The article is devoted to exploring the process of political socialization of the Russian schoolchildren, within the framework of which his civic competence is formed. Civic competence includes such components as socio-political knowledge, social activity, willingness to take responsibility and patriotism. In the empirical part of this work, a cluster analysis was carried out on the data obtained during face-to-face survey (N=2610). Schoolchildren were divided into 3 clusters: “pessimistic excellent students”, “paternalistic good students” and “activist poor students”. More detailed characteristics of the clusters were identified on data obtained during interviews with survey participants (N=256). The analysis showed there are no single approach to raising the level of civic competence of pupils. “Pessimistic excellent students” need educational technologies that would increase the involvement of these children in events of social significance. “Paternalistic good students” need to increase their level of responsibility, and “activist poor students” need to systematize basic knowledge about the socio-political reality of Russia.