Abstract:

One of the problems of modern Russian education is the institutional gaps between school and higher education. These include differences in the requirements for knowledge, research and analytical skills, the ability to analyze information, forming communication, the ability to learn by oneself, and consciously take a decision about choosing an educational trajectory. The Russian school does not provide schoolchildren with these competencies at a sufficient level. A school graduates will be able to gain admission to a University and successfully study there if they overcome these institutional gaps.

The purpose of the study is to identify educational institutions and practices that is "bridges" between school and higher education in Russia. Research question are: 1) to consider educational institutions and practices that are used by Russian schoolchildren to prepare for successful admission to universities; 2) to identify the reasons for the strengthening of the role of institutional "bridges" and their opportunities for developing the human capital of students/applicants.

The empirical basis of the paper is the data of the interdisciplinary project "Transfer of human capital of educational communities: from failure to success", conducted since 2019 by the research teams of the Ural Federal University. For this paper we used the data of the 2019-2020 study obtained using the following methods:
1) semi-structured interviews with experts on education (n=34);
2) focus groups with schoolchildren and students of the 1st year of universities (n=6); 3) secondary analysis of statistical and sociological research data on the tutoring market in Russia.

Results:
1. Modern Russian schoolchildren actively use the tutoring, special training courses for the Unified State Exam, and Schools for University applicants for successful admission to the University. At the initiative of parents, schoolchildren are transferred to more prestigious and resource-based schools. A popular institutional practice is participation in the Olympiad movement and competitions. The leading factors that determine the choice of institutional "bridges" are the financial resources of the family, the educational motivation of schoolchildren, and the pedagogical culture of parents.
2. Insufficient quality of school education leads to increased educational failure of schoolchildren and, consequently, to growth of institutional "bridges". Another reason for increasing their role is the reduction of the state-financed student place in Russian universities and the increase of the passing grade for prestigious educational programs. By using the institutional "bridges", parents are rationalizing their investment in their children's education. Thus, they increase the chances of children for admission in good universities, for enrolment on prestigious educational programs, and minimize future expenses for quality education. The assessment of the functional capabilities of various institutional "bridges" is not unambiguous, which indicates a high level of uncertainty in the development of school and higher education in Russia.

Keywords:

School, higher education, institutional gaps and «bridges», quality of education, educational failure, tutoring, Olympiad movement.