Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University: MBBS Fees, Hostel, NEET Cut-Off and Admission for Indian Students
Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University is a public university founded in 1897 in Saint Petersburg. Its price for the 2026-27 intake is 670,000 roubles a year (about ₹7.6 lakh) for the English language-mediator profile, one of the highest fees in our list. Below: fees in rupees, FMGE results year by year, hostel, NEET, and what to ask before you pay.
In short: Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University (1SPbSMU) is a public medical university founded in 1897. For 2026-27 its admissions page lists 670,000 roubles a year (about ₹7.6 lakh) for General Medicine in the English language-mediator profile. Its FMGE batches are small: 7 of 48 candidates passed in 2022–2025, against a Russian average of about 25%. The university does not say how much of years 4–6 is taught in English, so get that in writing before you pay.
Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University at a glance
| Founded | 1897 |
|---|---|
| City | Saint Petersburg |
| Language of the programme | English groups exist; ask whether all six years are in English |
| Duration | 6 years |
| Tuition, first year | 670,000 ₽ per year ≈ ₹7.6 lakh (university price list) |
| Hostel | not published |
| Official website | www.1spbgmu.ru |
Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University is a federal state budgetary institution of higher education under the Russian Ministry of Health, so it is a public university, not a private college. Wikipedia gives the founding year as 1897. The older name, I.P. Pavlov Leningrad 1st Medical Institute, is the reason many Indian families search for "Pavlov University St Petersburg", "St Petersburg Pavlov Medical State University" or "First Pavlov State Medical University of St Petersburg", "St Petersburg State IP Pavlov Medical University" or "First Saint Petersburg State IP Pavlov Medical University" (IP stands for Ivan Petrovich, the academician after whom it is named). They all mean the same university. The university's own abbreviation is 1SPbSMU, or 1SPbGMU in older material.
The main address is L'va Tolstogo street 6-8, Saint Petersburg 197022, in the Petrogradsky district of the city, close to the Neva river. Foreign students study General Medicine for six years. The university's English site says the medicine programme for foreign citizens is available in Russian and in English medium. The admissions page for the 2026-27 campaign lists two General Medicine profiles for foreigners: an English language-mediator profile, and a Russian-language profile with "language adaptation" in which foreign students study in separate groups in years 1–3 and join Russian students from year 4. For an Indian family the English profile is the one to look at, and the next sections show what it costs.
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Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University fees for Indian students
The Pavlov University tuition fees are set in roubles and published on the admissions page for foreign citizens (abit.1spbgmu.ru). The page, which we read as archived on 8 June 2026, gives the price per year for the 2026-27 campaign: 670,000 roubles for General Medicine in the English language-mediator profile (130 contract places) and 590,000 roubles for the Russian-language profile with language adaptation (53 contract places). Pediatrics is listed at 525,000 roubles. We did not find the 2025-26 figure, so we cannot show how much the price changed in a year.
Pavlov University fee structure 2026-27
| Six years at today's fee (fees usually rise each year) | INR |
|---|---|
| Tuition, 6 years | ₹45.5 lakh |
At today's exchange rate the English-profile fee of 670,000 roubles is about ₹7.6 lakh a year. If the fee never rose, six years would cost about ₹46 lakh in tuition. In practice Russian universities raise prices, so keep a reserve of 10–20% for increases and for the rouble-rupee rate. The page lists the price for the entry year only and does not publish a year-by-year path for later courses, so ask the university for the price order (the formal document that fixes the fee) and check whether the contract fixes the fee for all six years or allows annual indexation.
| Cost item | What we know for Pavlov University |
|---|---|
| Tuition, first year (English profile) | 670,000 RUB (official admissions page, 2026-27) |
| Tuition, first year (Russian-language profile) | 590,000 RUB (official admissions page, 2026-27) |
| Hostel | Not found on the pages we read; ask the international office |
| Medical insurance | Compulsory for foreign students; usually arranged through the university |
| Food and city transport | Higher than in smaller Volga or Urals cities; ask senior students for real figures |
| Flights | Kerala to Moscow or direct to Pulkovo via a Gulf hub; see the travel section |
Compare this with other universities on the MBBS in Russia fees page. At ₹7.6 lakh a year, the English profile sits at the upper end of our list; several state universities in the Volga region and the Urals charge ₹5–6 lakh for a similar course. For a Kerala family, the comparison that matters is the self-financing MBBS seat at about ₹8.1 lakh a year in Kerala: the first-year tuition here is close to it, and Kerala also has no visa, FMGE or flight to pay for. See MBBS fees in Kerala vs Russia for the full comparison.
