Since taking over the Kremlin last month, President Medvedev, has made it a priority to combat what he calls "legal nihilism" in Russia. A campaign has begun to clean the courts of bribe-taking judges and letters from members of the public, complaining about corruption, have been published on the Kremlin website. Reporting on the results at St. Petersburg, the daily Kommersant said that 83 out of 200 students in the law faculty had failed their state examinations. Some who had received grade 2, the lowest mark, had been expecting to leave with "red diplomas" or distinctions. Among those who failed were students who had paid fees.

To reduce the use of bribes, the parliament has approved a nationwide, standardized multiple choice test for high school seniors. This would substitute for written and oral admission exams that now leave room for subjective grading – and bribes. The testing requirement is expected to come into force in 2009.

The government has introduced a "Unified State Examination' test in the fight against corruption. The test will weed out weak teacher, improve the quality of instruction in schools and would ease the financial burden on parents of college students.