Timetable

Daily classes are held in double periods of two academic hours. One double period consists of two academic hours and lasts 80 minutes.

The following timetable is in operation on campus in the 2026/27 academic year:

Academic Calendar

The academic year at HSE University is divided into four modules rather than two long semesters. Each module is followed by an examination period. The dates below apply to HSE University – St Petersburg in the 2026/27 academic year:

Module 1: 1 September – 25 October 2026; examination period: 26–31 October 2026.
Module 2: 1 November – 20 December 2026; examination period: 21–30 December 2026.
Winter break: 31 December 2026 – 10 January 2027.
Module 3: 11 January – 24 March 2027; examination period: 25–31 March 2027.
Module 4: 1 April – 20 June 2027; examination period: 21–30 June 2027.
Spring break: 1–9 May 2027. Summer break: 1 July – 31 August 2027.

An up-to-date academic calendar and class timetable can be found here.

Programme Offices

If you have questions about examinations, course registration, timetable conflicts, grades, ratings or your academic status, contact the programme office of your degree programme.

Every programme has its own programme office. Its staff coordinate the academic process for a particular programme and cohort and can either resolve an issue or direct you to the HSE unit responsible for it.

At the programme office, you can:

• receive clarification on the curriculum, course syllabi, assessment rules, deadlines and examination procedures;
• request academic certificates and other documents;
• clarify scholarships, tuition payments and the conditions of any tuition discount;
• learn about vacancies and the procedure for transfer from a fee-paying place to a tuition-free place;
• clarify individual curriculum, elective, minor, project, term-paper and thesis choices;
• submit documents concerning academic leave, reinstatement, transfer to another programme or withdrawal;
• report missing grades or problems accessing the corporate e-mail and academic information systems;
• receive guidance on student transport documents and other programme-level administrative matters.

A list of HSE St Petersburg degree programmes and their current contacts is available in the programme catalogue.

Group Leaders and Curators

Who represents your group before the programme office, collects common questions and quickly shares changes affecting the group? This is normally the group leader, or starosta.

Group leaders are students who act as contact persons for classmates, lecturers and the programme office. Their responsibilities usually include:

• attending organisational meetings with HSE and programme representatives;
• informing groupmates about timetable changes, deadlines, events and administrative requests;
• collecting group-level questions and communicating them to the appropriate HSE employee;
• helping the group organise routine matters without replacing the programme office or making decisions on academic status.

Group curators are senior students who support first-year students during adaptation. They can explain how HSE services work, share practical advice and help identify whom to contact. A curator cannot change a grade, deadline or official decision.

Wi-Fi and E-mail Services

HSE campuses provide wireless Internet access. Connect to the HSE.Ext network and follow the on-screen authorisation instructions. If authorisation fails, ask your programme office where to report the technical problem.

Each student receives an HSE corporate e-mail address ending in @edu.hse.ru. The programme office, lecturers and university services use this address for official communication, so it should be checked every working day.

Login details are sent to the personal e-mail address provided during admission. Activate the account through Yandex Mail, then open the mailbox through HSE Student Mail or Yandex Mail.

• change the temporary password when prompted and store the new password securely;
• use the corporate address when writing to lecturers and HSE units and state your programme and group when necessary;
• check the Spam folder and your mailbox storage if expected messages are missing.

Degree Programme Homepages and Academic Handbook

The Academic Handbook for Students brings together university-wide information about studies, student status and administrative procedures. It should be used together with current HSE regulations.

The HSE St Petersburg programme catalogue leads to each programme’s webpage, where students can find the curriculum, course list, programme contacts, announcements and cohort-specific information.

Check the date and scope of every page you use. If an old handbook text conflicts with a current HSE regulation or an official programme announcement, the current regulation and the formally issued decision prevail.

Information Systems

The academic process at HSE University – St Petersburg uses several information systems. Each system has a specific purpose, and information shown in a course workspace may not yet be the official academic record.

ELK — corporate services and personal settings. ELK is the main gateway to HSE digital, administrative and social services. It also provides access to university announcements and subscription settings.

iStudy — official grades, rating and academic status. Use iStudy to check the electronic gradebook, current and cumulative ratings, GPA data and personal information.

SmartLMS — day-to-day course work. Lecturers publish course materials, recordings, reading lists, announcements, assignments and tests in SmartLMS. Students submit work there and may see a course grade journal. A grade in SmartLMS may remain preliminary until it appears in the official gradebook.

LMS — selected legacy and university services. LMS is used for mandatory teaching-quality surveys and uploading coursework and thesis.

SmartWay — electives. SmartWay is used to choose courses during the announced selection windows.

SmartPro — projects. SmartPro is used for project work and, where required by the programme, for choosing term-paper and thesis topics and supervisors.

HSE App X — mobile access. The official app provides quick access to the timetable, grades, rating and other student services. The landing page contains the current download links for all supported app stores.

Use the same HSE account credentials unless a service explicitly instructs otherwise. Report inconsistent grades or personal data to the programme office and include a screenshot, course name and date.

Teaching Quality Assessment

Teaching Quality Assessments (TQA) offer students the opportunity to assess their courses and teachers, thereby shaping course content and format in the future. Participation in the assessment process is obligatory and failure to do so may result in sanctions, including actual dismissal from the University. TQAs are held at the end of each module prior to the start of the examination period. You can learn more here.

At the end of the academic year, it is traditional at HSE University for students to choose best teacher. This selection process is done through TQAs. Every learner may nominate no more than two lecturers and no more than two seminar/practical class teachers.

In addition, you can also assess the quality of how your programme is administered. You can express your opinion regarding contacts with academic supervisors and programme office staff.

