A rating of Russian universities based on the results of the Unified State Examination (USE) will not cause any revolutions in the higher education sphere, the Russian education minister said on Thursday.

"There will be no revolutions. We will go forward toward stronger universities step by step," he said.

The rating, ordered by the Russian Public Chamber and RIA Novosti, was compiled by the Russian Higher School of Economics. A total of 360 educational establishments that accepted at least 200 budget students on the basis of the USE exam this year are included.

The USE was introduced in secondary schools and most universities across Russia in 2009. Since then, each student has to pass several exams, including two obligatory (the Russian language and maths) ones, in order to get a secondary education certificate. Universities are obliged to accept students on the basis of USE results, although some of them have maintained their right to carry out additional examinations.

MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti)