TLF School Scholarship Rules

This page outlines the guidelines for the Technology Leaders of the Future program. Below you will find information for new applicants (eligibility, exams, financial coverage) and academic requirements for current students.

Scholarship Guidelines

1. Educational Program and Eligibility

The scholarship program is intended for students from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
In exceptional cases, and subject to a special agreement, students from Italy, Cyprus, and Israel may also be admitted.

  • Programs available:
    • 3-year program. Students who will be 15-16.5 years old on September 1st of the academic year of entry, and have three years remaining in their current program, are eligible to apply.
    • 4-year program. Students who will be 14-15.5 years old on September 1st of the academic year of entry, and have four years remaining in their current program, are eligible to apply.
    • In exceptional cases, students who will be 16-17.5 years old on September 1st of the academic year of entry may be admitted to the last two years of a 3-year program. Such admissions are decided by the TLF Admission Committee.
Note: If there is a discrepancy between a student's age and the years remaining in their current program (making it impossible to meet both criteria simultaneously), the TLF Office reserves the right to assign the student to the appropriate program duration based on their age and current academic standing.
  • Language requirements: English must be good enough to take the entrance exams and to study in English from the first day. We use B2 as a guideline, and no language certificate is required. If a student’s English is too weak to follow the program, this can be a reason to refuse the application, or to suggest improving the language and applying again in a later year.

2. Application Process

Applicants submit their documents directly to the TLF Office or through one of the partner schools. The application must include:

  • CV and academic transcript with academic and extracurricular achievements.
  • Documented results of Olympiads, competitions, or other significant achievements. Include links to the official web pages with results and task lists (when applicable and published). Competition participation is optional and not a requirement.

Additional conditions

  • Students must select a preferred school before the written exam starts. Alternatively, students may select "Any" as their preference. In this instance, the TLF Office will assign the most appropriate school for the student based on their chosen major and other applicable conditions.
  • Each student may submit only one application per academic year and participate in the examinations only once. Students submitting multiple applications—whether to different schools, using different email addresses or name spellings, or by any other means to gain a second attempt at the exams—will be disqualified.
  • Students providing false information will be disqualified.
  • In exceptional cases (e.g. visa refusal), schools may agree to transfer a student between schools, subject to approval by the TLF Office.

3. Entrance Examination

All applicants are required to pass the TLF entrance examination, which consists of four parts:

  1. General mathematics test
  2. Written mathematics exam
  3. Oral exam in the chosen subject (mathematics, physics or computer science). This subject is the student’s intended major. The major becomes final when the student accepts the scholarship offer.
    In exceptional cases, the TLF Office reserves the right to administer an additional oral examination.
  4. Interview with the school (might consist of several stages)

Key rules

  • Candidates are ranked based on exam results.
  • After each stage of the examination process, only the final pass/fail status is communicated to schools and students.
  • In each exam wave, the written exam will be administered on a single day for all candidates who passed the general mathematics test. The written exam date is announced at least one week in advance.
  • During the exams, students must comply with the exams rules. The rules will be published no later than a week before the start of the next stage of the exams.
  • During the exam, students must follow the official rules for communication as defined by the exam regulations. At all other times, students should use the official TLF Telegram bot or the email address [email protected] to communicate.
  • During the interview, the school will also assess each student’s emotional and moral readiness for boarding life as well as their level of English.
  • The major is fixed when the student accepts the scholarship offer, and the student studies under that major for the whole first year. A change during the first year is possible only in exceptional cases and only with written permission from the TLF Admission Committee. After successfully completing the first academic year, a student may request a change of major; the request is granted if the student meets the requirements set by the TLF Admission Committee.
  • The TLF scholarship is granted for one year at a time. To remain eligible for renewal, a student must meet the criteria listed in Current Student Guidelines during the current year of education.

Verification of Academic Integrity

  • The TLF scholarship is awarded based on the assumption of absolute academic integrity during the entrance evaluation process.
  • TLF reserves the right to perform a Performance Verification Audit during the first three months of study.
  • If a student’s demonstrated academic competency in the classroom is found to be significantly inconsistent with their entrance examination results, it will be considered a breach of the admission requirements.
  • In such cases, the TLF Office reserves the right to revoke the scholarship and expel the student from the program with immediate effect.

4. Financial Coverage

The scholarship covers:

  • Tuition fees
  • Boarding and meals — for students living in the school boarding house. Day students who live at home are not covered for boarding and meals.
  • Travel: for students coming from another country, TLF books and pays for two round trips between home and school per academic year, for the summer and Christmas vacations.
  • Study materials and activities directly linked to the curriculum

The scholarship does not cover personal expenses, leisure travel, or any other costs not directly related to education.

Current Student Guidelines (Academic Continuation)

To remain eligible for the TLF scholarship next year, a student must meet the criteria below during the current year of education. These rules apply to students of both H-FARM International School and The Island.

