School reform 2026: five strikes on the usual schedule

The Ministry of Education approved an updated federal list of textbooks and announced five changes to the school curriculum at once — from the transfer of social studies to high school to experimental assessments for behavior. Let's look at what exactly awaits students from September 1 and what parents should do before the school rush begins.

What actually happened

Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov said that the department conducted a large-scale audit of educational programs before the new academic year, writes xrust. The formal reason is Order No. 436, which approved an updated federal list of textbooks for primary, secondary and secondary schools. Informal is an attempt to build a unified educational space throughout the country, from Kaliningrad to new regions.

On September 1, 17.5 million schoolchildren in Russia will sit at their desks, 1.5 million of them for the first time. By the way, they came up with a special gift for this army of first-graders: they are no longer given homework at all. The decision is controversial — some see it as a soft entry into school life, others fear that the workload will simply shift to tutors a class later. But on a September morning this will no longer be your problem, but the teacher’s problem.

Further — point by point, without water.

Strike one: social studies goes to high school

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG9__The main change for middle and high schools is that social studies will now be studied only from grades 9 to 11: an hour a week in the ninth and eleventh grades, two hours in the tenth. The ministry explains this by saying that the program was cleared of duplication of topics that are already taught in other subjects.

Instead, they added hours for history. The program for it is now uniform throughout the country, with a fixed order of topics — the teacher can no longer rearrange sections of the course at his own discretion. From 2027, this will also come back to haunt applicants: for admission to many humanitarian fields, instead of social studies, you will need to take history — hello to future journalists, lawyers and teachers.

Strike two: new textbooks, especially on history

The list of benefits has been updated primarily for grades 5–7. In elementary schools, new textbooks on the Russian language, literary reading, mathematics, the environment, and the basics of religious cultures and secular ethics have been approved. Manuals on native languages ​​have also been added — from Tatar and Bashkir to Khakass and Moksha — and on foreign languages.

A separate story — textbooks “History of our region. Donbass and Novorossiya» for grades 5–7. They will allow you to study the history of the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in the general historical context of the country and will appear in schools from September 1. At the same time, old benefits will not be thrown away overnight — they promise to make the transition gradual.

Strike three: security is divided into two courses

The subject “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland” will be divided into two independent areas: “Life Safety” and basic military training. Previously it came in one package, now it comes in two separate courses with different content.

Looking ahead: from January 2027, schools will have another new subject — “Spiritual and moral culture of Russia”, first for fifth graders, from September of the same year — for grades 6–7. Formally, this is a matter for the next academic year, but since the topic has already been raised, it certainly won’t be a surprise by 2027.

Strike four: behavior will be assessed with points

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG8__In several regions — Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Tula regions, LPR, Chechnya and Mordovia — last year they tested a system for assessing the behavior of students in grades 2–8 in three categories: “exemplary”, “acceptable” and “inadmissible”. The testing was considered successful, and in some schools the system can be implemented this academic year, and throughout the country — from September 1, 2027.

Kravtsov calls this not a punitive measure, but an educational tool that should promptly correct the child’s development trajectory. How exactly the three categories will relate to the real life of the class is a question to which class teachers, I suspect, also do not yet know the answer.

Strike five: extracurricular activities require a regional component

Starting from this academic year, the course “Russia — My Horizons” must include a regional component — at least eight lessons about the economy, large enterprises and professions of a particular region. Lipetsk schoolchildren are now learning about metallurgy not in theory, but with an eye to real vacancies in the neighborhood.

From a small but noticeable point: from September 1, updated rules for the organized transportation of children by buses come into force, and in school and kindergarten canteens, fish dishes must appear on the table up to twice a week.

What should parents do before the end of August

The Five Points of Reform are the background. Practical preparation for September 1 is almost independent of them and is based on a few simple steps.

• Check on the school website or with your class teacher for the current list of textbooks and workbooks — for new manuals for grades 5–7, the list may differ from last year’s.
• Check the requirements for uniform and appearance — sometimes even colors or manufacturers change, especially if the school switches to centralized purchasing.
• Shift your sleep schedule gradually, and not in one jerk on August 31 — 15-20 minutes a day is enough so that on September 1 the child does not look like a zombie.
• Collect medical documents and certificates if they are needed for sections, a swimming pool or going to a labor and recreation camp.
• For future ninth and eleventh graders, it is worth checking in advance with the new distribution of hours in social studies and history — this may affect the choice of electives and preparation for exams.
• Don’t rush with all your purchases at once: some school goods become cheaper already in October, when the rush subsides — it makes sense to wait, at least with what is not needed in the first week.

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Of the five blows of the reform, only one will be truly felt on September 1, 2026 — the transfer of social studies and the associated redistribution of history hours. The new subject, assessments for behavior throughout the country and the updated Federal State Educational Standard are designed for 2027, so this September is more of a warm-up before larger changes. Practical preparation for the school year does not change much from this — except that the list of textbooks should be checked twice, just in case.

Xrust School reform 2026: five blows to the usual schedule

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