Since the so-called Perestroika that took the country by storm in the 1990s, Russia has been gradually opening to the West. Although this process has been regarded with suspicion by both sides, the country’s capital city Moscow has already become a truly international megapolis.
For quite some time now, Russia has been a higher education hot spot for prospective students from Asia and Africa. Now, however, its universities have begun to attract students from all over the world, including from the other side of the Iron Curtain.
In the paragraphs that follow, we shall have a look at the IELTS band requirements of Russia’s seven most popular universities for international students. The scores quoted at the top of each paragraph are for their graduate and undergraduate programs.
Minimum IELTS Band Scores for Russian Universities
| INSTITUTION NAME |
MIN. SCORE (UNDERGRADUATE) |
MIN. SCORE (GRADUATE) |
| Moscow State Mining University |
n/a |
6.5 |
| National Research Nuclear University MEPhI |
6.5 |
6.5 |
| Ural Federal University |
n/a |
6.5 |
| Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia |
5 |
5 |
| Samara University |
n/a |
6.5 |
| HSE University |
6.5 |
7.0 |
| Novosibirsk State University |
n/a |
6.0 |
1. Moscow State Mining University
- IELTS Band Requirement: 6.5 (graduate)
Moscow State Mining University (MSMU) was founded in 1918, shortly after the end of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Today, the university has established itself as the best school of mining engineering and technology in Russia.
The university has 10,000 full-time students who pursue their degrees in a wide variety of Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral programs. The University also has one of the richest technical libraries in Russia and a unique geological museum that attracts scientists and geology enthusiasts from all over the world.
MSMU consists of six main faculties such as, for example, The Faculty of Exploitation of Non-ferrous and Iron Deposits and the Faculty of Coal Mining. Currently, the university offers six Master’s programs in English, and as you can see, the IELTS band requirement at this university in Russia is 6.5.
2. National Research Nuclear University MEPhI
The National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, also known as the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, was established in 1942. Today, MEPhI has seven major institutes and two faculties. It is world-famous for its graduate and undergraduate programs in Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Reactor Building and Exploitation.
MEPhI also offers Master’s programs in the field of Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security. The university offers a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate programs taught in English and Russian including, Nuclear Physics and Cosmic Physics, and Particle Physics and Cosmology.
To apply, non-native speakers of English should achieve a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 before admission.
3. Ural Federal University
The IELTS band requirement of the next university in Russia, which is Ural Federal University, is 6.5. The Ural Federal University or UrFu was established in 1920 in the splendid city of Ekaterinburg. Today, it has over 35,000 full-time students and offers more than four hundred graduate and undergraduate programs in a wide variety of academic fields.
There also are 3,600 international students at UrFu, coming from 90 different countries. The university is organized into ten different institutes, two schools, and one graduate school. UrFu offers many postgraduate programs in the English language including Applied Informatics, Public Relations and Advertising, and Russian Regional Studies.
4. Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, also known as RUDN, was established in 1960. Since then, it has established itself as the university with the strongest international connections in the Russian Federation.
RUDN is currently the 392nd best university in the world according to QS World University Rankings. The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia is also a university with a cause – it was established to provide accessible and affordable higher education to young people from developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. It now has about 29,000 full-time students from 140 different countries.
5. Samara University
What is known today as the Samara University began its existence in 1942, at the height of WW II, as the Kuibyshev Aviation Institute. If you browse the English version of the official website of today’s Samara University, you cannot fail to notice that is still a work in progress.
Yet, we managed to find out that they offer only two Ph.D. Programs in the English language: the GNSS Technology and the Functional Micro- and Nanostructures.
6. HSE University
Russia’s HSE University is one of the best places to study Economics and Social Sciences in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. This is a relatively young university that began its existence at the dawn of Russia’s Perestroika in 1991. As of 2019, this is the third-best university in the country.
The Higher School of Economics, as the university is generally known, currently has over 40,000 full-time students. They pursue their degrees at four campuses – in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Perm. This is one of Russia’s universities that offers a significant variety of both graduate and undergraduate programs in the English language. As you can see, the IELTS band requirement for this university in Russia is 6.5 for undergraduates and 7.0 for graduate students.
7. Novosibirsk State University
Finally on our list of universities in Russia is Novosibirsk State University. Founded in 1959, Novosibirsk State University is the largest and most influential center of higher education in the vast region of Siberia. It has just over 7,000 full-time students enrolled in its numerous graduate and undergraduate programs.
It appears that this university has not yet developed any Bachelor’s programs in the English language. However, there are several world-class postgraduate programs for international students including Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence and Oil and Gas Management to name two.
The fact that Russia’s top universities have been offering both graduate and undergraduate courses in the English language, for which IELTS band scores are required, speaks a lot of the country’s slow but steady transition to democracy and liberalization.
The more young people head to study in Russia over the next few years, the better Russian culture will become known all over the world. At the same time, the country’s international image will also improve as a result of its proactive policy in the field of higher education.
We hope this article on IELTS Band Requirements for universities in Russia was helpful. If you are interested in studying in Europe, make sure to check out our Study in Russia guide and Available Programs in Europe for International Students page for more articles.
