As in many post-socialist countries, Mongolia’s school system,previously based on the ten-year school, has been shifting towards twelve-year education. Compulsory education is nine years.The school year begins on 1 September. Schools in sum centres usually have boarding schools for pupils from the countryside. Many of these sum schools only go to the ninth grade. Pupils who want to complete secondary school have to attend schools in the aimag centres.

In Ulaanbaatar and cities like Erdenet there are private schools, though of mixed quality. Ulaanbaatar also has some foreign-language themed public schools, for example for Russian, Chinese, Turkish, English, and German.collaboration with Cambridge Assessment International

Education, the Ministry of Education has undergone a major educational reform to match with international standards. As a result, numerous public and private schools have been established, offering Cambridge Pathway (Primary, Checkpoint, IGCSE, AS and A levels). Currently, there are three public schools with Cambridge programme, providing the

opportunity for students nationwide to access to international education while experimenting and implementing the reform.