Specialised schools and the Presidential School: what is the difference?

A specialised school is a state school that teaches certain subjects in depth: exact or natural sciences, languages or information technology. The best known are the Muhammad al-Khwarizmi and Mirzo Ulugbek schools in Tashkent and the specialised boarding schools in the regions. Admission is competitive and tuition is free.

The main difference is centralisation: Presidential Schools have one site, one deadline and one test. Each specialised school issues its own notice, so the chosen school's page has to be watched from spring.

• Shared: year 1–4 maths — numbers, operations, fractions, geometry, word problems; logic problems; working against the clock.
• Presidential School only: the English section and the exact 30/40-question format.
• By school: a specialised school may ask an extra subject in its profile.

So stage 1 maths preparation serves both, and that is at least two thirds of the work. The topics are on Stage 1 maths.

1. Start with maths, topic by topic, 15 minutes a day.
2. Add logic problems, 2–3 a week, explaining the solution aloud.
3. If applying to a Presidential School, add English: 10 words a day and grammar.
4. Watch both schools' notices: if the dates do not clash, you can apply to both.

In Prezi Prep the mock exams follow the Presidential School format, and the topic tests serve both: the topics are the same. The free plan never expires.