Oh boy, do I have a story to tell!
So, in Russia we have a mandatory basic general education which subdivides into kindergarten, 4 primary grades and 5 middle grades. After that you have some choice: quit and find a job, go to college or get 2 more grades of secondary general education. When you're done with college or high school, you can apply for university or a job, but by this time you're about 18 years old and The Problem rises up: the Army.
In Russia men of 18 to 27 years old are to be conscripted into the Russian Armed Forces for 1 year. You can delay the draft for the uni/college education period or avoid it due to bad health. Many people (me too) see conscription as a hindrance: you have to waste a whole year doing drills, forgetting what you learned and somtimes being subject to abuse by the "gramps" of the earlier drafts (there are 2 of them: the spring one and the autumn one).
Back to the education stuff. Russia's economy is not in a good state, not many families can afford enrolling their children into universities and the government needs educated specialists. So, the Ministry of Education provides "budget places" in universities for those who study good. Basically, if you take 70/100 in Russian, Math and discipline of your choice in the state exams, you're good to go, most local universities will accept you. Though big universtites, like Moscow State Uni or Bauman's MSTU, have really high demands and fierce competition, like 30 entrants per place. Also, you won't find budget places for specialties like economics or jurisprudence.
Well, that's basically it.