Furthermore, feedback from students is very important for HSE University. So, take advantage of this opportunity and don’t forget to take part in the TQA process.

Grading and Course Syllabi

HSE University uses a ten-point grading scale. Grades are based on the assessment elements stated in the course syllabus: tests, assignments, essays, projects, examinations, class participation or other forms of work.

A course syllabus is the binding description of the course. It sets learning outcomes, topics, assessment elements, their weights, deadlines, rules for late work, the formula for the final grade and the procedure for retakes. Read it at the beginning of the course and keep the current version.

Academic Failures and Retakes

A grade below 4, failure to attend an assessment without an accepted reason, or failure to complete a compulsory assessment element may create an academic failure. The exact consequence follows the course syllabus and current HSE regulations.

An academic failure must be cleared within the periods and by the procedure announced by HSE.

• check iStudy, corporate e-mail and programme announcements for the recorded failure and the retake timetable;
• if you had a documented valid reason for missing an assessment, contact the programme office immediately and submit the required documents;
• prepare using the course syllabus and clarify with the lecturer which learning outcomes will be assessed;
• do not assume that a message to the lecturer, an unfinished SmartLMS attempt or an informal agreement automatically changes the official record.

Failure to clear academic failures by the established deadline may lead to dismissal under the current procedure. Ask the programme office for the rule that applies to your cohort and situation.

Ratings

A rating is a ranked list reflecting students’ academic performance. HSE maintains current ratings for a defined period and cumulative ratings covering a longer period. Public lists are anonymised.

The rating is calculated from official academic results under the rules currently in force. Rating and the data used for the calculation are available in iStudy. Check the source grades before disputing the calculated position.

The rules effective from 16 October 2025 distinguish rating from other procedures. An admission-based tuition discount is not automatically renewed because of a high rating, and transfer to a tuition-free place is a separate process requiring a vacancy and a formal application.

Definitions, publication rules and the current methodology are available on the Student Rating page.

Individual Curriculum, Electives and Projects

Each student follows an individual curriculum consisting of compulsory courses, programme electives, university-wide electives, projects and other components required by the degree programme. The available choices depend on the programme, cohort and year of study.

The standard full-time workload is 60 ECTS credits per academic year. Students should not add courses or projects merely to fill a numerical target: prerequisites, timetable compatibility and programme restrictions also matter.

• read the choice announcement and course descriptions before the selection window opens;
• check language, campus, timetable, prerequisites, assessment format and credit value;
• rank or confirm choices exactly as required by the system and save confirmation of submission;
• contact the programme office before the deadline if a compulsory component is missing or a system error prevents selection.

General rules are explained on the Individual Curriculum page.

Independent Assessments

During your Bachelor’s studies, you will need to take several important examinations to confirm your proficiency in English and digital skills. Examinations are developed by independent experts and held under the same format for all HSE University learners. If a student receives an unsatisfactory grade on an exam, this shall be considered an academic failure. So, prepare thoroughly for these examinations so that you can succeed!

Academic Standards

HSE University’s Statement of Values emphasises academic freedom, responsibility, honesty and transparency. Students are expected to submit their own work, follow assessment instructions and acknowledge all sources. The current academic norms apply to written work, code, data, presentations and other assessed materials.

Academic misconduct is considered through a formal procedure. The facts, the course requirements, the extent of the violation, the student’s explanation and any previous violations may be taken into account.

• Disciplinary Procedure and Sanctions

  the lecturer records the suspected violation and issues an «Unsatisfactory» grade («0» on a 10-point scale);

• the relevant HSE employee may prepare a memo and supporting materials describing the suspected violation;

• the student may submit a written explanation and supporting evidence;

• the authorised HSE body considers the materials and issues a formal decision;

• possible consequences include a grade of zero for the work, an academic failure and disciplinary measures under current HSE regulations.

Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

HSE does not impose a university-wide ban on generative AI, but a lecturer or course syllabus may restrict or prohibit its use for a particular task. Students must follow the rules announced for each assessment even when AI use is allowed in another course.

When AI use is permitted, disclose the model or service, the purpose and method of use, and which parts of the submitted work were produced or materially revised with AI assistance. Keep prompts or working records if the course requires them.

• verify facts, calculations, quotations and references instead of treating generated output as a source;
• do not upload confidential information, personal data, unpublished research materials or another person’s work without authorisation;
• do not use AI to impersonate another person, fabricate data or conceal authorship;
• remember that the student remains responsible for the accuracy, originality and compliance of the submitted work.

Undeclared or prohibited use may be treated as an academic-integrity violation and can result in a grade of zero and disciplinary action under the applicable procedure.

See the current HSE guidance on the use of AI in studies.

Library

An electronic pass is a single HSE campus card. All you have to do is sign up online using the following link and you can use the card to borrow books on library subscriptions.

You may order books from the Library book collection using the Printed Materials Catalogue.

In the reading rooms you may use local computers for personal studies or read books in quite areas.

You can book the group study rooms. Registration form for group study rooms booking here.

Access to electronic resources (full-text e-books, journals, Dissertations & Theses, statistics, etc.) is provided from any computer on campus connected to a local network, as well as in remote access mode from outside the campus. To get a login/password to work with electronic resources in remote mode, it is necessary to fill out an application by following the link.

Additionally, you can use the corporate printing service. Multifunctional printers (Xerox devices) are located in all HSE St. Petersburg campus buildings.

The library staff is always happy to provide you with qualified assistance! Detailed information is available on the library's website.

For any assistance please contact library staff via e-mail: library-spb@hse.ru

If you want to know more about study process you should read HSE Academic Handbook!