Students follow one of these academic programs: IGCSE (usually Grades 9–10), A Level (usually Grades 11–13), or, for those who started earlier, the remaining years of IB DP. Wherever a rule depends on the program, it is spelled out for each of them.

1. Academic Program

Satisfy the requirements of your school academic program:

  1. Complete the required number of courses and core components of the program.
  2. Pass the official school exams and assessments of your program (IGCSE, A Level or IB DP).
  3. Pass mathematics, physics, and computer science in your school program with the following minimum results:
    • IGCSE students: at least a grade of 5 in each subject (on the 1–9 scale, where 9 is the highest grade).
    • A Level students: at least a grade of C in each subject (on the U, E, D, C, B, A, A* scale, where A* is the highest grade).
    • Remaining IB DP students: at least 4 out of 7 in each subject — Analysis and Approaches HL (mathematics), Physics HL, and Computer Science HL.

    The grade that counts here is the final year grade for the subject, as officially issued by the school. Predicted grades and mock exam results do not replace it.

2. Advanced Courses

Complete the advanced courses in mathematics, physics, and computer science:

  1. Pass all the TLF exams for these courses (see Section 5, Exams Schedule and Evaluation, below).
  2. Complete all the assignments and assessments with at least a passing mark (see Section 4, Tests and Assignments).
  3. Attend the classes, meet the deadlines for homework and projects, and take part in class work and in-class assessments. Anything beyond this is announced by the teacher or the TLF Office at the beginning of a semester.

3. Major Courses

Complete the major course in mathematics, physics, or computer science, depending on your major:

  1. Pass all the TLF exams for the course (see Section 5, Exams Schedule and Evaluation, below).
  2. Complete all the assignments and assessments with at least a passing mark (see Section 4, Tests and Assignments).
  3. Attend the classes, meet the deadlines for homework and projects, and take part in class work and in-class assessments. Anything beyond this is announced by the teacher or the TLF Office at the beginning of a semester.

4. Tests and Assignments

  1. Every test and assignment in the advanced and major courses is graded as follows:
    • IGCSE students: out of 8; the lowest passing mark is 4.
    • A Level students: out of 7; the lowest passing mark is 4.
    • Remaining IB DP students: out of 7; the lowest passing mark is 4.
  2. A student with a failing grade may be given a second attempt to retake the test, by a special decision of a TLF coordinator.

Academic dishonesty

  • In any TLF test, assignment, or exam it is not allowed to copy from others, to use help or materials that were not permitted, or to hand in someone else’s work as your own.
  • A case counts as confirmed only after the TLF Office has looked into it and talked to the student. A suspicion on its own, or simply a weak result, is never treated as dishonesty.
  • A confirmed case means the work is annulled. What follows is decided case by case and can go as far as losing the TLF scholarship and leaving the program.

5. Exams Schedule and Evaluation

Over the year every student takes the following TLF exams. Exact dates are announced by the TLF Office in advance.

  1. Mathematics exam in September–October. All students take it. It is the same for everyone regardless of the major and depends only on the year of study.
  2. Two sessions of advanced course exams: the first one in December–January, the second one in May–June. In each session a student takes one exam in mathematics, one in physics, and one in computer science. The content of these exams may depend on the major and on the year of study.
  3. End-of-year exam in the major course, in the subject of the chosen major.
  4. Every exam above counts towards the scholarship for the next year. Each of them is graded on a 1–9 scale (where 9 is the highest grade) for IGCSE students, on a U–A* scale (where A* is the highest grade) for A Level students, and on a 1–7 scale (where 7 is the highest grade) for IB DP students. The lowest passing grade is 5 for IGCSE, C for A Level, and 4 for IB DP.
  5. Each exam can be taken a second time. Before the retake, the student goes through the mistakes of the first attempt with the teacher; the format of this work is set by the teacher of the subject. A student with a failing grade must take the second attempt.
  6. The grade of a second attempt is capped: no higher than 6 for IGCSE, B for A Level, and 5 for IB DP. After a failed second attempt, further participation in the program is decided after a talk with the TLF Office and the teachers.
  7. If an exam is missed with permission, the TLF Office arranges a replacement sitting, and it counts as the first attempt — not as a retake. An exam missed without permission counts as a failed first attempt.

Absence requests

  • To miss a TLF class, ask your school’s TLF coordinator beforehand.
  • To miss a TLF exam, test, or any other assessment, write to the TLF Office at [email protected] beforehand. In case of illness or another emergency, write as soon as you can.
  • Ordinary school lessons are not covered by this rule: for them the school’s own absence procedure applies. Still, tell your TLF coordinator about longer absences from school, because they usually affect the TLF courses as well.

Your Future Awaits

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Learn More About the Undergraduate Scholarship

A dedicated page summarizes the TLF undergraduate scholarship, including financial coverage, eligible universities, and the support format.

Open TLF Undergraduate Scholarship