Schools with a specific educational orientation are allowed to hold entry tests. A survey found that the two most important criteria used by parents when choosing a school for their children were the distance from home and the quality of the teachers (NCESE, 2013). This hides considerable variations across oblasts and cities: from 9.9 students in primary education in North Kazakhstan to 25.6 students in primary education in Almaty City. The average class size in small-class schools (8.4 students) more than halves that of other schools (20.8 students) (see Table 4.1).