a listed Olympiad. Olympiad activities are long-term and time-consuming work, which can only be done by interested and able-bodied students who love English and have a high level of knowledge. In other words, if in the 11th grade you score 60 on test tests in English, you don’t have to think about Olympiad diplomas. If your results are 90 and above, then you should pay close attention to the Olympiads: they will allow you to reach 100.
It's a busy time at universities. There is a competition for applicants. And this competition, as we know, is based on the results of unified state exams. There have been so many scandals around the Unified State Examination. There was so much scam. They stole exam papers and teachers wrote down the answers. Signals were coming from everywhere. Now there are few of them. We have arranged for exams. There is no scam. Well, certainly less than a few years ago.
But here's a new scandal in Adygea. A graduate of one of the schools, an excellent student, stated right at the presentation of gold medals that her classmate was receiving the medal undeservedly. And the medal was given to her through connections - her mother heads the district education department. I don’t know why such operations need to be performed. In Soviet times, the medal gave the right to enter almost any university without competition. But that’s not the case now; there are practically no benefits. Then why? Only harm children.
Applicants to a prestigious Moscow university submit their Unified State Exam results to the commission. Passing scores: these are tomorrow's humanities students.
And, it seems, no one lowered the requirements for students, and it’s not to say that schools suddenly began churning out “their own Newtons” in the hundreds. But the number of medalists breaks all records. In Karachay-Cherkessia, for example, every fifth graduate is an excellent student.
There has long been nothing precious about school medals. Silver and gold medals are made from brass. And what are the medalists themselves worth? Big question.
“Of course, it’s a shame when there’s a person standing on stage who hasn’t told a single lesson or a single answer all year. And by a lucky coincidence, this is the daughter of the district manager of our district,” says graduate Ruzanna Tuko.
I couldn't remain silent. At the awards ceremony, gold medalist Ruzanna Tuko was burning with a verb from the stage: they say that her classmate Zaira received her gold through connections.
“The whole class found out that she was a medalist three days before the ceremony! She knew that no one would tell her anything because her mother was behind her. Our teachers simply had no choice,” says Ruzanna Tuko.
While Zaira's mother denied the accusations, the director did not seem to consider what had happened to be a big problem at all.
After the inspection, Svetlana Paranuk, the same mother-official, was fired, and the school director was reprimanded. The heroine of the scandal returned the medal. Herself. But she might not return it. The commission decided: the girl deserved the award. But the Unified State Exam did not rate this medal highly.
“33 is her major in mathematics, and this is not a D, but a C. Three is a three. 27 is the threshold for specialized mathematics. This is a three. Yes, it’s bad that she got a C, but at least she didn’t fail the core math,” notes Marzietta Tatlokh, head teacher of school No. 1 in Takhtamukai village.
This year, the main elective subject at the Unified State Exam by a wide margin is social studies. There are not many violations. Each class has independent inspectors and cameras. But the most desperate still do not give up.
“There was the case of Romeo and Juliet. A girl in Ingushetia was taking an exam, and her lover decided to help her. I thought that by turning off the lights, the cameras would not record. I turned off the switch in the substation,” says Anzor Muzaev, deputy head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science.
Shakespearean passions: “Juliet” still didn’t pass, and “Romeo” thundered for 15 days. But there are also excellent students. Nikita Revenko was removed from the Unified State Exam in Russian. The inspectors noticed that the student was constantly diving under his desk. Student's version - he was tying his shoelaces.
“He was found to have a small piece of paper with literally a few words written on it, which were counted as a cheat sheet,” says Nikita’s mother Natalya Revenko.
What these words were is unknown. But now Nikita has a whole year to prepare for the exam without papers - so the court decided. In the country as a whole, officials assure, the results are impressive. Those who failed the Unified State Exam are half as many as a year ago.
“The number of children who have mastered basic knowledge in each subject has increased. In addition, in almost all subjects, the number of students with high scores (from 80 to 100) has increased. That is, an increase of 3-4%. This is serious growth,” notes Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science Anzor Muzaev.
More than 20 graduates showed maximum results in all three exams. Anton passed mathematics, chemistry and English with a hundred points. An excellent student, he prepared for the Unified State Exam with tutors from the tenth grade.
“The school provides enough knowledge, the question is whether a person perceives it at the proper level,” notes graduate Anton Vlasov.
However, in many universities where yesterday's schoolchildren come, they believe that students are trained to take the Unified State Exam, and this only gives results in the exam itself, to the detriment of the school curriculum. Over 15 years, spending on education has increased sevenfold. What about knowledge?
“If you take an average schoolchild in the country with an average score of 4.2, about seven years ago this score was actually filled with knowledge of 3.8. Our research now shows that a 4.2 GPA is filled with 2.8 knowledge. In general, during the first year, people who are not ready to work seriously are recruited from 7 to 12 percent,” notes Rector of St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise Alexander Zapesotsky.
Experts from the Higher School of Economics decided to challenge first-year students on historical dates. The average error in answers is 300-400 years. The best knowledge comes not from those who read textbooks, but from those who watched historical films.
“The students have become different. They need to tell it differently. This is a generation of visual people. If you give them a textbook, printed on unpleasant gray paper with no pictures and with boring text that they don’t want to read, they are unlikely to even want to hold it in their hands,” explains Valeria Kasamara, head of the HSE Laboratory of Political Studies.
And they don’t want to! For many students, even the school granite of science is too hard to chew. And, of course, the classic “I don’t want to study.” If you don't need to give it up.
Study-oriented children desperately study specialized subjects. For the Unified State Exam. And that's certainly a good thing. The only downside is that in the remaining lessons the excellent student and the poor student will be approximately at the same level.