Living cost in Saint Petersburg
Beyond tuition and hostel, a student's monthly budget in Saint Petersburg is made of food, a mobile plan and internet, city transport (the metro opened in 1955 and is the main way to move around), study material and winter clothing in the first year. Saint Petersburg is generally more expensive to live in than most cities where Indian students study, and it is the second-largest city of Russia with a population of about 5.6 million. We have no verified monthly figure, so ask senior Indian students for their real spend before fixing the family budget. A rented flat will cost much more than a hostel place, so find out whether the university can house you for all six years.
Hostel and hostel fees at Pavlov University
We could not find the hostel fee, the room types or the number of hostel places for foreign students on the admissions pages we read. Do not rely on a figure quoted by an agent. Ask the international office for a written answer to these questions: is a hostel place given to every foreign first-year student, which residence is it, how many students share a room, what is the monthly fee and is it separate from tuition, and is there a deposit.
Parents also ask about the girls hostel at Pavlov University and its fees. Russian residences are normally mixed buildings with separate rooms or floors, with a pass system at the entrance. Ask how female students are placed, who is on duty at the entrance, and how far the residence is from the main building on L'va Tolstogo street. In a city this large the commute can be 30–60 minutes by metro, so the location of the hostel affects your daily life as much as its price.
NEET cut-off and eligibility for Pavlov University
The university does not publish a NEET cut-off of its own that we could find. What you need is the NEET-UG qualifying score for your category, because without it an Indian graduate cannot sit FMGE:
- NEET-UG: qualified, result valid for three years. In NEET-UG 2026 the qualifying score was 213 out of 720 for general and EWS, 194 for general PwBD and 177 for SC, ST and OBC (the 3 May exam was cancelled after a paper leak and re-held on 21 June 2026; the result came on 16 July 2026). In 2025 it was 144, 127 and 113.
- Class 12: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English, with at least 50% in PCB (40% for reserved categories).
- Age: 17 by 31 December of the admission year.
The admissions page for 2026-27 lists entrance exams in English and in chemistry, both in English, for the English-profile route. Ask the international office about the format, the date and whether it is held online for applicants abroad. There is no published acceptance rate. A student who meets the criteria and applies on time is normally considered, but the real filter is FMGE six years later, so think hard before choosing a university with weak FMGE numbers on a low NEET score. See the full eligibility and documents list.
Check your eligibility for Pavlov University
Send your NEET score and Class 12 marks; we tell you if you can apply this year.
Admission process at Pavlov University
Apply and choose the profile
Send scans of your passport, Class 10 and 12 mark sheets and NEET score card through the admissions portal for foreign citizens, directly or through us. State clearly that you want the English language-mediator profile.
Entrance test and admission letter
The university lists entrance exams in English and chemistry for this route. After the result and a document check it issues an admission letter and a contract. Read the contract for the fee, the language of instruction in each year and the internship.
Invitation and visa
The university applies for your study invitation from the Russian migration authorities. With it you apply for the student visa; the nearest Russian consulate to Kerala is in Chennai.
Travel to Saint Petersburg
Fly to Moscow or Saint Petersburg through a Gulf hub or Delhi. The university completes your migration registration after arrival.
English-medium groups at Russian universities usually start between September and November. Apply soon after NEET results, because the invitation and visa take several weeks. The general admission process page explains documents, apostille through NORKA Roots and the visa in detail.
Pavlov University ranking and recognition
Families often search for the Pavlov University world ranking, "First Pavlov State Medical University of St Petersburg world ranking" or its ranking in Russia. We did not find a verified ranking position for this university, and Russian national ratings change their methods often, so we do not quote one. A ranking says little about what matters for an Indian student. Three things matter more:
- NMC rules. The degree is valid in India only if the course meets the NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021: at least 54 months of study in English, a 12-month internship at the same university, and eligibility for a licence to practise in Russia. The NMC keeps no list of approved universities, so ask Pavlov University for written confirmation of each point. See NMC rules.
- World Directory of Medical Schools. We could not confirm the university's WDOMS listing, so check it yourself; an Indian graduate needs a degree from a recognised medical school.
- FMGE results, below, which show how its Indian graduates actually do.
On English medium specifically: the university describes the programme as available in English medium, but how much of years 4–6 (clinical years) is in English in the language-mediator profile is not stated. If the clinical years are taught in Russian, the course may not meet the 54-month English rule. Ask for a written statement of the language of instruction for every year, and keep it with your admission papers.
