A Unified State Exam is an absolutely new phenomenon in the educational system of Russia. This is a testing method of graduate’s knowledge evaluation. You should have actual knowledge of the subject, you should know the structure of testing exercises, you should be able to do it in a test mode. Taking into consideration the fact that during the whole period of education, a student deals with a traditional form of knowledge examination, where the emphasis is made on the ability to build up connections within a separate theme, on the ability to present factual material, he faces the testing method only when taking a single state exam. Certain skills, ability to operate facts taken from the context, ability to choose the strategy of activity, so as the result will directly depend on it, are required to master the method successfully. The quantity of exercises and the test structure demand exact evaluation of strengths and potential from the examinee and the ability to estimate the time that he will need to make a certain task. The student should also structure the time he has between exercises. In other case, he risks to choose an  ineffective strategy and to fail making the tasks.

Students practically don’t get such knowledge in modern Russian schools, a student often doesn’t know in which way the work will be evaluated, that means he actually doesn’t know the result to which the choice of some or other strategy can lead. Taking into consideration the fact that this strategy is individual for every student, preparation and help in its identification should be individual. And in this case, even adults surrounding him out of the school will not be able to help him. Parent’s generation of present graduates passed final examinations in their traditional mode. All this aggravates the psychological difficulties that a student faces. Besides, the absence of information that causes a feeling of anxiety, peculiarities of holding the USE play their role. During everyday process of education and intermediate exams students are surrounded by familiar teachers and exposed to a habitual atmosphere of their school, which gives them certain psychological support. During the USE they don’t have such support: the examining board, students, unfamiliar place. In addition, the USE is not only a graduating exam, it is also an entrance examination. All this creates considerable psychological pressure.

The procedure of preparation for humanitarian subjects significantly changes. In this case a lot of facts and data must be memorized, they will be necessary at the exam. In addition, students must demonstrate their knowledge of the material embracing the whole course of the subject. This increases the quantity of material for memorizing and assimilation.

Finally, the specific nature of the exam demands development of special psychological functions from the child: high mobility, ability to achieve a high level of organization and concentration of attention, high and steady efficiency, clear and structured thinking.

Given the fact that school doesn’t prepare a child for such a procedure, there is no place to get the experience necessary for passing the exam.

It is not surprising that nowadays USE preparatory courses are extremely popular. They work both at schools and independently. It is a flourishing business, as there are no alternatives for graduates, they will have to pass the USE in order to finish school and enter a University. The whole educational program is studied again at these courses, not only to solidify the material but also to perceive it in the format necessary to pass USE. A child can be taught to elaborate the strategy of behaviour there, to structure time correctly; the main thing is to understand the formulation of tasks, without which a child will have problems answering some questions. Besides, filling answers in special blanks is an unusual procedure for students, thus demanding particular attention, so that a wrong correlation of answer and question will lead to a “non-pass” of an answer, even if the latter was correct. This is also taught at USE preparatory courses. Distance preparatory courses by Internet are becoming increasingly popular.

Thus, in addition to knowing all the material in the subjects, a school-leaver needs to complete a preparatory course for the exam itself, which differs greatly from traditional final exams and is more complicated. Psychological preparation for the USE also constitutes a significant part and will be described in detail in further articles.

This article should end with a positive message:

“A USE is not a problem for diligent and properly prepared students”.