This article explores the status of civil servants following the approval of the decree on rank examinations on August 6, 1809. Historically, this law has been seen as the implementation of the intention to introduce educational qualifications in the civil service, as announced in 1803 in the «Preliminary regulation for public education». However, in reality, the service levels that required a certain level of education after 1809 differed significantly from the plans of six years earlier. As a result, even officials with university degrees were affected by the educational qualifications, especially those who had lost their certificates of completion. By examining archival documents, this article delves into the circumstances surrounding the restoration of lost certificates at Moscow University and the potential for using these documents for promotion under the decree on rank examinations. Cases are identified in which individuals who had never attended university were able to obtain certificates that met the educational qualifications for promotion.
A. Ferebov (2025) studied this question.