FMGE passing percentage of Pavlov University
NBEMS publishes FMGE results for every foreign university. The numbers for Pavlov University are small, because few of its graduates sit the exam. In 2022, 3 of 16 candidates passed (18.8%) against a Russian average of 26.0%. In 2023, 1 of 13 passed (7.7%) against 19.4%. In 2024, none of 8 passed (0.0%) against 29.5%. In June 2025, 1 of 5 passed (20.0%) against 18.1%, and in December 2025, 2 of 6 (33.3%) against 30.9%. Earlier, 2 of 16 passed in 2020 (12.5%) and 1 of 13 in 2021 (7.7%).
| Session | Appeared | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| June 2025 | 5 | 1 | 20.0% |
| 2024 | 8 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 13 | 1 | 7.7% |
| 2022 | 16 | 3 | 18.8% |
| 2021 | 13 | 1 | 7.7% |
| 2020 | 16 | 2 | 12.5% |
Over 2022–2025 combined, 7 of 48 candidates passed, about 14.6%, below the Russian average of about 25%. Because fewer than 300 candidates appeared in those years, the university is not ranked in our ranking by FMGE results. With batches of 5 to 16 students, one student more or less changes the percentage by 6–20 points, so treat the yearly figures with caution; but none of them shows a strong record over four years. The older "MCI passing ratio" is the same exam: FMGE was run for the Medical Council of India before the NMC replaced it. Compare every university on the FMGE pass rate page.
Safety in Saint Petersburg for Indian students
Saint Petersburg is in the north-west, about 630 km in a straight line from Moscow and far from the Ukrainian border. It is not among the regions for which the Indian Embassy in Moscow issued a precaution advisory in August 2024 (Bryansk, Belgorod, Kursk). We found no published report of an incident that involves Indian students of Pavlov University. As in any big city, practical sense matters: keep your passport and migration card safe, carry a copy, avoid isolated areas at night, and use official taxi apps.
- Register with the Indian Embassy in Moscow after arrival and save its emergency numbers.
- Check the current advisory at mea.gov.in before you travel; it can change.
- Ask the university about security at the residence and the entrance control.
- Never accept a job or "contract" offer that involves the Russian military.
Get the Pavlov University fee structure
We send the current fee list, hostel details and the admission timeline for your intake.
Life in Saint Petersburg for Kerala students
Saint Petersburg is a large, historic city of about 5.6 million people (2021 census). It has a metro, universities, museums, theatres and a busy international community. The January mean is −5.0 °C and the July mean is 19.2 °C by Wikipedia's climate tables, which is milder than the Urals or Siberia, but the days are short and grey in winter, and damp wind from the Gulf of Finland makes it feel colder than the number. In summer there are White Nights, when the sky does not get completely dark, which surprises first-year students and affects sleep.
A good winter jacket, waterproof boots, thermal wear, gloves and a hat are essential from the first October. Buy proper winter clothes in Saint Petersburg after arrival, where prices are fair and advice is available, rather than paying for bulky items in Kerala.
Kerala students and Indian food
The university has not published the number of Indian students, and we found no verified figure for Kerala students at Pavlov University. Ask the international office how many Indian students are in the English profile in the year before yours and whether you can speak to them. Indian food is available in a city of this size: students from India usually cook in hostel kitchens and buy rice, lentils and spices at larger supermarkets and Asian shops. Cooking in a group saves money. For the complete picture, read the guide to Indian food in Russia.
Where Pavlov University is: distance to Moscow and how to get there from Kerala
Pavlov University is in Saint Petersburg, in the north-west of Russia. The distance from Saint Petersburg to Moscow is about 630 km in a straight line. The Sapsan high-speed train takes about 3 hours 40 minutes to 4 hours, and a flight takes around 1.5 hours. The nearest airport is Pulkovo (LED), which is operating normally according to Wikipedia. The time zone is Moscow time, 2.5 hours behind India, so calls home are easy in the evening.
From Kerala there is no direct flight to Russia. The usual route is Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram or Kozhikode to Moscow or to Saint Petersburg through Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Delhi. If you land in Moscow, a Sapsan train or a domestic flight takes you on. Because Pulkovo is a working international airport, you do not need an overland leg after arriving in the city. Read more on the universities page.
Scholarships, syllabus and courses
There is no Pavlov University scholarship that cuts tuition for Indian students as a rule that we found. The Russian government offers a limited number of state-funded places to foreign citizens each year through its quota programme, applied for on the official education-in-russia.com portal; competition is high and places in medicine are few. Indian families should plan to pay the full fee.
The General Medicine syllabus follows the Russian federal standard for specialty 31.05.01. A typical six-year plan looks like this; ask the university for its own curriculum before you sign:
| Years | Main subjects |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Anatomy, histology, physiology, biochemistry, biology, Latin, Russian language |
| 3 | Pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, propaedeutics of internal diseases, general surgery |
| 4–5 | Internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, pediatrics, neurology, infectious diseases, psychiatry |
| 6 | Clinical rotations in hospitals and the state final examinations |
The first years cover the basic sciences, then clinical subjects follow, with hospital practice in the senior years. Clinical training means talking to Russian-speaking patients, so students who learn basic Russian in the first two years cope much better. Besides General Medicine the admissions page lists pediatrics for foreign applicants.
