The structure of higher and postgraduate education of the Republic of Kazakhstan is regulated by the Law "On Education" (dated July 27, 2007). With the signing of the Bologna Declaration in 2010, Kazakhstan is implementing a three-level system of higher education "Bachelor-Master- Ph.D.". This structure has found its legal consolidation in the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Education":
1) Higher basic education – bachelor's degree program - with a duration of 4 years;
2) Postgraduate education, including the scientific and pedagogical direction of training-the master's program-with the duration of training in the profile master's program – 1 year, in the scientific and pedagogical – 2 years;
3) The program of preparation of doctors of philosophy (PhD), doctors in the profile-doctoral studies-after completion of master's programs. The duration of training is at least 3 years or more.
According to the Bologna Declaration, the introduction of a system of credits or credits ensures the recognition of educational programs. The introduction of credit technology of training is a significant contribution to the recognition of national educational programs at the international level, ensuring the mobility of students and teachers, as well as improving the quality of education and ensuring the continuity of all levels and stages of higher and postgraduate education. Consequently, all universities in the country use the Kazakhstan credit transfer model, developed according to the ECTS type. ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) is a universal system for measuring the academic load of a student during the development of an educational program or a separate course.
Admission to higher educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as the university) is carried out on the basis of the Standard Rules for Admission to Training in Educational Organizations that implement Professional Training programs of Higher Education, approved by the Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ROK) dated October 31, 2018. Admission of applicants with secondary education is based on the results of the Unified National Test (UNT). Graduates of previous years, applicants with primary or secondary vocational education, graduates of secondary schools studying abroad, as well as some other categories for admission to the University of Kazakhstan pass a complex testing of higher-education applicants (CTA).