Online Exam Preparation Initiated for Schoolchildren in Yakutia
Digital Study Sessions Skyrocket Across Russia as Online Exam Prep Booms
In a dramatic surge, more students across the nation are gearing up for the Unified State Exam (USE) and General Education Exam (GEE) online. A whopping 39% increase in the number of users accessing services and applications for exam preparation has been reported, according to analysts from Yota, based on anonymized subscriber data from January to mid-May.
We delved into the top websites and applications helping students ready themselves for the USE and GEE. These resources offer demo tasks, trial variants for various subjects, and online schooling for these mandatory exams. The audience of these services is flourishing, with a 39% boost in users since the start of 2025 compared to the previous year. In Yakutia, the rise is even more striking, with a 134% increase in visits to exam preparation websites during the last academic year compared to the 2023/2024 period, using three times the traffic.
Research reveals that girls account for 63% of the online audience for these exam preparation websites, but there has been a 23% increase in the number of boys compared to last year, on platforms focused on online USE preparation.
Analyzing activity on exam preparation websites from 2023 to 2025, it's fascinating to note that Yakutian students almost forget about exams in the summer, resulting in a sharp decrease in the number of users of educational websites in July and August. In contrast, this year, students started preparation activities in September, starting earlier than last year when they began in February.
Students from Magadan, Salekhard, Birobidzhan, Grozny, and Pskov are leading the charge in online exam preparation, with these cities topping the charts in average traffic spent on educational resources.
Megafon analysts also shared insights, indicating that students took a brief studying break during the May holidays. After the long weekend, Yakutian students picked up the pace and dedicated themselves intensively to exam prep until the exams started. Interestingly, the volume of traffic in the first 11 days of May was nearly 2.5 times less than in the subsequent period. However, students have continued visiting preparation websites during the USE and GEE.
Interestingly, students seem to put in more effort on weekdays and allow themselves a bit of rest on weekends.
Now, while detailed data on specific cities and patterns in online exam preparation trends are not readily available, some contextual factors can be inferred. With the increasing emphasis on digital learning worldwide by the OECD's PISA 2025 assessment and Russia’s broader education environment shifting towards self-regulated learning, digitally-savvy students might be gravitating towards online education and exam preparation resources. Additionally, social uncertainties due to ongoing military mobilization and recruitment fluctuations could drive students to maintain academic progress via online learning [2][3]. Major Russian cities with large student populations and better digital infrastructure are expected to be hubs for this online activity.
In the surge of online education and self-development, a significant number of students are utilizing online-education resources for their Unified State Exam (USE) and General Education Exam (GEE) preparation, demonstrating a 39% increase in users since the beginning of 2025. Furthermore, the increasing global emphasis on digital learning, as indicated by the OECD's PISA 2025 assessment and Russia’s broader education environment shift towards self-regulated learning, could contribute to the growing interest in online education and exam preparation for students nationwide.
