About one-third of foreign nationals in Russia fail the Russian language exam on their first try, TASS reported on June 3, citing the press service of Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science.  Nearly half of those who fail initially also struggle to pass on subsequent attempts.

The ministry noted that the failure rate has remained steady since May 2024, when commercial organizations were banned from conducting the exams.  At that time, the share of migrants failing the test jumped from 3% to 30%.

On June 3, State Duma Chairman (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin called for stricter measures by the Ministry of Education and Science to prevent the falsification of migrants’ exam results.

Volodin highlighted cases occurring at exam centers for foreign nationals and stateless persons, where migrants were reportedly given pre-prepared answers in exchange for money.

In mid-May, Volodin also reported that a new law requiring migrants’ children to pass Russian language tests before enrolling in school has proven effective.  Out of 1,762 applicants, only 335 were admitted to the exam.

In 81% of cases, documents were rejected due to inaccurate information regarding legal stay in Russia.  Of the 44 candidates tested across 10 regions, 27 successfully passed the exam.