New Ukrainian School moves to 12-year schooling: what will change by 2029
The Cabinet of Ministers has updated the roadmap for the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform through 2029. One of the key stages is the transition to specialised upper secondary education for grades 10–12, which will begin in 2027.
The Ministry of Education and Science reported this, according to Censor.NET.
The ministry stresses that this is not a relaunch of the NUS, but an update to the reform plan approved back in 2017. The plan now includes measures needed to address the consequences of the full-scale war: learning losses, the destruction of schools, the displacement of children and the expansion of distance and blended learning.
12-year schooling and specialised education
One of the main tasks will be to introduce specialised upper secondary education for students in grades 10–12.
The transition will be gradual: new model curricula and teaching materials will be introduced for grade 10 in 2027, grade 11 in 2028 and grade 12 in 2029.
Preparations have already begun. Since September 1, 2026, 150 academic lyceums have been piloting the new model of specialised upper secondary education.
Schools will have thousands of career advisers
Another change is the development of a career guidance system. There are plans to train at least 15,000 career education advisers for lower and upper secondary schools.
They will help students identify their abilities and interests, as well as choose their further field of study and future profession.
The approach to textbooks will also change. Plans call for two years to be allocated to their development and piloting, so that materials can first be tested in practice and refined before being used widely.
Student assessment will also change
There are plans to establish a unified system and common criteria for assessing learning outcomes by 2029.
Ukraine will also prepare for the gradual resumption of state final assessment in the form of external independent testing. The ministry notes that this will depend on the security situation.
Teacher professional development will remain a separate focus, including through supervision, teacher induction programmes and digital tools for professional development.
The updated NUS roadmap runs through 2029 and takes into account the consequences of the war, including learning losses, the forced displacement of schoolchildren, children’s schooling abroad and in temporarily occupied territories, and the need for psychological support for students.