Pavlov University compared with similar universities
Families shortlisting Pavlov University usually compare it with other universities in the same city and with a university at a lower fee. The table uses first-year tuition and the combined FMGE pass rate for 2022–2025 from the NBEMS reports.
| University | City | Tuition per year | FMGE 2022–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University | Saint Petersburg | ₹7.6 lakh (English profile) | 14.6% (7 of 48), not ranked |
| Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University | Saint Petersburg | ₹5.6 lakh | Not ranked (fewer than 300 candidates) |
| North-Western State Medical University (Mechnikov) | Saint Petersburg | ₹5.0 lakh (2024-25 table) | Not ranked (fewer than 300 candidates) |
| Bashkir State Medical University | Ufa | ₹5.5 lakh | 27.9% (rank 8) |
At the same fee level or lower, the other universities in the table cost ₹2–2.6 lakh a year less than Pavlov's English profile, and Bashkir State Medical has a FMGE record we can rank. Pavlov's strengths are the name, the age of the university and the city; its weaknesses for an Indian family are the price and the thin FMGE evidence. See the full ranking by FMGE results.
After graduation: FMGE, internship and registration in Kerala
Pavlov University awards the Russian specialist diploma in General Medicine after six years. To practise in India, a graduate then needs to:
- Pass FMGE, held by NBEMS three times a year since 2026 (the NMC plans to replace it with NExT, with no date yet).
- Complete a 12-month supervised internship in India, as the NMC requires for foreign graduates.
- Register with the Travancore-Cochin Medical Council to practise in Kerala.
After registration, graduates can take NEET-PG for postgraduate seats in India like any other doctor. Practising in Russia is also possible but needs Russian accreditation and fluent Russian. Plan for a year or more between the diploma and the first salary in India. Our after MBBS in Russia guide explains each step.
Pros and cons for a student from Kerala
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Public university founded in 1897, in Russia's second-largest city | English profile costs 670,000 RUB (about ₹7.6 lakh) a year, one of the highest in our list |
| Official price published for the 2026-27 intake, with an English-medium route | How much of years 4–6 is in English is not stated; get it in writing |
| Pulkovo is a working international airport and Sapsan trains reach Moscow in under four hours | FMGE: 7 of 48 candidates passed in 2022–2025, below the Russian average |
| Milder winter than the Urals or Siberia (January mean −5.0 °C) | Higher cost of living than most student cities; hostel fee not published |
| Large cultural city with a metro and an international community | No verified count of Indian or Kerala students; no direct flight from Kerala |
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Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the MBBS fee at Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University for Indian students?
The university's admissions page lists 670,000 roubles a year for General Medicine in the English language-mediator profile for 2026-27, about ₹7.6 lakh at the Central Bank of Russia rate of 15 October 2026. A Russian-language profile with language adaptation is listed at 590,000 roubles. Hostel, food, insurance and flights are extra.
What are the hostel facilities and hostel fees at Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University?
We could not find the hostel fee or room details on the pages we read. Ask the international office in writing for the residence, the number of students per room, the monthly fee, the deposit and the security arrangements, including how female students are accommodated.
What NEET score is required for admission to Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University?
You need the NEET-UG qualifying score for your category: for the 2026 intake that is 213 out of 720 for general and EWS candidates and 177 for SC, ST and OBC (in 2025 it was 144 and 113; the marks rose in 2026 after the exam was re-held). We found no higher cut-off of its own, but the 2026-27 admissions page lists entrance exams in English and chemistry for the English route.
Does MBBS at Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University meet NMC rules and is it taught in English?
The university offers an English language-mediator profile, but it does not state how much of years 4–6 is taught in English. The NMC requires at least 54 months in English and a 12-month internship at the same university. Ask for written confirmation of each condition.
Are there students from Kerala at Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, and is Indian food available in Saint Petersburg?
The university has not published a count of Indian students and we found no verified number for Kerala students, so ask the international office to connect you with current students. In a city of 5.6 million people, Indian groceries and shared hostel cooking are generally easy to arrange, but check with seniors which shops and kitchens they use.
Sources: Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University admissions page for foreign citizens (abit.1spbgmu.ru, tuition for 2026-27, archived snapshot of 8 June 2026) and its English site; Wikipedia (founding year); NBEMS FMGE reports 2020–2025; NMC FMGL Regulations 2021; city climate, airport and rail notes from Wikipedia (Saint Petersburg, Pulkovo Airport, Sapsan); Central Bank of Russia rate of 15 October 2026.