Together with the EGE materials, FIPI (the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements) has published the draft OGE 2027 papers — the OGE is the Russian 9th-grade state exam — plus a document called “Planned changes to the OGE 2027 exam materials”. Good news for most 9th-graders: eight subjects on the list have no changes. History, social studies and Russian do change — and so does the final interview, which has an article of its own.
Below: what exactly has changed, how it will show up on the exam, and what is worth doing this term.
Before and after
| Subject | OGE 2026 | OGE 2027 (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| History | 24 tasks, maximum 37 points | 23 tasks, maximum 35 points |
| Social studies | 24 tasks, maximum 37 points | 20 tasks, maximum 32 points |
| Russian | Essay up to 7 points, whole paper 37 | Essay up to 8 points, whole paper 38; explaining examples is mandatory |
| Final interview (oral Russian) | 4 tasks, maximum 20 points | 3 tasks, maximum 17 points |
| Biology, geography, foreign languages, computer science, literature, maths, physics, chemistry | The 2026 structure | No changes |
A quick reminder of how the exam works: a 9th-grader takes four subjects — Russian and maths are compulsory, plus two electives. So the changes will reach every student one way or another through Russian. History and social studies are frequent elective choices, and for those who pick them, preparing for 2027 differs noticeably from last year.
History: one task fewer
Task 21 (2026 numbering) has been removed from the paper — FIPI attributes this to changes in the federal standard for lower secondary education. There will be 23 tasks instead of 24, and the maximum raw score drops from 37 to 35.
As with the EGE, the demo version now includes an appendix: for each task it lists the sections of the state history textbooks for grades 5–9 that contain the material needed. For a student this is a ready revision plan: open a task and see which sections to reread.
Social studies: the biggest changes
This is where most of the changes are. According to the FIPI draft:
- 20 tasks instead of 24, a maximum of 32 points instead of 37, and some tasks come in a different order;
- the photo-analysis task is shorter: one question (or explanation) instead of three follow-up questions, and a full answer is worth 2 points instead of 3;
- the statistics-analysis task can now appear in one of two formats;
- there is a new extended-answer task 17: analyse social information and draw conclusions backed by arguments;
- there are now three extended-answer tasks based on the given text instead of four.
This demo version also gets an appendix — with sections of the state 9th-grade textbook. The main takeaway for preparation: in the new task 17 and in the text-based tasks, what counts is not memorised definitions but the ability to reason and justify a conclusion. That is best learned from real examples — the news, statistics and personal experience.
Russian: examples in the essay must be explained
The structure and content of the Russian exam stay the same. The clarifications concern the argumentative essay — tasks 13.1, 13.2 and 13.3. Explaining the examples taken from the text is now written into both the task wording and the marking criteria as a mandatory requirement. Criterion SK2, “Examples and explanations of them”, is now worth 4 points instead of 3, so the essay maximum becomes 8 points instead of 7, and the whole paper 38 instead of 37.
What does “explain an example” mean? Quoting or retelling an episode is not enough. In one or two sentences, show how the example supports your point: what happens in it and why it matters for your thesis. A handy pattern: example — what it shows — how it connects to the thesis.
No changes
Biology, geography, foreign languages, computer science, literature, maths, physics and chemistry: FIPI plans no significant changes to instructions, task wording or marking. If your child is already preparing for one of these subjects, there is nothing to rebuild.
This is a draft
The documents were published as drafts, with comments accepted until 30 September 2026. The final version may contain clarifications — we are following the updates and will correct this article if the figures change.
What to do now
- Download the OGE 2027 demo versions for your subjects from fipi.ru and do them in full — that shows the gaps straight away.
- Social studies: if your child has been using 2026 practice books, rebuild the plan around the new structure; practise task 17 and the photo task separately.
- History: check the numbering — with one task removed, the numbers shift; use the appendix of textbook sections for revision.
- Russian: in every practice essay, check that each example has an explanation. These are the “cheapest” extra points there are.
- The OGE application listing the chosen subjects must be submitted by 1 March 2027 — settle the two elective subjects well in advance.
- Don’t forget the final interview in February: without a pass, students are not admitted to the OGE.
Sources: “Planned changes to the OGE 2027 exam materials” and the draft demo versions on the FIPI website (in Russian).
This article is based on the documents published as of 22 October 2026.